| Monday, January 19, 2015 |
| Mississippi State Architecture Majors go 'Ivywild' with Recycling Concepts | |
 | Mississippi State architecture graduate Jim Fennell and former architecture major Keith Findley may be credited with helping their alma mater bring a recycle-reuse process called "functional symbiosis" to Mississippi. Fennell and Findley met while attending Mississippi's only university architecture program leading to licensure. As career professionals, they returned to MSU recently to share concepts of a working model of functional symbiosis developed in Colorado at a commercial complex known as the Ivywild School. |
| 'Irreplaceable' Mississippi State usher dies at 88 | |
 | Jean Williams, Starkville volunteer, dedicated member of First United Methodist Church and famous usher at Mississippi State basketball games, died Sunday. She was 88. Williams -- known to neighborhood children as "Granny Jean" -- was well known around Starkville and particularly MSU, not only for her outgoing personality and volunteer work, but for her decades-long service as an usher at MSU basketball and football games. It was this people-loving quality that made her a good usher at MSU games, along with her basketball knowledge and love of MSU sports, according to Jay Logan, the director of Humphrey Coliseum/Basketball Game Management at Mississippi State. In addition to helping people to their seats, Williams was close to the players, and to members of the women's basketball team in particular. Logan recalled Williams standing diligently at her post in the stands waving her arms. |
| At MSU-Meridian, state social work leader stresses ethics | |
 | Nearly 75 practitioners and students from around the region are better informed about ethical practices and standards of conduct in the field of social work following a Friday lunch-and-learn at Mississippi State University-Meridian. Coming from throughout East Mississippi and West Alabama, they attended a presentation by Virginia Adolph, state president of the Mississippi Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. Sponsored by the local Deaconess Home Health agency, the program took place at the university's College Park Campus. Prior to the lunch-and-learn, Adolph met with social work students now in their final semester at the university. |
| Social Workers Discuss Ethics at MSU-Meridian | |
 | Nearly 75 practitioners and students from around the region are better informed about ethical practices in the field of social work thanks to a lunch-and-learn at Mississippi State University-Meridian's campus. The state president of the Mississippi chapter of the National Association of Social Workers spoke to a crowd from across East Mississippi and West Alabama. Virginia Adolph explained how to best implement ethical decision-making practices in the field, something she says isn't an option for social workers. |
| Mississippi State to host Producer Advisory Council Feb. 19 | |
 | Mississippi State University's North Mississippi Research and Extension Center will host its annual Producer Advisory Council meeting Feb. 19 in Verona. Agricultural clients will meet with representatives from the MSU Extension Service and the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station to discuss education and research needs. Adam Tullos, MSU senior Extension associate, said the conference typically hosts 250 to 300 producers each year. "It's an excellent opportunity to talk to producers about the latest research," Tullos said. |
| New ag pest bothers people more than crops | |
 | An unusual new agricultural pest has made its way throughout most of the state, and while its impact on soybeans has been low, it is causing trouble in homes. The kudzu bug is an invasive species from Asia that arrived in Atlanta, most likely at the airport. Mississippi State University entomologists said the insect is winged, brown and about the size of a pencil eraser, and it has piercing/sucking mouth parts like a stinkbug. It has three life stages and has no native predators or parasites that attack them. "We've never had a member of this insect family in the country before," said Blake Layton, Extension entomologist. |
| Kudzu bug infestations wreaking havoc across Alabama, many other states | |
 | The pea-sized bugs look a bit like ticks, can suck one-fifth of the yield out of a soybean field, and travel by highway. In the 5 1/2 years since they were first spotted in Georgia, kudzu bugs have spread 400 to 500 miles west and north -- as far as Louisiana, Arkansas, Washington, D.C., and its suburbs, and southern Delaware. "We don't know any way to stop it," said Blake Layton, a Mississippi State University entomologist. The bugs tolerate cold better than fire ants, which aren't much of a problem north of the Mason-Dixon Line, noted John Coccaro, an Agricultural Extension Service agent in Warren County, where they were first sighted in Mississippi. He said his office in Vicksburg gets flooded in the fall by calls about kudzu bug home invasions. |
| Black Violin to Begin 2015 Mississippi State Lyceum Series Later This Month | |
| Mississippi State's spring-semester Lyceum Series begins Jan. 26 with a hip hop duo of classically trained string musicians who met while playing in their Florida high school orchestra. The university performance by Black Violin begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Bettersworth Auditorium of historic Lee Hall. Lyceum organizers are reminding patrons that the Monday concert initially had been scheduled for the following evening, Jan. 27. |
| Starkville, Oktibbeha likely to issue industrial bonds by May | |
| The Golden Triangle Development LINK is expected to ask Oktibbeha County supervisors and Starkville aldermen to issue a combined $10 million in economic development bonds this spring for an industrial park in the western portion of the city. Joey Deason, Oktibbeha County's LINK representative, told members of the Greater Starkville Development Partnership's Committee of 100 that the bonds should be issued in April but no later than May. Last year, both aldermen and supervisors issued bond intent notices for the park, dubbed the Innovation District, in an attempt to finally make the county a viable competitor in the world of industrial recruiting. |
| Activists targeting Tuesday's aldermen meeting in Starkville | |
| On Monday, Starkville residents will march in solidarity of equal rights during Martin Luther King Jr. Day. One day later, aldermen are expected to rubberstamp decisions that critics say take away equality from members of the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender community. After five Starkville aldermen voted in closed-door sessions last week to repeal and amend LGBT-friendly city policies, the social media outcry #WeAreStarkville and subsequent protest publically bloomed. Mayor Parker Wiseman's subsequent vetoes of the board's actions are expected to draw large crowds and further criticisms, both from equality supporters and members of the city's religious community, as the policies did in last year's debates. |
| Starkville LGBT Community Speaks Out Against Board's Decision to Repeal Healthcare Policy | |
| Last week, the Starkville Board of Alderman rescinded the quality resolution and the plus-one health insurance causing some Starkville residents to rally together in hopes to make a change. The LGBT community and supporters are coming together sharing their concerns about the recent setbacks in their community. With influence, they believe it can make a difference. Melissa Grimes, the organizer for the rally, believes the change will deter possible employers from coming to Starkville. Another supporter, John Marszalek and his wife, spoke at the rally in support of his son. Marszalek believes the reversal was a wrong move for the city of Starkville. "It made us go from being a leader to being a source of ridicule really," he said. |
| AG Hood asks court to dismiss Google's suit | |
| Mississippi's attorney general says a suit against him by Google should be dismissed. In court papers filed Jan. 12, Democrat Jim Hood argues the Internet search giant's assertion that it is protected by federal law fails to invalidate state laws under which he's investigating, and that Google has jumped the gun because Hood doesn't know what information his inquiry will yield. Google, based in Mountain View, California, sued Hood in December, asking a judge to block him from pursuing criminal charges or filing a civil lawsuit against the company after Hood issued a subpoena for information about some of Google's operations. |
| Two initiatives could neutralize education funding issue | |
| All Mississippi politicians say they love education, especially during election years. The key question is: How do they translate that love into public policy? Some believe more putting more money into schools is a good way to demonstrate love for education. It's not the whole picture, they say, but it's an important part. And they say it's something that Mississippi, one of the poorest states in the nation, has never done especially well because it has some of the lowest levels of education spending and academic achievement. On the ballot this November, people will be asked to vote "yes" or "no" on whether they support an initiative. Then, they will choose between Initiative 42 and Initiative 42-A. |
| Farm Bureau may enter initiative fray | |
 | Various sources indicate the powerful Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation might campaign for the legislative alternative that will be on the November general election ballot in direct competition with the citizen-sponsored education funding initiative. When asked about the possibility, Greg Gipson, a spokesman for Farm Bureau, referred to "the official language in our policy book" passed during the state convention in December, stating "we oppose funding public schools through a constitutional amendment." Farm Bureau, which claims a membership of more than 192,000 Mississippi families and lobbies for and supports rural and agriculture-related issues, has had success with Mississippi's initiative process. |
| Mississippi voters may face the most confusing ballot question of 2015 | |
 | A battle over the way Mississippi handles state education budgets, headed for the November ballot, will give state voters the chance to decide who has the power to decide sufficient funding levels -- if they can differentiate between a handful of confusingly-worded choices. Democratic education supporters collected enough signatures to qualify a proposed constitutional amendment for the November ballot that would require the state to fund "an adequate and efficient system of free public schools." The amendment would give the state Chancery Court the authority to enforce funding levels. But Republican opponents of the measure say it gives too much power to the court, which has 49 members spread across 20 districts. Their alternative would leave the power to make funding decisions in the hands of state legislators. |
| Mississippi withdraws from Common Core testing group | |
| Mississippi will sever its ties from the controversial Common Core testing consortium known as PARCC, according to a press release sent Friday by the state Board of Education. The education board voted earlier to withdraw from the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers consortium amid anti-Common Core and anti-PARCC sentiments by some of the state's top political leaders. Despite withdrawing from PARCC, Mississippi still has Common Core, which it calls "Mississippi's College- and Career-Ready Standards." |
| Proposal would fine tattletales $25K | |
| A five-term Mississippi legislator wants to slap a minimum $25,000 fine on anyone who discloses information from a public body's executive session. State. Rep. Omeria Scott, D-Laurel, said discussions that take place in a closed-door meeting shouldn't be shared and that doing so violates the spirit of Mississippi's Open Meetings Law. The law specifies 12 reasons a public body can meet privately but doesn't prohibit anyone from revealing details about the meeting afterward. But the head of the Mississippi Ethics Commission, which would take responsibility for enforcing the proposed rule, opposes the bill. "I disagree that it's a violation of the spirit of the law," Tom Hood said. |
| Judge tosses water association suit against regulation | |
| A federal judge has dismissed a suit that sought to stop the Mississippi Public Service Commission from regulating certain aspects of rural water associations and electric cooperatives. The Mississippi Rural Water Association sought to void a rule that requires a 60-day delay in utility deposits for domestic violence victims, claiming the commission overstepped its authority and conflicted with federal law. Northern District Commissioner Brandon Presley, who pushed for the rule after Louisiana and Texas took broader measures, hailed the victory. |
| Supreme Court to Decide Whether Gays Nationwide Can Marry | |
 | The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide whether all 50 states must allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. The court's announcement made it likely that it would resolve one of the great civil rights questions of the age before its current term ends in June. The justices ducked the issue in October, refusing to hear appeals from rulings allowing same-sex marriage in five states. That surprise action delivered a tacit victory for gay rights, immediately expanding the number of states with same-sex marriage to 24 from 19, along with the District of Columbia. The pace of change on same-sex marriage, in both popular opinion and in the courts, has no parallel in the nation's history. |
| N.S.A. Breached North Korean Networks Before Sony Attack, Officials Say | |
| The trail that led American officials to blame North Korea for the destructive cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment in November winds back to 2010, when the National Security Agency scrambled to break into the computer systems of a country considered one of the most impenetrable targets on earth. Spurred by growing concern about North Korea's maturing capabilities, the American spy agency drilled into the Chinese networks that connect North Korea to the outside world, picked through connections in Malaysia favored by North Korean hackers and penetrated directly into the North with the help of South Korea and other American allies, according to former United States and foreign officials, computer experts later briefed on the operations and a newly disclosed N.S.A. document. |
| Civil rights, military leadership and Islam among Gordy Honors College topics at MUW | |
| The Gordy Honors College's Forum Series opens Thursday, Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. at Nissan Auditorium in Parkinson Hall on the Mississippi University for Women campus. The Forum Series continues through April presenting lectures, film and undergraduate and faculty research. Dr. Thomas G. Velek, director of the Gordy Honors College, noted that the Forum Series continues to be one of the premier lecture series in the Southeast. All talks are free and open to the MUW campus and the community. Presentations are in Nissan Auditorium unless noted otherwise. |
| Ole Miss' Tim Walsh takes University of Florida post | |
| Tim Walsh, executive director of the Ole Miss Alumni Association, has accepted a position as assistant vice president for alumni affairs at the University of Florida, effective March 2. Walsh, 53, a Memphis native, has worked with the University of Mississippi alumni association for almost 25 years. He has a bachelor's degree in public administration and a master's degree in higher education, both from Ole Miss. |
| Auburn professor emeritus discusses thawing of U.S./Cuba relations | |
 | The White House announced plans to ease the half-century embargo against Cuba Thursday, a move Havana native and Auburn University professor emeritus Diego Gimenez, Ph.D., has anticipated for more than a decade. "I'm just like any other Cuban American that is interested in the well being of his motherland," he said. Gimenez, an extension specialist and associate professor-emeritus AU's College of Agriculture, was one of a group of five Alabamians led by then-Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks in a delegation to Cuba. |
| New U. of Florida president covering a lot of ground | |
 | Kent Fuchs has covered a lot of territory in the past two weeks. He attended his first NCAA college bowl game in Birmingham, Alabama. He traveled to Tallahassee -- twice. Once for Gov. Rick Scott's inauguration, and a second time to meet one-on-one with Scott, Cabinet members and other state leaders. And Fuchs plans to visit more Florida communities in the coming weeks to get acquainted with its residents and to introduce himself. "Hi, I'm Kent Fuchs, the new president of the University of Florida." Fuchs, who officially began serving as UF's 12th president on Jan. 1, has kept a busy schedule as he familiarizes himself with the campus and its priorities, talking to students, faculty, deans, department heads, vice presidents and other administrators. He even attended a seminar on storytelling with communications staff. |
| UGA students turning away from teaching profession, enrollment figures show | |
 | Reflecting state and national trends, enrollment in the University's College of Education has declined sharply in the past five years and is at its lowest level in at least a decade. This fall, 4,220 of UGA's roughly 35,000 students were graduates or undergraduates in the College of Education. That's a drop of nearly 14 percent from fall 2009. Other education colleges across the state are also reporting steep declines in education enrollment. |
| LSU to host video game developing event | |
 | LSU will again will serve as a host-site for an international video game design weekend later this month. Global Game Jam first came to LSU last year. The 48-hour event gives participants a chance to work around the clock on collaborating and competing in programming, designing and writing video games. The event will kick off Jan. 23 in LSU's Digital Media Center, where leading game developers will speak to contestants and announce this year's theme. Another 488 locations around the world will also take part in the Game Jam. |
| Crowdfunding propels scientific research | |
| Today, an increasing number of academic scientists are paying attention to how their hair looks in photos, considering whether they should blog, and figuring out how to translate their life's work into a brief and attention-grabbing YouTube clip for strangers. Science historian David Kaiser says the trend is being driven by a flip-flop in how science research is funded in the United States. In the 1960s, the government supported two-thirds of the country's research and development. These days its share is closer to one-third -- with companies, philanthropic organizations and other private sources paying for the rest. |
| State Spending on Higher Education Inches Up, but Fiscal Pitfalls Remain | |
 | An annual report on state spending on higher education is mostly good news, at least for the fiscal year just past. But widen the lens, and the focus muddies: Half of the states are still appropriating less for higher education than they did five years ago. And the prospects for future spending are clouded by falling oil prices and state lawmakers' resistance to raising taxes. Over all, states increased appropriations for higher education by more than 5 percent from the 2014 to the 2015 fiscal years. |
| What the President's Tax Proposal Would Mean for Higher Education | |
| Over the weekend, the White House announced a broad outline of the tax-reform plan that President Obama will lay out in his State of the Union address on Tuesday. While unlikely to gain much traction with a Republican Congress, the plan could help set the agenda for Democrats looking ahead to 2016. The plan would increase taxes on wealthy individuals and financial firms, and would offer new and expanded benefits to low- and middle-income households. It also has several direct implications for higher education. |
| EDITORIAL: Good news for USM, William Carey | |
 | The Hattiesburg American editorializes: "The University of Southern Mississippi and William Carey University have a lot to celebrate as they move into 2015. ...The investment of significant funds shows the great amount of confidence the community has in Carey. And for USM, Scott Hall's opening is the next stage of the university's commitment to improving the quality of life for its students. Those investments eventually will filter into the Pine Belt to the betterment of us all." |
| BILL CRAWFORD (OPINION): College boards at a crossroads | |
 | Syndicated columnist Bill Crawford of Meridian writes: "IHL Commissioner Hank Bounds has accepted the job as president of the University of Nebraska system. Eric Clark, executive director of the Mississippi Community College system, has announced he will retire this year. So both the IHL Board of Trustees and the Mississippi Community College Board (MCCB) find themselves seeking new leaders. ...Both Bounds and Clark were hired, in part, because of their relationships in the Legislature and the hope they could bring home the bacon. It will be interesting to see what both these boards do now. ...Board choices will impact higher education for years to come." |
| GEOFF PENDER (OPINION): Present, but unaccounted for | |
| The Clarion-Ledger's Geoff Pender writes: "State Sen. Chris McDaniel received a warm greeting from a colleague on the Senate floor: 'Chris! Welcome back! Where have you been? I'm glad to finally see you!' Trouble was, this was near the end of the second week of the current legislative session. After his storied run for U.S. Senate last year, in which he galvanized tea party conservatives and drew national attention, many wondered if McDaniel would be a force to be reckoned with in the state Senate this year. But so far, mostly, he hasn't been there, except on paper. McDaniel was on the Senate floor Jan. 6, the first day of the session, but has since been missing from the chamber most days of the session." |
| SALTER (OPINION): Rapunzel was going to spin kudzu into black gold | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: "I like to think of it as the day that Mississippi taxpayers were told that with a little faith and an investment in new technology, we could turn kudzu into gold. Black gold, Texas Tea, you know the rest of the song. Back in 2010, it took only a one-day special session of the Mississippi Legislature to pass $76 million worth of taxpayer-funded economic incentives to lure a Pasadena, Texas company to Mississippi that promised to build three plants in the state that would successfully convert wood chips and other biomass into a crude oil substitute that could be refined into gasoline and diesel fuel. That's how Kior -- at inception one of the real darlings of the emerging biofuels technology industry and early on a Wall Street newsmaker -- was able to eventually put Mississippi taxpayers on the hook for an economic investment that has to date gone south." |
SPORTS
| Ready's play in final minute lifts Mississippi State | |
| I.J. Ready was true to his last name. Catching a pass from teammate Fred Thomas with 47 seconds left Saturday, the Mississippi State men's basketball team's point guard took a deep breath and fired a tie-breaking 3-pointer. Forty seconds later, Ready added two free throws to preserve a 57-54 win against Vanderbilt at Hu |
| No. 15 Mississippi State beats Alabama to end skid | |
| After two straight losses, Mississippi State made its way back into the win column. Behind a season-high 17 points from Kendra Grant and 12 points from Morgan William, No. 15 MSU defeated Alabama 66-50 on Sunday in Starkville. "We are having a tough time putting together stretches of great offensively play," MSU coach Vic Schaefer said in a press release. "Defensively, I have no complaints. We simply are struggling on offense. I think we have some good offensive weapons. We have to figure that part out." |
| Heck provides it all for Mississippi State baseball | |
| Life can be daunting for a freshman baseball player in the Southeastern Conference. So when Ryan Gridley, a middle infielder from Macon, Georgia, arrived at Mississippi State last fall, he was looking for help. That help arrived in the form of MSU's team captain. "The first person who reached out to me and started to hit with me was Seth Heck," Gridley said. "That really meant a lot to me. (It) showed me he is a leader on this team. He leads in the weight room, leads in the locker room. He is the definition of a leader." Such is the impact of Heck on MSU's baseball team. |
| Mississippi State will have ties to Super Bowl champion | |
| Super Bowl XLIX will have a maroon tint to it. Both Seattle and New England feature former Mississippi State players on their roster. The Seahawks' K.J. Wright is only the fifth former Bulldog to play in multiple Super Bowls. The linebacker looks to become only the second former player to win two Super Bowls. The Patriots boast two former MSU players. Chris White, a fourth-year linebacker, is on New England's active roster, making his first appearance in the Super Bowl. Deontae Skinner, who played for MSU last year, is on the Patriots' practice squad. Skinner started one game for New England this season. |
| Mississippi State women's tennis sweeps Sunday doubleheader | |
 | After a solid fall season, the Mississippi State women's tennis team successfully carried its momentum into the start of the 2015 dual match season Sunday, earning a pair of 7-0 victories against Alabama State and Jackson State at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre. With both wins, the Bulldogs open the dual match season at 2-0 overall and have won four consecutive season-opening matches. "It was a solid first day of competition for us," said MSU women's tennis coach Daryl Greenan. "With most of the team competing in their first dual matches, it was obvious that they were dealing with nerves. They did a good job of playing through them. Overall, it was a good start to build on." |
| Gulf Coach Coaching Clinic adds Mississippi State's Manny Diaz to slate | |
| The 52nd Gulf Coach Coaching Clinic has added another coach to its crowded schedule. Organizer Lindy Callahan said new Mississippi State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz will speak on Feb. 19 at 5 p.m. The clinic, which will feature Alabama coach Nick Saban and Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen, will be held at the Beau Rivage on Feb. 18-20. |
| Bob Boyd, Who Battled a Basketball Giant, Dies at 84 | |
| Bob Boyd coached the University of Southern California to more than 200 basketball victories and three Top 20 national rankings in the 1960s and '70s. But he was a victim of unfortunate timing. Boyd was among the most successful coaches in U.S.C. basketball history, but when he died on Wednesday at his home in Palm Desert, Calif., at 84, he was remembered as well for having collided with college basketball's greatest dynasty, the reign of Coach John Wooden at U.C.L.A. "I was at the right place at the wrong time," Boyd once told The Los Angeles Times. After his years at U.S.C., Boyd coached for five seasons at Mississippi State. |
| 'Power Five' leagues expand athletic scholarships to cover full cost of attendance | |
 | In a historic vote Saturday, the five wealthiest conferences in the National Collegiate Athletic Association agreed to expand their athletic scholarships to cover the full cost of attendance at an athlete's college or university. The decision came during the NCAA's annual convention, where the 65 institutions in the "Power Five" leagues -- the Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Big 12, Pacific 12, and Southeastern Conferences -- voted for the first time under a new governance structure. The new structure grants the leagues a greater level of autonomy to adopt a range of new rules pertaining to athletes' rights and benefits and, for the first time, allows athletes to vote on legislation. |
| NCAA to Allow Big Sports Schools to Offer Full Cost-of-Attendance Scholarships | |
 | For the first time in modern sports history, college athletes at big-time sports schools can get scholarships that cover more than tuition, room, board and books. The NCAA's five richest athletic conferences on Saturday voted to allow their 65 schools to offer players scholarships that cover the full cost of attending college, which could amount to a few thousand dollars a year more. The vote, at the NCAA's annual conference near Washington, D.C., was among the first official measures voted into place since the NCAA's so-called power conferences last year won the freedom to make some of their own rules. |
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