| Tuesday, January 13, 2015 |
| Higher ed chief headed to Nebraska | |
 | Hank Bounds, who has overseen Mississippi's kindergarten through 12th grade public schools and eight public universities, will be the next president of the University of Nebraska. Bounds, 47, said Monday afternoon he was not leaving Mississippi because of its many educational challenges, but accepting the position as president of Nebraska because of its many opportunities. "I am a lifelong Mississippian," said Bounds, who has served as commissioner of higher education since 2009. "I love this state. Obviously, it is difficult to move the needle (in terms of educational achievement) with the limited resources. But this was about a new opportunity, not running away from one." |
| Mississippi to look for universities chief after Bounds' exit | |
 | Mississippi's College Board is looking for a new boss to oversee the state's eight public universities. Higher Education Commissioner Hank Bounds, commissioner in his native Mississippi since 2009, was announced Monday as the new president of the University of Nebraska. College Board trustee Ed Blakeslee of Gulfport said becoming president of a university and not just the head of a system was a natural step. "I think five or six years is about a lifetime for this job," Blakeslee said. "It's a tough job and I think the next step in his career was to be president of a university. He's been a tremendous commissioner and we're going to really miss him." |
| IHL's Bounds chosen as Nebraska president | |
 | Mississippi Commissioner of Higher Education Hank Bounds on Monday was chosen as the new president of the University of Nebraska. Bounds will continue in the Mississippi post through April 12, and start his new job in Nebraska the following day. In a press release the Mississippi board of trustees for the Institutions of Higher Learning said it will announce the timeline for finding a replacement for Bounds "soon." Aubrey Patterson, president of the IHL board, praised Bounds' work in "all levels of education in our state." As IHL commissioner in Mississippi, Bounds' annual salary was $358,000. The base salary for his new job is $480,000. |
| New info on Mississippi State school with local district | |
 | Information has been released about the new school for 6th and 7th graders in the consolidated Starkville-Oktibbeha County school district. Mississippi State University says the school will be known as The Partnership School since it will be a partnership between the new district and the university. Plans call for the school to be built on the MSU campus near the university's main entrance on Highway 182. The $30 million school, which is expected to hold 900 students, will also be the home to a research center for rural teaching and teacher education. |
| National publication honors Mississippi State employee for diversity efforts | |
| Mississippi State University's chief diversity officer recently received recognition for his contributions to higher education diversity. University officials say Tommy J. Stevenson of Brooksville was given a Diversity Visionary Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, a diversity publication and website currently focusing on higher education. MSU says Stevenson became chief diversity officer and director of the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion in 2013. |
| Oktibbeha school bond opponents say they've reached petition requirements | |
 | Organizers hoping to force a proposed $13.2 million Oktibbeha County School District bond to the polls say they reached and eclipsed the amount of signatures needed for a future vote, but county workers must now verify that each signature came from a qualified voter of OCSD's territory. If more than 1,526 qualified voters signed the petition, OCSD Conservator Margie Pulley will be unable to move forward with the bond without approval from 60 percent of the electorate within the school district. It was unclear before the end of business hours if workers must vet each signature -- the total should drop as duplicate names, unregistered voters and residents of Starkville School District's territory are discovered within the petition -- before noon Tuesday, the deadline for the challenge as advertised by OCSD. |
| Starkville aldermen expand once-shunned financing option for Cadence purchase | |
| Starkville aldermen previously bemoaned the issuance of certificates of participation to construct a new city hall and their subsequent passage by the prior administration as a financial burden that circumvented the will of the people. Now, six aldermen expanded the COP financing limit to a maximum of $3 million to either help purchase Cadence Bank for the Starkville Police Department usage or renovate the existing City Hall as police's long-term home. Only Ward 4 Alderman Jason Walker opposed the action Tuesday. He took exception to what he called his peers' intent to purchase the Main Street property before understanding how future costs associated with programming, renovations and overall growth will affect the city's bottom line. |
| Bryan: School funding now worse than old formula | |
| State Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, said when the Mississippi Adequate Education Program was passed in the 1990s it was designed to provide roughly 10 percent more in state funding for local school districts than the Minimum Program, which was the funding formula it was replacing. But now, since the MAEP has been underfunded more than $1.5 billion since 2008, $257 million for the current fiscal year, Bryan said Monday that the now defunct Minimum Program probably was providing more in education funding to local school districts in the 1950s than the MAEP is now. Bryan made his comments Monday as guest speaker at the Mississippi State University Stennis Institute/Capitol press corps luncheon. |
| Mississippi Democrats pushing for across-the-board raise for state employees | |
| The Democratic leader in the Mississippi Senate said Monday that he hopes majority Republicans will adopt some of his party's budget ideas. Sen. Hob Bryan of Amory said Democrats want to give a $1,000 across-the-board pay raise to state employees, which would cost about $16 million in a budget that's expected to be about $6.2 billion. Democrats are also proposing a three-year plan to attain full funding of the Mississippi Adequate Education Program, Bryan said during a forum sponsored by the Stennis Institute of Government and the Capitol press corps. |
| House set for vote on school funding alternative | |
| The Mississippi House could vote as early as today on whether to place on the November general election ballot a competing alternative to a citizen-sponsored education funding initiative. The House Constitution Committee approved the alternative Monday by an 8-4 vote. House Constitution Chair Scott DeLano, R-Biloxi, said he believes an alternative should be placed on the ballot because the citizen-sponsored initiative would take the funding of education out of the hands of the Legislature and place it in the judiciary. The Legislature has never attempted to place an alternative to a citizen-sponsored initiative on the ballot. If it does so, people would have to vote twice in order to vote for the initiative or the alternative. |
| House committee passes MAEP 'alternative' | |
| The House Constitution Committee, with little notice before, comment after or discussion, on Monday passed an "alternative" to the ballot initiative seeking to force full funding of the Mississippi Adequate Education Program formula. House Speaker Pro tem Greg Snowden, R-Meridian, author of the ballot alternative, had little comment on the measure after it passed the committee on a 7-4, partisan vote. "We'll talk about it on the (House) floor," Snowden said. The measure is expected to come for a floor vote in the House as early as Tuesday morning, and promises to be the first major political battle of the 2015 legislative session. |
| Felony voyeurism bill filed in state Senate | |
| A state Senate bill would make it a felony for anyone to invade the privacy of another person by photographing or video recording another individual without his or her consent. Senate Bill 2022, filed by Sen. Joey Fillingane, R-Sumrall, says any person who enters upon property, whether the original entry is legal or not, and thereafter pries or peeps through a window or other opening in a dwelling or other building structure for the lewd, licentious and indecent purpose of spying upon the occupants shall be guilty of felony trespassing. The legislation is believed aimed at the case involving the photographing of U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran's bedridden wife last year. |
| State cited for vaccination rate; group wants exemptions | |
| Mississippi has again been cited for having the highest rate nationwide of childhood vaccination coverage, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control. But a group is continuing to push for medical, religious and conscientious exemptions to Mississippi's school vaccination requirements, exemptions they say 48 other states allow. "We continue to be very proud of our vaccination rates," said State Health Officer Dr. Mary Currier. "Mississippi's strong school entry immunization law is protecting Mississippi residents from outbreaks of measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases that other states have experienced." |
| Bible could become state book | |
| Mississippi is the birthplace of William Faulkner, Richard Wright and recent U.S. poet laureate Natasha Trethewey. However, some lawmakers say they want to look beyond the secular literary world and designate the Bible as the state book. At least two bills are being filed during this state election year to make the holy book a state symbol. Larry Wells -- whose late wife, Dean Faulkner Wells, was William Faulkner's niece -- said Monday that if Mississippi lawmakers feel compelled to designate a state book, they should draw on the state's native talent. "It's impossible to conceive of a state abandoning its literary heritage like that," said Wells, director of a small publishing house in Oxford, Yoknapatawpha Press. "What would Faulkner and (Eudora) Welty and Shelby Foote and Richard Wright think? I think they would collectively link arms and say, 'Go back to kindergarten, Legislature.'" |
| Lawmaker proposes Mississippi apologize for slavery | |
 | A Mississippi lawmaker is proposing that the state apologize for slavery. Rep. Willie J. Perkins, Sr., a Greenwood Democrat, said the resolution would be a step in the right direction. "There was wrong done and Mississippi pretty much led the nation, as far as I'm concerned, with racism and slavery," Perkins said. "It was only 1995 when Mississippi decided to accept the 13th Amendment that abolished slavery, so we have a long way to go." Perkins said the intention is to apologize for slavery and all the wrongs that were associated with the system of slavery. |
| Obama wants firms to notify customers within 30 days of data breaches | |
 | President Obama on Monday proposed the first federal standard for data breaches, which would require companies to notify customers within 30 days of the discovery that their personal information was exposed to hackers. In a speech at the Federal Trade Commission, Obama also called for federal protection of information collected from students at school. That proposal, based on a California law enacted last year, would prevent companies from selling student data to third-party firms for purposes unrelated to education, such as sending them targeted advertising. The initiatives come as Obama focuses this week on technology issues, including strengthening cyber security and increasing Internet access, that he will tout in his Jan. 20 State of the Union address. |
| Georgia discloses part of Mercedes incentives deal | |
| Georgia officials unveiled at least part of the incentives package the state used to lure Mercedes-Benz to relocate its U.S. headquarters from New Jersey. On Monday, state officials disclosed that Mercedes-Benz USA will receive assistance from a grant totaling $6 million through one of Georgia's so-called "deal closing" funds. The Regional Economic Business Assistance Program grant will be administered by the Development Authority of Fulton County. The Wall Street Journal reported online Monday that the state package totaled "about $23 million," including tax credits. |
| USM expands Osher Lifelong Learning Institute's spring classes | |
 | The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at The University of Southern Mississippi will soon embark on the largest spring semester in its 23 year history. OLLI will be offering 137 classes, seminars, field trips and special events during the spring semester. OLLI offers programming geared toward individuals 50 years of age or older, with any level of education, working or retired. The premise behind OLLI is that learning at any age is fun and a great way to keep mind, body and, spirit healthy. All offerings are presented in a relaxed atmosphere with break time to socialize. |
| Meridian Community College Students Head Back to Class | |
 | Many students headed back to class Monday, including those at Meridian Community College. his day kicked off the spring semester at MCC. Both new and current students headed to their first day of classes. MCC's online classes will begin next Monday. MCC's vice president says it was an exciting day for all students and staff. "Many of our students had already registered, and they were in classes. They've gotten their books, and they are ready. It was also very exciting to see the number of students who have not registered yet, and they were in admissions and financial aid and signing up for classes," said Barbara Jones |
| Cutting Louisiana higher education by $300 million, putting it into perspective | |
 | Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration said Louisiana's colleges and universities should be prepared to sustain anywhere from $200 million to $300 million in cuts during the 2015-2016 school year. So what, exactly, does that mean? Consider: LSU's public operating budget -- including money collected from tuition, the federal government and dedicated funding streams -- is $975 million. (And when we talk about LSU, we are referring to all of LSU -- including the medical school, law school, Alexandria campus, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, etc.) Meaning, the cut being discussed amounts to what's roughly one-third of LSU's total public operating budget. |
| U. of Arkansas Chancellor G. David Gearhart to Retire in July | |
 | University of Arkansas Chancellor G. David Gearhart said Monday that he will retire from the post on July 31 and return to teaching. Early word of Gearhart's departure was first reported Monday morning by the Arkansas Times blog. The UA announced the retirement in a news release just before 1 p.m. The university says that after stepping down from the chancellor's post, Gearhart "plans to take a period time off, and then continue teaching." He is a member of the UA College of Education and Health Professions faculty. |
| U. of Arkansas Commissions Study to Develop Transportation, Parking Solutions | |
| The University of Arkansas is launching a study of its current and future transportation challenges on campus. The university has asked all students, faculty, staff and visitors to fill out an online survey here. The survey results will be used as part of the study to develop a long-term transportation and parking plan for the campus. It will remain open through Jan. 30. "This is an important undertaking for the university," Jill Anthes, campus planner and project manager for the effort, said in a news release. n the past decade, the university has added nearly 9,000 students, a more than 52 percent jump. |
| U. of Tennessee study says governor's health plan generates about $1 billion economic impact | |
| A new University of Tennessee study says that approval of Gov. Bill Haslam's alternative Medicaid expansion plan would channel about $1.03 billion in new annual federal funding into the state, create about 15,000 new full-time jobs and generate about $909 million in new payroll income. The study was paid for by the Coalition for a Healthy Tennessee, mostly comprised of large businesses and health care providers advocating legislative approval next month of the governor's plan, Insure Tennessee, a more market-oriented alternative to traditional Medicaid expansion provided for under the federal Affordable Care Act. The state legislature will decide whether to approve the plan in a special session that starts Feb. 2. |
| UGA student dies in car while out with friends | |
 | A University of Georgia student died Saturday morning while returning home from a night out with friends. Michael McClary, 19, was in the back seat of a car when his friends realized he was unresponsive, UGA police said. After pulling into an East Campus parking deck, the friends tried again to rouse the 19-year-old student. They were unsuccessful, and called police at about 2 a.m. Responding UGA police officers performed CPR on the student until an ambulance arrived. McClary was pronounced dead at a local hospital. UGA Police Chief Jimmy Williamson said there were no signs of injury -- foul play, accidental or otherwise. |
| Far-flung fossils give U. of Florida researchers global warming clues | |
 | University of Florida geochemist Andrea Dutton and her colleagues traveled halfway around the world and peered 125,000 years back in time to find clues about how melting polar ice sheets in the future could impact coastal cities in the U.S. What they discovered from the fossil record on the islands of Seychelles, an Indian Ocean archipelago nation 900 miles off the coast of eastern Africa, could sound a clarion call for those cities. The fossils showed that much of the coastal lands were underwater, triggered by a rise in sea level caused mostly by a collapse of the Antarctic ice sheets. |
| Senate president makes pitch for funding health research building at U. of Kentucky | |
 | The University of Kentucky wants state lawmakers to approve $10 million a year in bonding authority for 20 years to build a facility for research of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other diseases. Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said during a floor speech Friday that he is asking his fellow lawmakers to decide whether they want to consider "opening up" the state budget during this year's session to deal with UK's request. The Senate leader did not know the exact cost of the project but estimated it to be in the $130 million to $150 million range. |
| Obama Proposes Bill to Protect Student Data, but Not in Higher Education | |
 | The abundance of data being collected on students has been celebrated as an opportunity to "personalize" education. But privacy advocates have long warned that digital paper trails might leave today's students exposed if their personal information fell into the wrong hands. The White House announced on Monday that it would be taking up the cause of student privacy, pushing legislation that would "prevent companies from selling student data to third parties for purposes unrelated to the educational mission," according to a news release. However, the bill, called the Student Digital Privacy Act, would focus on students in elementary and secondary schools, not college students, according to Obama-administration officials. |
| More than a dozen research universities opt out of higher education group's sexual assault survey | |
 | More than a dozen of the nation's top research universities have declined an offer by the Association of American Universities to anonymously survey their students about the prevalence of sexual assault on campus. Fifteen of the AAU's 60 U.S. members told Inside Higher Ed on Monday that they had decided against participating in the association's survey project, which some victims' advocates and sexual violence researchers had criticized. The universities gave various reasons for not participating, and several said that they would be designing and conducting their own surveys. |
| UVA Fraternity Reinstated After Rolling Stone Article on Rape | |
 | The University of Virginia, after receiving guidance from the local police, on Monday reinstated the fraternity at the center of a Rolling Stone magazine article that detailed gang rape allegations that later came into question. The November article in Rolling Stone detailed a student's account of a 2012 gang rape at Phi Kappa Psi and quickly became a flash point for the increasingly high-profile issue of sexual misconduct on college campuses. But the account of the student, identified only as "Jackie," started to crumble as various people and news organizations began to investigate it, and her friends contested details. |
SPORTS
| Bulldogs at Aggies tonight | |
| Mississippi State coach Rick Ray made a lineup change prior to the Florida State game on Jan. 2 which resulted in a 62-55 upset win over the Seminoles. Ray has maintained the same starting five during the Bulldogs first two conference outings but has not produced the same results, scoring a season-low 47 points in losses to both Tennessee and Florida. The third-year coach plans to revise that lineup today as MSU travels to Texas A&M for an 8 p.m. tip on the SEC Network. "We have to insert a starting lineup that gives us the best chance to get off to a good start on both the offensive and defensive end," Ray said. "We're going to continue to search for that." |
| Mississippi State prepares for former coach Stansbury, Aggies | |
| More than a quarter of the wins in Mississippi State's program history will be accounted for tonight in College Station, Texas. Current coach Rick Ray brings 31 career wins into the matchup against Texas A&M. Mississippi State radio analyst Richard Williams owns 191 wins -- second most of all time. Then the all-time leader in Bulldog victories will sit on the home sideline for Texas A&M. Rick Stansbury, with 293 victories, is in his first season as an assistant with the Aggies. "He has great experience in this league," Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy said. "Having been a head coach and a successful head coach that's won championships, he's helped me in a lot of areas, just not recruiting but coaching." |
| Mississippi State will see familiar face on Aggies' bench | |
 | The Mississippi State Bulldogs will see a familiar face on the opposition's bench tonight in College Station, Texas. Rick Stansbury, who spent 22 years in Starkville and 14 as the Bulldogs' head coach, is now an assistant at Texas A&M (9-5, 0-2) under coach Billy Kennedy. While a head coach at MSU, Stansbury amassed a 293-166 record with 11 postseason trips, including six NCAA Tournament appearances. His 293 wins rank first in MSU history and ninth among SEC counterparts. Tip tonight is set for 8 p.m. on the SEC Network. |
| Former Mississippi State head coach of 14 years enjoying A&M after two-year break | |
 | There will be few added emotions for Texas A&M assistant basketball coach Rick Stansbury when he is sitting on the opposite side of the scorers' table from the team he led for 14 years. Stansbury spent 22 years, eight as an assistant coach, at Mississippi State before stepping down to spend time with his family at the end of the 2011-12 season. On Tuesday he will be coaching against the Bulldogs for the first time. "Its a very special place and we have a lot of special friends, and Mississippi State was great to me, but it's not about me and Mississippi State," Stansbury said of the matchup at Reed Arena. "It's about Texas A&M and Mississippi State, and right now that is all that matters." |
| Mississippi State's SEC legend announced as women remain in top 15 | |
| Mississippi State received some good news after it suffered its first loss of the season at Vanderbilt on Sunday. Vic Schaefer and his women's basketball team remained in the top 15 despite the defeat. The 18-1 Bulldogs dropped one spot to No. 15 in the AP Poll on Monday. The Southeastern Conference also announced MSU's conference legend. Former coach Sharon Fanning-Otis will be honored along with the legends from the 13 other member institutions at the 2015 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament, March 4-8 in Little Rock, Ark. She will be honored at halftime of the Bulldogs' first game in the tournament and participate in an autograph session during the event. |
| Oh, Deer: It's an Antlered Doe | |
 | Thinking they bagged a buck, a few hunters this season were in for a rare surprise. The star of the hunting season just ending is a type of deer so rare it may as well be called a unicorn. If hunting awards are meant to reward the extraordinary, then the antlered doe deserves recognition. Among deer biologists, estimates of its prevalence among antlered deer range from one in 5,000 to far fewer than one in 10,000. "We collect data on about 25,000 bucks every year in Mississippi, and from that data I don't think I've been informed of any antlered does," said Steve Demarais, a wildlife professor in the deer lab at Mississippi State University. "And I've been here 17 years." |
| U. of South Carolina leading the nation in women's basketball attendance | |
| In September 2013, Dawn Staley launched a bold initiative. Her women's basketball program was coming off two straight NCAA tournament trips and had started to build a following, and she thought it would be a great idea to promote "Drive for 5," hoping for 5,000 fans per game for the 2013-14 season. At this rate, she'll be lucky to see five more fans jammed into Colonial Life Arena for the next game. There won't be any room. South Carolina leads the country in average attendance. The Gamecocks' mark of 11,631 makes them the only one of 349 teams averaging over 10,000 fans per game. The cavernous CLA, praised as a beautiful facility for concerts and events but rarely a home-court advantage for its primary tenant, has been transformed into the place to be on Thursday nights and Sunday afternoons. |
| Witnesses identified, jurors axed as Vandy rape trial starts | |
 | A social media strategist, a woman who had never seen anyone drunk and a news junkie were among those dismissed from the jury pool Monday at the start of the trial of two former Vanderbilt University football players accused of rape. Those three were among 50 potential jurors who filed into a courtroom Monday morning to begin a slow process picking the jury that will hear evidence in the case against Brandon Vandenburg, 21, and Cory Batey, 20. The men are accused of raping a female student in a dorm in June 2013. Judge Monte Watkins read the names of potential witnesses to jurors to check for any conflicts. It is the first time the names have been publicly released. |
| Police confirm slain Auburn football player Jakell Mitchell exchanged fire with suspect | |
 | Slain Auburn University freshman football player Jakell Mitchell exchanged gunfire with the man accused of killing him at a Dec. 14 party in Auburn, police confirmed Monday. In a Monday morning probation revocation hearing in Tallapoosa County Circuit Court for suspect Markale Hart, 22, of Camp Hill, Auburn Police Detective Dustin Holt testified Mitchell was armed with a handgun. "(Holt) revealed certain facts of the case that the police division was already aware of," Auburn Police Capt. Lorenza Dorsey said. "He did testify ...there were gunshots fired." Dorsey added probable cause was established to determine Hart shot and killed Mitchell. |
| Ohio State Overwhelms Oregon for National Championship | |
| Six months ago, Cardale Jones couldn't hold down the backup quarterback job at Ohio State. Six weeks ago, he hadn't yet started a single college football game. But on Monday night at AT&T Stadium, Jones completed one of the most unfathomable title runs in college football's storied history, leading Ohio State to a 42-20 upset of Oregon to win the national championship. In the first title game of college football's new four-team playoff tournament, Jones threw for 242 yards and a touchdown, added another score on the ground and kept Oregon's quick-strike offense on the sidelines with a series of critical third-down conversions. |
| Riot Cops Use Tear Gas on Columbus Crowds After Ohio State Win | |
 | Police in riot gear used tear gas to break up crowds of revelers in Columbus early Tuesday after Ohio State's national title win over the Oregon Ducks. At least a dozen small fires were reported after thousands poured out of bars to celebrate the Buckeyes' victory, authorities said. Columbus Police Department spokeswoman Denise Alex-Bouzounis told NBC News that about 8,000 students forced their way into The Horseshoe stadium and tore down a goal post. She described the crowds as being "intense" after the game. |
| Athletics Leaders: 'We Need to Make Our Case Before It Is Too Late' | |
| Two weeks ago, in the middle of college football's bowl season, the most-powerful commissioners sent an email to their fellow Division I leaders urging them to join a "Coalition to Save College Sports." The effort, which is expected to be announced any day, calls for a "loosely knit group of conferences and universities" to join together to convey the benefits of big-time college sports, a message they believe has been lost in the push by some players to unionize or be paid, the email said. "We need to make our case," said the leaders of the 10 highest-profile leagues, "before it is too late." |
| NCAA to discuss federal oversight of college athletics with White House | |
| At a forum sponsored by the Big 12 Conference in October, Tom McMillen, a retired professional basketball player and former member of Congress, warned the gathering of college sports professionals that they would soon face "a day of reckoning." McMillen was referring to legislation -- later introduced by Rep. Jim Moran, a Virginia Democrat, during a lame duck session -- that would create a presidential commission on college athletics. While the bill itself was largely symbolic, support for such a commission and federal oversight of college sports has grown throughout the last year. The idea may move closer to a reality this week, as college leaders and executives of the National Collegiate Athletic Association are expected to attend a meeting at the White House. |
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