| Tuesday, February 17, 2015 |
| All 5 Oktibbeha supes now face election challenges | |
 | Elections are now guaranteed for all five Oktibbeha County supervisors after a new District 4 candidate emerged last week, while the county's most-crowded race -- the contest for District 3 justice court judge -- has now expanded to five candidates. Thirty-seven candidates for a variety of Oktibbeha County elections have submitted their qualification notices as of Friday. District 4 Supervisor Daniel Jackson, the last county supervisor without an opponent, will face Bricklee Miller, who serves as the Mississippi Horse Park's facility manager, in November unless other primary candidates emerge. Miller filed paperwork to run as a Republican last week. |
| Sewage injury lawsuit returned to Oktibbeha County | |
 | The Mississippi Supreme Court has reversed a lower court ruling that granted immunity to the city of Starkville over maintenance of its sewage system. Taghi "Ted" Boroujerdi filed the $500,000 lawsuit when he fell at his home after sewage backed up into his house in 2009. He argued the city had a responsibility to maintain the system and his injuries were the result of its negligence. The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, said some duties of sewage maintenance are mandated by statute and regulation. |
| Airbus gets $220M contract for Lakotas | |
| Airbus Helicopters has been awarded a $220.5 million contract to produce UH-72A Lakota helicopters at its Lowndes County plant. U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss) announced Friday that the Army had approved the contract, which calls for 41 Lakotas to be built at the Airbus plant in the Golden Triangle Industrial Park. Cochran is chairman of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. "The Lakota helicopters have proven to be effective and affordable aircraft for the Army and the highly capable workforce in the Golden Triangle Region contributes to the success of this procurement program," Cochran said in a statement. |
| Fat Tuesday is here, let the good times roll: Coast celebrates with parades, parties | |
 | Fat Tuesday is finally upon us and South Mississippi has a full day of parading to celebrate the last day before the Lenten season begins. The fun begins at 1 p.m. as two parades will roll, the Bay St. Louis Krewe of Diamonds and the Gulf Coast Carnival Association in Biloxi. Two night parades also are on the lineup with the Krewe of Gemini rolling in Gulfport at 5:30 p.m. and the Wiggins-Stone County Parade, which had originally been scheduled to roll Monday but was postponed due to weather concerns, rolling at 6 p.m. Forecasts say it will be partly cloudy with a high of 57 so bundle up. |
| Trent Lott in Pascagoula this week for Mississippi Maritime Museum's membership meeting | |
 | Pascagoula native and former U.S. Sen. Trent Lott will be in town this week for the Mississippi Maritime Museum's 2nd annual general membership meeting. The Mississippi Maritime Museum was established in 2010 to build a museum facility in Pascagoula that would preserve the history and educate others about Mississippi's maritime heritage. Lott will deliver a keynote address about the importance of Mississippi's maritime industry. "We hope that anyone who is interested in attending the address by former Sen. Lott will attend the meeting," MMM board president Jack Hoover said. |
| Alday says he's not racist; GOP leaders decry statements | |
 | State Rep. Gene Alday, R-Walls, who came under fire after his racist comments appeared in a Clarion-Ledger article Sunday about public education, said today his remarks were out of context and that he's a nice guy. "I'm not a bad person, and that makes me look like an evil person," Alday said Monday. "I didn't do anything wrong. The guy made me look like a fool." The comments in question refer to African-Americans in his hometown of Walls, a small community in Desoto County. Alday, 57, said that he comes "from a town where all the blacks are getting food stamps and what I call 'welfare crazy checks.' They don't work." Since then, people around the state have condemned the remarks with some calling for his resignation. |
| Alday says he won't resign over comments | |
| A DeSoto County state representative said Monday that comments he made to The Clarion-Ledger newspaper in a Sunday story were taken out of context as state officials condemned his remarks. Republican Rep. Gene Alday made the remarks about the DeSoto County town of Walls, where he was formerly police chief and mayor before winning election to the Legislature in 2011. "I come from a town where all the blacks are getting food stamps and what I call 'welfare crazy checks.' They don't work," Alday was quoted as saying by the Jackson newspaper. Alday now says he didn't intend the remarks for publication and bears no ill will toward anyone, citing past actions to help black people. Alday rejected calls for his resignation, saying he plans to seek another term. |
| Iran bill dies, new version likely | |
 | Legislation designed to prevent the state from contracting with companies that do business with Iran and perhaps affecting the state's relationship with Toyota Motor Corp., died a quiet death Monday in the Senate. The bill, which passed overwhelmingly last week, died on the Senate calendar when the Senate leadership opted to not try to dispose of a motion to reconsider its passage entered by Sen. David Blount, D-Jackson. Blount had maintained that the issue should be left to national politicians and not debated in the Mississippi Legislature. And Blount's position was buoyed in recent days by the revelations that Toyota, which has a manufacturing plant in Blue Springs, might be concerned about the bill. But Sen. Nancy Collins, R-Tupelo, the author of the legislation, stressed Monday that while her bill is dead the issue is not dead for the 2015 session. |
| Sen. Chris McDaniel for Lieutenant Governor? | |
 | While clues suggest he may run, Sen. Chris McDaniel, R-Ellisville, has yet to release an official statement indicating his intent to seek higher office this election year. Monday night, though, the moderator of McDaniel's support group Facebook page, "Friends of Chris McDaniel for US Senate," changed the name of the page to "Friends of Chris McDaniel for Lieutenant Governor." Scott Brewster -- Facebook moderator, former McDaniel campaign staffer, and one of the people who officials found locked in the Hinds County Courthouse on the June 3 U.S. Senate primary -- replaced the group name just after changing the privacy settings of the group from "closed" to "private." |
| McDaniel 'absolutely' pondering run for Lt. Gov. | |
| A spokesman for Republican state Sen. Chris McDaniel says McDaniel is "absolutely thinking about it" on challenging incumbent Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves in the GOP primary. "As we've traveled extensively across the state the last three weeks with the United Conservatives Fund, the question Chris gets asked over and over and over is will he run for lieutenant governor," said McDaniel spokesman Keith Plunkett. "He's absolutely thinking about it, but even in our most private conversations, he hasn't decided." |
| Potential field taking shape for Nunnelee's vacant House seat | |
| Speculation has begun in earnest over who will succeed the late Alan Nunnelee in Mississippi's First District House seat, and conventional wisdom is that DeSoto County will play a key role in determining who North Mississippi's next congressman will be. At least three DeSoto County names -- Hernando Mayor Chip Johnson, state Sen. David Parker of Olive Branch and former state Sen. Merle Flowers -- are being mentioned among the potential field of candidates for the post, which is expected to remain in Republican hands. Other familiar Republican names from throughout North Mississippi are considered serious contenders as well should they choose to run, and at least one Democrat is mentioned for the seat that was held by Democrat Travis Childers for a term before Nunnelee won it. Then there's the Chris McDaniel factor. |
| Mississippi KKK issues 'call to arms' over same-sex marriage | |
| A Ku Klux Klan faction from Mississippi issued a "call to arms in Alabama" in response to Federal court's ruling that an amendment to the state constitution banning same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. The post, which appeared on the United Dixie White Knights' (UDWK) website and later on Stormfront -- the largest online white supremacist forum -- championed Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore for defying Federal courts and called for Klansmen to leave their robes behind and take to the streets in protest, Slate.com reported. "The Mississippi Klan salutes Alabama's chief justice Roy Moore, for refusing to bow to the yoke of Federal tyranny," Brent Waller, the UDKW's imperial wizard, wrote in a Stormfront post. |
| Federal judge in Texas blocks Obama immigration orders | |
 | A federal judge in Texas last night temporarily blocked the Obama administration's executive actions on immigration. The judge, responding to a suit filed by 26 Republican-run states, did not rule on the legality of immigration orders but said there was sufficient merit to the challenge to warrant a suspension while the case goes forward. No law gave the administration the power "to give 4.3 million removable aliens what the Department of Homeland Security itself labels as 'legal presence,'" the judge said in a memorandum opinion. It was a major, if temporary, defeat for the administration, which argued that the case should be thrown out as meritless, "based on rhetoric, not law." |
| Drone Rules Cheered, but Not by All | |
 | Long-awaited federal rules proposed for commercial drones should pave the way for thousands of U.S. businesses to fly the devices in industries like filmmaking, farming and construction, but drone proponents worried that limits in the regulations would stifle other possible uses like package delivery. Drone makers and users generally cheered the rules proposed by the Obama administration on Sunday, which would replace the Federal Aviation Administration's current near-ban on commercial use of the devices. The proposed rules "are more progressive than we expected," said Michael Drobac, executive director of the Small UAV Coalition, a trade group that represents drone makers, including Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc. "But once you spend some time looking at them, some of the things proposed would be devastating to the future of the industry." |
| U.S. Embedded Spyware Overseas, Report Claims | |
 | The United States has found a way to permanently embed surveillance and sabotage tools in computers and networks it has targeted in Iran, Russia, Pakistan, China, Afghanistan and other countries closely watched by American intelligence agencies, according to a Russian cybersecurity firm. In a presentation of its findings at a conference in Mexico on Monday, Kaspersky Lab, the Russian firm, said that the implants had been placed by what it called the "Equation Group," which appears to be a veiled reference to the National Security Agency and its military counterpart, United States Cyber Command. It linked the techniques to those used in Stuxnet, the computer worm that disabled about 1,000 centrifuges in Iran's nuclear enrichment program. It was later revealed that Stuxnet was part of a program code-named Olympic Games and run jointly by Israel and the United States. |
| MUW President Talks Leaving and the University's Future | |
 | The Mississippi University for Women will soon have a new president. Dr. Jim Borsig recently announced he'll be moving on to become commissioner of the Institutions of Higher Learning in Jackson. "I'm leaving a job that I love, to serve a system that I believe in, to help advance the state of Mississippi," says Borsig. With his new position as commissioner, Borsig will continue to be involved with MUW. He'll oversee all eight public universities in Mississippi and believes MUW will continue thrive for the next generation. |
| Ole Miss student gored by bull in Spain | |
| An American university student who was repeatedly gored and tossed by a fighting bull last weekend is improving but remains shaken after the experience, a spokesman the Clinic Hospital in the western city of Salamanca said Tuesday. The spokesman said that University of Mississippi sophomore Benjamin Milley, 20, was not ready to talk publicly but was in contact by telephone with his family. The spokesman said he was accompanied by friends at the hospital. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with hospital rules. |
| Meridian Community College faculty member, student tapped for HEADWAE recognition | |
 | A faculty member who has logged in 16 years of teaching college-level chemistry and a criminology student with aspirations to become a U.S. Marshal are Meridian Community College's recipients of the annual Higher Education Appreciation Day, Working for Academic Excellence (HEADWAE) award. Dr. Angie Carraway, an MCC chemistry instructor, and sophomore Tim Hester of Meridian are recipients of the HEADWAE Outstanding Faculty and Student Awards. They will be recognized by the Mississippi Legislature and at a luncheon today in Jackson. |
| U. of Alabama, Shelton State delay start Tuesday morning | |
 | The University of Alabama and Shelton State Community College plan to delay operations and classes Tuesday as a precaution based on a forecast for freezing weather and potentially hazardous travel conditions. UA employees should report to work at 10 a.m., but should check with their supervisors beforehand to see if they are needed earlier, according to the UA advisory. Classes are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. |
| What's next for the Auburn Oaks? Prof talks about upcoming challenges trees face | |
 | While the new Auburn Oaks were officially planted at their new home at Toomer's Corner on Saturday, it will likely be several years before the 35-foot tall live oaks are fully rooted. Auburn University Professor of Horticulture Gary Keever said that while typically trees take three to five years to reestablish a root system, he's optimistic the Auburn Oaks may require less time since they're already showing growth. "The first big test is when it warms up and the trees start to try and grow," said Keever. "During that time, water is critical because we've got to keep those roots hydrated." |
| Auburn University senior, Miss Alabama International, works to erase stigma | |
 | Miss Alabama International Kaitlyn Hudson, an Auburn University senior, started competing in pageants when she was 9 years old, shortly after her father died. The event changed her life and influenced both her career path and platform as Miss Alabama International. Hudson, 20, is set to graduate in August with a degree in psychology, the same day she'll walk across the stage at the 2015 Miss International Pageant. As for her title as Miss Alabama International, Hudson is using her position to erase the stigma of mental illness. "It's very, very personal to me. When I was 8, my father passed away very tragically, very suddenly. We suspect it had something to do with mental illness," Hudson explained. "My mom suspects, though he was never formally diagnosed, that he had bipolar disorder." |
| LSU launched a state budget website, but what are the other schools doing? | |
 | Last week, LSU launched its own website about the state budget to keep its faculty and students informed about the nearly $400 million in higher education cuts on the table in Louisiana next year. The site -- called the LSU Budget Hub -- invites people to share their ideas for staving off the cuts. It also offers some basic facts about what the proposed reductions might mean for the flagship campus. But LSU isn't the only campus facing dramatic funding reductions. If anything, Louisiana's other colleges and universities are more at risk of financial fallout, because they tend to get less private support than LSU. So what are other schools doing? |
| U. of Tennessee's handling of sexual assault report devastates woman | |
 | She was just three weeks into her freshman year at the University of Tennessee -- her first-choice college -- when one Saturday night party derailed all of her plans. At the outdoor, off-campus student gathering in September, she met a Tennessee football player she knew from high school. A friend offered her a cup of punch. She drank it. Then two or three more. The last thing she remembers before blacking out was taking a selfie with the football player at the party. She woke up lying face down on his dorm room bed as she was being sexually violated. The young woman, whose identity is being shielded by The Tennessean because of her reported sexual assault, disclosed the incident to a resident assistant two days later. The woman said she is devastated by not only the incident, but the university's response. |
| UGA delayed, other schools closed today due to icy weather | |
 | The University of Georgia plans to start classes late today while other schools will remain closed. As a winter storm walloped the South, rain combined with near-freezing temperatures in the Athens area during the night made conditions ideal for black ice on the roadways this morning. That expectation prompted many schools to not take any chances with student and worker safety. Classes at UGA won't start today until 12:30 p.m. |
| UGA: No meningitis threat after student dies from illness | |
| NoneOfficials at the University of Georgia are alerting the public that there is no threat of meningitis on the Athens campus after a student died Monday morning. Channel 2 Action News reported that the student died from encephalitis about 7:30 a.m. at Athens Regional Medical Center. UGA and friends identified the student as Tanzila Alam, 18, a freshman biology major who moved to America from Bangladesh two years ago, Channel 2 reported. Contrary to some rumors --- there is NO evidence of bacterial meningitis on the #UGA campus," said a Twitter post from the university Monday evening. |
| U. of Florida seeking funds for College of Education building renovation | |
| The Board of Governors on Thursday will consider a request from the University of Florida to seek $8 million from the Florida Legislature to renovate the aging Norman Hall. Home to the UF College of Education, with 2,800 students in 28 undergraduate and graduate programs, officials say the 82-year-old Norman Hall is outdated and hazardous -- "unsuitable for preparing educators, innovators, and leaders to meet Florida's educational needs." Total restoration costs are estimated at close to $25 million. It's anticipated that construction would begin in April 2016. |
| Family, officials say woman is ready to lead Texas A&M's Corps of Cadets | |
 | The first woman to lead Texas A&M's Corps of Cadets says she hopes to use the position to motivate cadets to become "better than what they thought they could be." Alyssa Michalke will take over as commander at the end of the semester, more than 40 years after women were first allowed to join the Corps of Cadets. Michalke said she was encouraged by other cadets to apply to become the face of the 2,400-member organization. "In the first five minutes of speaking with her, you knew she was going to go places," said Morgan Cochran, a senior serving as the major unit commander of Second Brigade who met Michalke while playing on the Corps softball team. |
| Colleges' Use of Adjunct Instructors Comes Under Pressure | |
| For decades, the nation's colleges and universities have tried to hold down costs by shifting from reliance on tenured professors to an army of cheaper adjunct instructors. Now that business model is starting to crack, as adjuncts increasingly are winning battles to unionize and schools, in response, have begun to offer long-term contracts and better pay to more of the instructors. The move comes amid growing frustration from students and parents paying tens of thousands of dollars a year in tuition for an education taught mostly by itinerant faculty, sometimes nicknamed "road scholars" because of all the time they spend driving between schools to teach. |
| Wisconsin Sees Presidential Ploy in Walker's Push for University Cuts | |
| Atop a steep hill on the University of Wisconsin campus is a granite boulder affixed with a bronze plaque commemorating the university system's lofty mission: to benefit the entire state by promoting public service and a search for truth. Summed up in one phrase -- "the boundaries of the university are the boundaries of the state" -- the mission statement, known as the Wisconsin Idea, has been cherished by educators and graduates for a century. So when Gov. Scott Walker, a second-term Republican, presented a budget this month proposing to delete some of its most soaring passages, as well as to sharply cut state aid to the system, he ignited a furious backlash that crossed party and regional lines. To his critics, Mr. Walker is trying to capitalize on a view that is popular among many conservatives: that state universities have become elite bastions of liberal academics that do not prepare students for work and are a burden on taxpayers. |
| Obama weighs college tuition as a president and a dad | |
 | He's getting sappy on college campuses, wringing his hands about his tuition savings plan and waxing nostalgic about his own years as an undergraduate. President Obama is hurtling toward a deadline that looms over him much like the end of his time in office does -- the day his first child heads to college. Like other parents, he's thinking about how much it will cost to provide a higher education for his daughter Malia, a high school junior whose recent tour of colleges on the East and West coasts has been hard to hide from social media. Unlike most fathers, though, Obama feels he can do something about it. In this case, the personal experience is clearly informing the president's public policy. |
| U.S. Millennials Come Up Short in Global Skills Study | |
 | America's wealthiest and best-educated young adults still lag behind their peers in other countries in the literacy, numeracy, and computer-age problem-solving skills needed to compete in the global labor market. That, coupled with yawning racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps and even grimmer skills levels for students with less than a college degree, could lead to long-term difficulty for the country, according to a new study by the Education Testing Service Center for Research on Human Capital and Education in Lawrenceville, N.J. It's far from the first study to suggest American students are falling behind their international peers. But the analysis of U.S. millennials specifically highlights that the skills gap goes beyond young people who are typically seen as more "at-risk," like immigrants and high school dropouts. |
| OUR OPINION: Borsig a solid choice as universities leader | |
| The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal editorializes: "Sometimes the obvious, easy choice is also the right one. That seems to be the case with Mississippi's new commissioner of higher education. The state Board of Trustees of Institutions of Higher Learning certainly thought so. Last week, the IHL board named Jim Borsig as the new commissioner to succeed Hank Bounds, who will leave this spring to become president of the University of Nebraska. Borsig is ideally suited for the job, for several reasons." |
| SAM R. HALL (OPINION): Timing is everything in calling MS01 special election | |
| The Clarion-Ledger's Sam R. Hall writes: "A few Republicans are getting a little antsy over when Gov. Phil Byrant will call a special election to fill the congressional seat held by the late-U.S. Rep. Alan Nunnelee. Several people have said Bryant was originally thinking of setting the election for Aug. 4, which coincides with primary elections for state races. That would make some fiscal sense in that it would save a little money holding all the elections at the same time. However, that idea is not being met with fanfare because more than one state elected official is looking at running for the seat. Nobody likes the idea of running for two offices simultaneously. But then there is another caveat in state law that is complicating matters from a political perspective." |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State baseball cancels Tuesday's game; Bulldogs move up in poll | |
| Monday's winter storm warning was enough to cancel Mississippi State's baseball game on Tuesday. The school announced Monday that the matchup with Mississippi Valley State has been postponed. No makeup date has been scheduled. Mississippi State won't play again until Friday at 6:30 p.m. against Marshall. MSU is coming off four wins to begin the season last weekend. The performance helped move the Bulldogs higher in the national rankings. Mississippi State debuted in the Division I Baseball poll at No. 24. MSU's perfect weekend led to a two-spot jump in Perfect Game's poll, where the Bulldogs are ranked 21st. Mississippi State also moved two spots to No. 18 according to Collegiate Baseball. |
| Mississippi State calls off game with Valley due to weather | |
| Mississippi State has canceled its Tuesday baseball contest with Mississippi Valley State in anticipation of inclement weather. The Bulldogs will attempt to reschedule with the Delta Devils or another opponent later in the season. John Cohen's club is off to a 4-0 start and will return to the diamond this weekend, hosting another four-game round robin series against Marshall and Alabama A&M. MSU's first game will be against the Thundering Herd on Friday at 6:30 p.m. |
| Victoria Vivians earns SEC honor, keeps Mississippi State in top 15 | |
| The Southeastern Conference acknowledged Victoria Vivians' historic week with the league's freshman player of the week award. Vivians averaged 24.5 points per game, including 39 against No. 11 Kentucky.The total was the most by a freshman in school history. The honor comes a week after her teammate Morgan William won the award. The loss to Kentucky and win against Florida on Sunday put the Bulldogs at No. 14 in the AP Poll. It's the 13th straight week MSU has been ranked. |
| Mississippi State's emergency landing masks progress made in win | |
| Hidden in Mississippi State's chaotic trip back from Missouri was a victory. The Bulldogs received national attention after their team plane made an emergency landing Saturday night. The story progressed Monday morning with the news that Aerodynamics, the charter airline, received backlash from the Department of Transportation in January. None of it will appear in MSU's record or in any box score. The 77-74 win in Missouri on Saturday speaks much louder of the program. "I think our team right now is learning how to deal with success," MSU coach Rick Ray said. "That's not just a game to game situation. It also happens in-game." |
| Charter service used by Mississippi State had recent issues with DOT | |
| Aerodynamics, the charter service used by Mississippi State's men's basketball team during its trip to Missouri, received an order from the Department of Transportation in January that described the airline as lacking "managerial competence necessary to oversee its current charter," the Clarion-Ledger has learned. MSU's team plane made an emergency landing in St. Louis after the right engine of its twin engine jet failed. No one on board was injured. Mississippi State returned to Starkville on a bus. The order from the DOT was served to Aerodynamics (ADI) on Jan. 22. |
| Feds had problems with charter operator | |
| The airline the Mississippi State men's basketball team chartered after its game against Missouri over the weekend is under scrutiny by the federal government. As a result, MSU is examining its future basketball travel plans. The Department of Transportation denied the application for certificates on Jan. 22 to Aerodynamics Incorporated (ADI) to engage in interstate scheduled air transportation of persons, property, and mail, and revoked its certificates to conduct interstate and foreign charter air transportation of persons, property and mail. The flight carrying the Bulldogs was forced to make an emergency landing Saturday night in St. Louis after a 77-74 win when the right engine of the twin-engine Embraer 145 plane failed. |
| Mississippi State didn't directly book travel with ADI | |
| Mississippi State is looking into its future travel arrangements after the flight its men's basketball team was on made an emergency landing last Saturday night. Mississippi State didn't directly book the flights with Aerodynamics (ADI), the company that chartered the plane on Saturday. MSU has a contract with Shorter Travel, who provides travel services for the NCAA, athletic director Scott Stricklin told the Clarion-Ledger. Stricklin said the school is awaiting more information regarding ADI from Shorter Travel. "Obviously with all the information that's just starting to come out, believe me, I don't have all the details of that," Ray said. |
| PATRICK OCHS (OPINION): Emergency landing won't deter Ray from flying again | |
| The Sun Herald's Patrick Ochs writes: "Saturday night's emergency landing won't deter Mississippi State coach Rick Ray from flying again. Flying in general takes a leap of faith from the passenger -- and a whole lotta trust in the pilot -- so it would be hard to blame the Bulldog coach for opting to bus on the road from here on out. Ray pumped the breaks on the bus idea during Monday's SEC teleconference, however. The Bulldogs were headed home following a big 77-74 victory at Missouri on Saturday when their plane was forced to land after one of the jet's two engines went out." |
| Alabama athletics reports $33 million operating surplus in 2013-14 as football drives revenue | |
| Expenses and revenues continue to grow for Alabama athletics, and the school again finished with a surplus in fiscal 2013-14, according to a financial report submitted to the NCAA in January. According to the documents obtained by AL.com, Alabama's athletics department generated $33,050,145 more than it spent in 2012-13. That's up from the $27.2 million surplus in 2012-13 and continued the trend of surpluses in recent years. It hasn't operated at a loss in the last 10 years, according to documents obtained through public records requests. The athletics department transferred $9.1 million back to the university last year after contributing $5.9 million a year earlier. |
| Auburn athletics reports $13.6 million deficit in 2013-14 | |
| The Auburn athletics department reported a deficit of more than $13.6 million during the 2013-14 fiscal year, according to the university's NCAA financial report, released to AL.com in an open records request Sunday. Auburn has now reported an operating deficit two years in a row, the first two years the university has listed a deficit since AL.com began tracking the athletic department's financial data with the 2006 fiscal year. But the 2014 deficit dwarfed the $865,994 loss Auburn took last year, and the university's deficit ballooned despite an athletics department that racked up more than $113.7 million in revenue, a growth of 9.7 percent percent and more than $10 million over the department's operating revenue in 2013. |
| UGA indoor practice facility's cost, location could come into focus | |
| Four years after a ceremony to mark the opening of a $33 million renovation and expansion to the Butts-Mehre building, Georgia on Tuesday afternoon will take another step in addressing something that still was missing: a full-fledged indoor practice facility. Georgia's athletic board holds its quarterly meeting on campus and again the indoor facility coveted for use by the football program will be a key topic. The board approved $400,000 in September for architects to design and come up with a place for the indoor facility to go. |
| Lady Vols legacy threatened by lawsuits, name change | |
| Blended into a crowd of hundreds rallying for women's issues at the state Capitol in January was a small group of activists holding up handmade signs that said "Save the Lady Vols." The group stood shoulder to shoulder with people largely drawn to the rally because of weightier issues such as abortion rights and health care. The group's issue: Every University of Tennessee women's athletics team except for basketball was mandated to switch their nickname from the Lady Vols to the gender-neutral Volunteers beginning July 1. Opposition to that decision has been impassioned. It's the latest in a litany of events casting a shadow on Tennessee's women's athletics, a program once showcased as a national model with the revered women's basketball team as the crown jewel. |
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