| Wednesday, March 11, 2015 |
| Mississippi State Study Links Alcohol, Insomnia to Suicide | |
 | Insomnia symptoms affect the risk of suicide among people who drink alcohol, according to a groundbreaking study led by the director of Mississippi State University's Sleep, Suicide and Aging Laboratory. Principal investigator Michael R. Nadorff, an assistant professor of psychology, headed the multi-institutional team representing MSU, Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Emory University's School of Medicine in Atlanta, and the Veterans Integrated Service Network 19 in Glendale, Colorado. The new study -- the first of its kind -- demonstrates how wakefulness is connected to the relationship between alcohol use and suicide risk. The work also details how professional assessment and treatment of specific sleep problems may reduce the suicide risk for people who drink alcohol. |
| Extension Service offers free gardening classes | |
 | Mississippi State University Extension Service in Decatur will offer a program that will show families the joys of gardening. "Families Growing Together" is a six-week free program for adults and children. Participants will meet every other week -- beginning March 31 and ending June 8 -- at 6 p.m. at the MSU Coastal Plain Experiment Station. Topics will include garden planning and preparation, container gardening, raised beds, harvest tips, nutrition education, food preservation and food budgeting. "We want this program to give families the opportunity to learn how they can enjoy gardening together, and how it can impact their income, along with how to increase food safety practices," MSU Extension Agent County Coordinator Katrina McCalphia said. |
| Fine-tune irrigation and fertilizer to help maximize corn yields | |
 | As corn planting time nears, Mississippi growers are wondering if they'll face a third year in a row of cold, wet weather and possible delays getting seed into the ground. Although 2013 and 2014 saw rocky starts, growers ended up harvesting record corn yields both years -- 180 bushels and 186 bushels, respectively. Could those yields have been better? Possibly, says Erick Larson, associate Extension and research professor of plant and soil sciences at Mississippi State University. |
| Groups cash in on specialty plates | |
 | The Vietnam veteran plate is one of many specialty license plates Mississippi drivers have the option of purchasing for their vehicles. Most are $31, but they range from $1 to $51 according to the Mississippi Department of Revenue's website. The specialty plates are all sponsored by the organization that receives the money, said Kathy Waterbury, a spokesperson for the MDOR. She said the organizations have to ask state lawmakers for the authority to sponsor specialty plates. The Legislature then sets the prices for the plates. The most popular specialty plates in Mississippi, judging by the amount spent on them, are for colleges and universities. Of the university plates purchased, 18,367 of them were for Mississippi State University, while 15,596 were for the University of Mississippi. |
| ER doctor Jones announces for Congress | |
 | Starner Jones of Pontotoc, an emergency room physician in Memphis, has announced he is running in the May 12 1st District congressional special election. The post is vacant because of the death of incumbent Alan Nunnelee on Feb. 6 after a battle with cancer. Jones is the 10th candidate to announce to the Daily Journal for the post. In addition, Henry Ross of Eupora, a former mayor and circuit court judge, has appeared at a candidate forum and also appears to be running in the special election. Ross ran unsuccessfully for the post in 2010 and 2012. |
| Mississippi House puts open hospital meetings and records back on track | |
 | The Mississippi House is giving new life to a push to open some now-closed public hospital board meetings and expand access to hospital records. The House voted 109-8 (with four voting absent or present) Tuesday to send forward an amended version of Senate Bill 2407. Sen. Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula, the original author of the bill, said he would have to study all the changes the House made before deciding whether to support it when it comes back to the Senate. "What I heard of the debate, it was closer to the Senate bill," he said. "I'm thrilled the amendment has applied it again to the all the public hospitals in the state." |
| Gun fight in the Legislature | |
 | Often wearing a tan military-looking jacket with a Mississippi Gun Rights logo on it, Noel Fritsch has lobbied lawmakers since January to pass "constitutional carry," allowing people to carry concealed guns without a permit. At first welcomed by conservatives in the pro-gun Mississippi Legislature, Fritsch appears to have worn out his welcome with several, including the senator who filed the bill he wanted. They vow never again to deal with him or his organization, after they were targeted with "robo-calls" and social media ads claiming they are anti-gun rights. Fritsch also faces complaints that he was lobbying lawmakers without being registered as a lobbyist, a potential violation of state law, albeit one that's seldom prosecuted. As was often the case when he served as communications director for state Sen. Chris McDaniel's U.S. Senate campaign last year, Fritsch has in part become the issue. |
| Senate passes House bill to abolish inspection stickers | |
| The Senate agreed to a House bill Tuesday to abolish vehicle safety inspections, but added an amendment to continue with inspection of window tint. However, state Sen. John Polk, R-Hattiesburg, said a vehicle owner would only have to get approval once for their window tint, not an annual inspection. Polk, who authored a Senate bill with the tint language that died, said the amendment adds the language from the Senate bill to the House bill. With the approval today of the House Bill 982, it means the state is one step closer to doing away with safety inspection stickers. The bill now goes back to the House. |
| Bill advances to allow sale of Hal & Mal's building | |
| A bill has gained approval in the Senate for the state to sell the building that houses the iconic Hal & Mal's restaurant in downtown Jackson. The Senate approved House Bill 412, but changed language in the bill to reflect that only the building housing Hal & Mal's would be sold. The House bill, filed by state Rep. Tom Weathersby, R-Florence, was to allow the sale of the Old Capitol Green project property, which included Hal & Mal's. The language added by the Senate is only Hal & Mal's. The state owns the building and land. For more than 30 years, Hal & Mal's owner Malcolm White said his family has paid rent to the state and dreamed of buying the building that houses the restaurant. |
| House Democrats condemn Philip Gunn for ending debate | |
| House Democrats condemned Republican Speaker of the House Philip Gunn on Tuesday for abruptly ending debate on a controversial bill for Mississippi to join a drive for a U.S. constitutional convention. "It was a very important piece of legislation, and it deserved vetting," said House Democratic leader Bobby Moak of Bogue Chitto during a hastily called press conference at the Capitol. Rep. Steve Holland, D-Plantersville, later said Gunn's actions violated the House rules of decorum and tainted the memory of longtime Speaker of the House Tim Ford, who died last month. Ford, Holland said, never would have stifled debate. "That right was abridged today," Holland said. "It's been abridged a lot these past four years. That's what pisses me off." |
| House backs convention to mandate federal balanced budget | |
| Tensions erupted Tuesday as the state House debated and ultimately passed legislation being proposed nationally that would require the federal government to get permission from the states not to have a balanced budget. The proposal, which passed the Senate earlier this session, on Tuesday cleared the House 68-51. It now goes to Gov. Phil Bryant and, if he signs it, Mississippi will become the third state to enter into the Compact for a Balanced Budget. Others argued the process would not be legal. Debate on the proposal was contentious. |
| House backs convention to mandate balanced budget | |
 | Mississippi could become the third state to sign onto a plan for a nationwide constitutional convention to force the federal government to balance its budget and require states' permission to increase national debt. The House voted 68-51 after a contentious debate where Republicans cut off the discussion over the loud objections of Democrats. The measure was held for more debate, but is likely to move to Gov. Phil Bryant for his approval or veto. Opponents say the plan is poorly conceived. They note Mississippi depends on federal subsidies and question provisions allowing a sales tax to replace federal income taxes. |
| Parents 'Fed Up With 50th' push for education funding in Mississippi | |
| Last week was the final straw for many Coast parents. For years, they said, they've watched class sizes at their children's schools increase as districts struggled with funding. And last week, they watched legislators debate bills to cut taxes -- taxes they say should be going to education. So Thursday, a group created 'Fed Up with 50th,' a grass-roots effort aimed at pushing lawmakers in Jackson to fund public education. Starting with six parents on the Coast, it has grown to have more than 3,300 Facebook likes from all over the state and organizers are plotting their next move. Statewide education and parents' groups have in particular been alarmed at the House proposal to eliminate income tax, which brings in $1.7 billion, and without which advocates say the state could not possibly fund education. |
| Cochran opts not to sign GOP letter to Iran's leaders | |
| Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran did not join other Republicans in signing a letter to Iran's leaders about a possible deal on the country's nuclear program, saying any attempts to affect the ongoing negotiations should be done privately. "I just don't think we ought to be discussing it in public," he said. Cochran was one of seven Republican senators who opted not to not sign the letter sent Monday. It warns Iran's leaders that any agreement reached with the Obama administration without congressional approval could be reversed by the next president or modified by a future Congress. Cochran said the nuanced and sensitive nature of the administration's talks with Iran require a more cautious approach than the one represented by the letter. |
| GOP letter to Tehran backfires | |
 | A letter from Senate Republicans to Iran's leadership has divided the GOP and forced it to play defense, endangering the party's chances of passing a new round of sanctions that would kill President Obama's nuclear talks with Tehran. The talks have long divided Democrats, and just last month it appeared nearly certain that Republicans would have enough votes in the Senate to override a presidential veto of new sanctions. That has quickly changed, and the outrage over the letter from 47 Republicans to Tehran is threatening to scuttle Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) hopes of winning Senate approval of two bills that would hem in Obama's talks with Iran. |
| Clinton: It 'might have been smarter' to use a State Department e-mail account | |
 | Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday that she regretted using only a private e-mail server for work-related correspondence as secretary of state, saying that she sent and received more than 60,000 e-mails through her private account in a four-year span but that none contained classified material. Scrambling to extinguish a growing political controversy ahead of the expected April launch of her 2016 presidential campaign, Clinton held a hastily arranged news conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York, her first in more than two years. She was lawyerly and measured, but also defiant in insisting that she did not violate any administration rules despite White House guidelines instructing employees to use official e-mail accounts. |
| As Climate Wars Heat Up, Some Skeptics Are Targets | |
 | Scientists who warn that the earth's climate is changing have been subjected to hacking, investigations, and even court action in recent years. That ire usually comes from conservative groups and climate skeptics seeking to discredit the research findings. Now it appears that liberals and environmentalists may be using some of the same tactics against the handful of scientists who either deny climate change outright, or think the risks are not as great as stated. The goal, according to those pursuing the skeptics of climate change, is to expose ties between those scientists and industry. But some mainstream climate scientists are nervous, fearing that investigations by both sides may be more about intimidation than truth. |
| CIA Aided Justice Department Secret Program to Spy on U.S. Cellphones | |
 | The Central Intelligence Agency played a crucial role in helping the Justice Department develop technology that scans data from thousands of U.S. cellphones at a time, part of a secret high-tech alliance between the spy agency and domestic law enforcement, according to people familiar with the work. The CIA and the U.S. Marshals Service, an agency of the Justice Department, developed technology to locate specific cellphones in the U.S. through an airborne device that mimics a cellphone tower, these people said. Some law-enforcement officials are concerned the aerial surveillance of cellphone signals inappropriately mixes traditional police work with the tactics and technology of overseas spy work that is constrained by fewer rules. Civil-liberties groups say the technique amounts to a digital dragnet of innocent Americans' phones. |
| Claude Sitton, 89, Acclaimed Civil Rights Reporter, Dies | |
 | Claude Sitton, a son of the South whose unwavering coverage of the civil rights movement for The New York Times through most of that era's tumultuous years was hailed as a benchmark of 20th-century journalism, died on Tuesday in Atlanta. He was 89. In later years Mr. Sitton won a Pulitzer Prize as a columnist for The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., where he was also the editor. But it was in the crucible of the Jim Crow South that he forged his most enduring legacy. When Turner Catledge, the Mississippi-born managing editor of The Times, chose Mr. Sitton to cover the South in 1958, "he was about to set in motion a level of reporting that would establish the national standard for two decades," Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff wrote in 2006 in their Pulitzer Prize-winning book. |
| Mississippi residents owe $11B in college loans | |
| Oxford resident Dawn Bullion owes $31,000 on a student loan she took out more than two decades ago. The kicker: She borrowed only $20,000 at the time. But because she deferred payment for two years and could afford only the minimum payment the rest of the time, her debt continued to mount at a 6.5 percent annual interest rate. "I will probably die with student loan debt," said Bullion, 46, who earned a bachelor's degree from a different university three years ago. Bullion is among nearly a half million Mississippi residents with outstanding debt from college aid. Together, they owe more than $11.2 billion -- or about $26,420 per borrower -- according to figures released by the White House on Tuesday in conjunction with a new Student Aid Bill of Rights. |
| Mississippi College staff retirement plan wins honor | |
| A Mississippi College retirement plan earned first-place honors at a conference attracting many of America's biggest names in the financial business. MC's "Retirement 101" plan won the top award in the category Ongoing Education for a Non-Profit at the March 1-3 meetings in Miami. "I was quite pleased, since we were competing against much larger plans and more polished marketing proposals," Mississippi College business professor Nancy Anderson said in a news release. |
| Wagnon selected East Central Community College administrator | |
 | Bill Wagnon of Fort Smith, Ark., was recently selected Associate Vice President for Public Information at East Central Community College in Decatur, announced ECCC President Dr. Billy Stewart. Prior to beginning his employment on Mar. 2, 2015, Wagnon served as Director of Marketing and Communications for the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. In total, Wagnon has 29 years experience in public relations/higher education including similar positions at the University of West Alabama, Birmingham-Southern College, Mississippi State University and the University of Alabama. Wagnon received the Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Relations/Journalism from Auburn University and completed a Master of Science in Higher Education Administration at Mississippi State University. |
| U. of Alabama elects first black SGA president in four decades | |
 | The University of Alabama Tuesday elected their first black Student Government Association president in almost four decades. Elliot Spillers, a junior from Pelham, is also considered to be the first non-Machine candidate to win the election since John Merrill (now Alabama's Secretary of State) won in 1986. Spillers will be the second black president in the SGA's 100-year history, following Cleo Thomas's election in 1976. Thomas is thought to have recruited significant supporters within the sorority community, along with independent students, to buck the Machine, a secret group of traditionally white fraternities and sororities who are thought to have controlled campus institutions for decades. |
| Elliot Spillers to lead SGA at U. of Alabama | |
 | University of Alabama students on Tuesday elected the second black Student Government Association president in the organization's 100-year history. Elliot Spillers, a junior from Pelham, was elected president for the 2014-15 school year, defeating junior Stephen Keller of Baton Rouge, La. Students cast 14,931 votes Tuesday. Spillers received 8,602 votes, according to Richard Le Comte of UA Media Relations. Spillers is also among a handful of non-Machine candidates to win the presidency. The Machine is the bloc of Greek-letter organizations on campus that typically turns out student voters during elections to back its candidates and has used its clout to dominate campus politics. |
| How much does LSU want to get paid for throwing Bobby Jindal's prayer rally? | |
 | The LSU Athletic Department has charged the group sponsoring Gov. Bobby Jindal's prayer rally held in January a total of $29,161 for holding the event on its Baton Rouge campus. The American Family Association, a conservative Christian organization based in Mississippi, had previously agreed to pay for the costs associated with renting and the Pete Maravich Assembly Center (PMAC) for the day-long rally. The organization signed a contract with LSU to rent the facility for $18,500 in late October, but it appears the event cost far more money than originally anticipated. Louisiana taxpayers also ended up footing at least part of the bill for Jindal's rally. |
| LSU ranks among top engineering graduate schools on latest U.S. News list | |
 | LSU's graduate program in engineering is among the top 100 in the nation, according to the latest rankings out from U.S. News & World Report. Richard Koubek, dean of LSU's College of Engineering, said in a news release Tuesday that the No. 94 ranking is "a direct result of our dedicated students, faculty, staff and alumni." LSU's engineering graduate program was ranked the highest in Louisiana and bested several other programs in the Southeastern Conference, including the University of Alabama, University of Arkansas, University of Georgia, University of South Carolina and University of Mississippi. |
| Richardson named U. of Florida liberal arts dean | |
 | The search is over. Provost Joe Glover has chosen two in-house candidates to fill two top executive posts at the University of Florida after conducting extensive nationwide searches. David Richardson, interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences since the departure last summer of Paul D'Anieri, was chosen Tuesday to run the university's largest college. And interim chief financial officer Michael McKee was chosen to stay on in that position, too. |
| U. of Florida showcases its star innovators | |
| The University of Florida set three records last year that came up several times during Tuesday's UF Celebration of Innovation: $702 million in research funding, 87 inventions licensed to companies to take to market and 17 startup companies launched around some of those inventions. The ninth annual event showed off some of the more promising early stage UF spinoff companies in search of investors and executives to take them to the next level. More than 300 people attended, including investors from throughout Florida and nationwide, including Boston, California and Philadelphia, said Jane Muir, associate director of the Office of Technology Licensing. |
| U. of Arkansas Provost A Finalist for U. of Toledo Presidency | |
| One of the three finalists vying to become the next president at the University of Toledo has dropped out. Christopher Howard, president of Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, told Toledo officials on Monday that he's no longer interested in the job. The two remaining candidates are Michele Wheatly, senior adviser to the president of West Virginia University, and Sharon Gaber, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Arkansas. |
| U. of Arkansas Walton College Dean Eli Jones to Join Texas A&M | |
 | Eli Jones has been named the dean of Texas A&M's Mays Business School and will start July 1. Jones, the dean of the Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville since 2012, is an alumnus of A&M, where he earned three degrees, including a Ph.D. in marketing in 1997. Jones will replace interim dean Ricky Griffin, who has served since Jerry Strawser stepped down to become the university's vice president of finance and administration. On Tuesday, he called the UA a "great institution" and said that the "positive momentum of the Walton College and the entire region" made his decision to leave difficult. But he said that working for his alma mater would allow him to be closer to his family. |
| U. of Kentucky paying $300,000 to sponsor group trying to improve eastern part of state | |
 | The University of Kentucky will pay $300,000 to become the first corporate sponsor of a group trying to improve life in Eastern Kentucky. Shaping our Appalachian Region, or SOAR, was formed in 2013 by Gov. Steve Beshear and U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers. It has held several meetings in the region and recently hired an executive director. According to the sponsorship agreement, UK will get branding rights and recognition as a SOAR partner but will not perform any work directly for the group. UK officials, however, said SOAR dovetails with numerous health care initiatives underway in Eastern Kentucky led by UK faculty and staff. |
| South Carolina's colleges would have to help lower textbook costs under new bill | |
 | A Senate bill introduced Tuesday would have South Carolina's public colleges supply advice to students and professors on how to save money on textbooks. New textbook prices increased by 82 percent between 2002-2012 -- nearly three times the rate of inflation, a U.S. Government Accountability Office report found. The bill -- sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Nikki Setzler, D-Lexington -- would require colleges to post whether a textbook is required or recommended and if students can use an alternate edition of the textbook. Colleges also must provide guidance to students on how to save money on textbook purchases and offer assistance to faculty on the availability of less costly formats. |
| U. of South Carolina's graduate international business program tops national rankings | |
| University of South Carolina's graduate international master's in business administration program was ranked No. 1 in the nation again by U.S. News & World Report, the school said Tuesday. The Darla Moore School of Business has ranked in the top three for its international program for 26 consecutive years. The school's undergraduate international business education has ranked first in the nation with U.S.News & World Report for 16 consecutive years. |
| Texas A&M colleges hold conference to help improve workplace, educational environments | |
 | Three Texas A&M University colleges held a day-long collaborative conference Tuesday and created a dialogue that sought to improve workplace and educational environments campus-wide. The second annual Climate Matters conference hosted by the College of Education and Human Development, the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Dwight Look College of Engineering drew a full crowd of students and faculty to the Memorial Student Center's Bethancourt Ballroom to hear panelists from A&M discuss topics of diversity, race and gender in academia, impacts of bias, expression of identities and ways to implement those practices. |
| New 3D printers to become available to U. of Missouri students, faculty | |
 | Starting April 2, University of Missouri students and faculty will have access to two 3D printers in Ellis Library to create anything from iPhone cases to pencil holders. MU engineering student Nick Bira heads Print Anything at MU, a new service he organized using a grant of just under $12,000 from the Interdisciplinary Innovations Fund at MU. The grant supports student-centered projects that use information technology in innovative ways. Bira, a bioengineering student, said he has always been a fan of Legos and building things with his hands. He was drawn to 3D printing as a way to ensure perfection of the items he was creating. Bira wanted to make 3D printers available to everyone at MU. |
| White House Floats Bankruptcy Process for Some Student Debt | |
| The White House is weighing steps to make it easier for Americans to expunge certain student loans through bankruptcy, opening the door for student debt made by private lenders to be treated on par with credit-card debt and mortgages. Federal law prohibits student loans, from private lenders and from the U.S. government, from being wiped out in bankruptcy, except in rare circumstances. Other forms of consumer credit such as mortgages, credit-card balances and auto loans face looser requirements for being discharged in bankruptcy. President Barack Obama on Tuesday directed administration officials to study whether to expand bankruptcy options for "all student loan borrowers." |
| Rewrite of AP Framework for U.S. History Criticized | |
 | Concerns about an overhaul to the Advanced Placement U.S. History curriculum framework have been spreading through a growing number of states over the last few months, with critics saying it emphasizes negative aspects of the nation's history and downplays "American exceptionalism." Policymakers in Colorado, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Texas have pushed back on the new framework, which outlines the concepts and skills students need for a college-level history course. In response, the College Board, the nonprofit New York City-based organization that administers the Advanced Placement program, says that the framework was written by history educators and historians, and that AP teachers widely support it. The critics of the framework have tended to be right-leaning legislators and state board of education members who also oppose the Common Core State Standards. |
| Gates Foundation announces four priority policy areas on college completion, with data system to come | |
 | After spending roughly half a billion dollars on the college completion agenda during the last seven years, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is ready to be more assertive about what it thinks should happen in four key areas of higher education policy. The foundation lays out what an official there calls its "strategy reboot" in a newly released document. It describes a focus on data and information, finance and financial aid, college readiness, and innovation and scale. Going forward, the foundation's advocacy will support federal and state policies in those priority areas -- meaning overarching policies rather than specific bills, because charitable organizations face restrictions on lobbying. |
| Fraternity in racist video has roots in antebellum South | |
| Sigma Alpha Epsilon's international headquarters may be in Illinois, but the fraternity's roots are firmly planted in the antebellum South. "We came up from Dixie land," says a ditty from an old songbook, boasting about SAE's success. Now, nearly 160 years after its founding at the University of Alabama, another song -- this one chanted by members of the frat's University of Oklahoma chapter and containing racial slurs and lynching references -- hearkens back to the bad old times in the land of cotton and puts a new spotlight on the group's activities over the years. SAE began on the Tuscaloosa campus on March 9, 1856, a few months after Noble Leslie DeVotie outlined his vision to a close circle of friends during a stroll along the banks of the Black Warrior River. |
| Oklahoma President's Swift Action on Racist Video Carries Risks | |
 | In the 48 hours since several University of Oklahoma fraternity members were caught on video singing a racist anthem, President David L. Boren has acted quickly. Just hours after the video emerged, he called the students "disgraceful" and said he hoped they would leave Norman. And on Tuesday he expelled two who had led the chant. In acting so decisively, Mr. Boren has departed from the measured, legalistic response that so often dominates crisis management in academe. And while his blunt rhetoric and swift discipline prompted cheers from many, it may have opened up the university to legal challenges on grounds that the students were denied due process or stripped of their First Amendment rights. Mr. Boren, a former governor of Oklahoma and U.S. senator, seems ready for such a fight. |
| Blacks, other minorities at U. of Oklahoma tell of isolation | |
 | Naome Kadira walks with the practiced gait of a beauty pageant veteran, which she is, and speaks the language of the social justice activist --- validation, micro-aggression, othering. But the University of Oklahoma junior with the red streak in her hair wasn't always so self-assured. There were darker times, especially in her freshman year, Kadira said, when she never felt so different and so alone. It's part of the black experience at the university, Kadira said, a notion that you're always outnumbered and out of place, forever identified by the color of your skin. Mirelsie Velazquez, a Latina professor in the university's College of Education, came to Norman in August. She said she's often the only person of color in classes or walking around town. |
| Expelled Oklahoma frat boys would have an 'excellent chance' in court | |
| The elements of combustion were the same. Just the names were different. This was a case of a racism, white frat boys, and a university based in a Southern state that did everything it could to punish the offending parties following a campus-wide protest. It also perhaps hints at what could follow the University of Oklahoma's decision on Tuesday to expel two Sigma Alpha Epsilon members implicated in a racist video. This was the battle of 1992, when Sigma Chi Fraternity took on George Mason University -- and won. Decades later, the same ugly matters have risen once more. |
| CHARLIE MITCHELL (OPINION): Civil rights laws don't solve civil rights issues | |
| Longtime Mississippi journalist Charlie Mitchell writes: "Just as an obituary sums up a person's whole life in a few sentences, time compresses history into headlines. The British were oppressive, so American colonists threw off the yoke and created the United States of America. Hitler, Mussolini and the emperor of Japan wanted to control the world, but the Allied powers put an end to their nefarious ways. White Americans, especially in the South and overwhelmingly in Mississippi, were racists until the Civil Rights Movement came along and made everybody equal. Wait. Is that last one right? Let's see if it can be worded a little more precisely. Let's resist the temptation to overly condense..." |
SPORTS
| Holland single the game-winner as Mississippi State tops Western Kentucky | |
| John Holland had been struggling. So had Mississippi State's baseball team. In the bottom of the 10th inning of Tuesday night's home game against Western Kentucky, both Holland and the Bulldogs broke through at the same time. Holland, a junior college transfer who played his freshman season at Florida State, roped a 1-0 pitch from Western Kentucky relief pitcher Brennan Pearson into center field and then watched as pinch-runner Michael Smith slid across home plate, giving Holland the walkoff single in a 6-5 MSU victory. "That was an awesome feeling," said Holland. |
| Ray: Mississippi State administration believes in me | |
| The Rick Ray era reaches its three-year anniversary on April 1. Some question whether Mississippi State's basketball coach will be around to celebrate it. Ray's not one of them. "I've never had any situation at all from the administration that they are displeased with where we are at this point in time," Ray told the Clarion-Ledger on Tuesday. "I know everybody wants to be more on the fast track. I'm sure the administration wants the same thing, but I think those guys believe in me." Mississippi State finished 2015 with its best SEC record under Ray at 6-12. Ray won seven SEC games in his first two seasons. He can grab another Wednesday against Auburn in the first round of the SEC tournament in Nashville. Yet, skeptics question if that progress is enough. |
| Mississippi State opens SEC Tournament against Auburn | |
| Postseason action for Mississippi State begins in the Music City today as the Bulldogs face Auburn in the opening game of the 2015 SEC Tournament. The 6 p.m. tilt at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville will be televised on the SEC Network, with Dave Neal, Darrin Horn and Kaylee Hartung handling the broadcast. Jim Ellis and Richard Williams will have the call on the MSU Radio Network. The Tigers (12-19, 4-14) head into Wednesday's clash on a six-game losing streak after suffering a 64-61 defeat against Georgia on Saturday. |
| Mississippi State hopes for another tomorrow | |
| Mississippi State will open the 2015 SEC Men's Basketball Tournament tonight at Bridgestone Arena hoping to prolong its season. The 12th-seeded Bulldogs only hope of reaching the postseason is through an automatic bid by winning the SEC Tournament. MSU would have to win all five of its games in the tournament starting with today's 6 p.m. match-up with No. 13 seed Auburn on the SEC Network. "When you go into the SEC Tournament, everybody is 0-0," said MSU coach Rick Ray. "Every young man grows up wanting to play in the NCAA Tournament and for us in our situation the only way to turn that dream into a reality is to win the SEC Tournament. That should be inspiration enough." |
| Mississippi State's Sword named Second Team All-SEC by coaches | |
| All season long, Mississippi State men's basketball coach Rick Ray has wondered aloud what might have been in Bulldogs' guard Craig Sword had been healthy all season. After enduring offseason back surgery two weeks before the season began, Sword, MSU's leading scorer in 2013-14, was a shell of his former self for nearly half the season, averaging just four points per game through his first nine games of the year. But once SEC play arrived, so did Sword, as he led the Bulldogs in scoring in 12 of MSU's 18 conference games. "Craig has absolutely had an All-SEC season," said Ray. Coaches around the SEC agreed with Ray. On Tuesday, Sword was named a Second Team All-SEC performer by the league's coaches. |
| Mississippi State's Craig Sword named second-team All-SEC | |
| During the final few weeks of the regular season, Rick Ray lobbied for Craig Sword as one of the Southeastern Conference's top players. The league's coaches listened. They voted the Mississippi State junior second team All-SEC on Tuesday. "It's an honor man. I feel great that I did it," Sword said. "I could've done a little better but it's a good accomplishment for this year." He's the first MSU player win All-SEC honors since Dee Bost and Arnett Moultrie were tabbed first team in 2012. |
| SEC Tournament to spur massive downtown spending in Nashville | |
 | Students and alumni are traveling from across the region to cheer on their teams at the SEC basketball tournament and will spill the contents of their wallet at downtown Nashville bars, restaurants and hotels throughout the five-day event. This week marks the first of 12 SEC tournaments scheduled in Nashville in the next 12 years, a contract Nashville landed in 2013. Each March, through 2026, the city will turn into Basketballville, drawing thousands of visitors, athletes and camera crews to Bridgestone Arena. The string of SEC tournaments is expected to have a significant impact on the local economy. |
| MSU: Dak Prescott spring break attack unprovoked | |
| Dak Prescott made Nichole Davis' spring break unforgettable when the Mississippi State quarterback posed for a picture with her Sunday. On Monday, a friend told Davis that Prescott was also in Panama City. The MSU freshman from Brandon took the opportunity to brag about her photo. As the group walked off the beach late in the afternoon, a man also wanted to brag about his encounter with Prescott. "A guy overheard and he came over and he just yelled, 'Me and some other guys just beat his (expletive) in the parking lot,' " Davis said. Monday night photos and videos began surfacing on the Internet of a group of men attacking Prescott, backup quarterback Damian Williams and defensive lineman Torrey Dale. The graphic images showed a group of at least 10 men attacking the three players. Mississippi State spokesperson Bill Martin told the Clarion-Ledger on Monday night the attacks were unprovoked. |
| HUGH KELLENBERGER (OPINION): Prescott fight a sad reminder | |
| The Clarion-Ledger's Hugh Kellenberger writes: "It was horrifying to find out three Mississippi State football players (Dak Prescott got all the headlines for obvious and understandable reasons, but let's not forget about Damian Williams and Torrey Dale here) were attacked in a parking lot in Panama City while on Spring Break. It was disgusting to watch a video that shows the three bent over at the waist or on the ground, taking a beating from a group of thugs who decided the only way to take down three quite large individuals was to make sure they had at least three dudes for every Bulldog. And I probably had the same reaction that many of you did: 'What if that was my son being kicked in the face?'" |
| U. of Florida board of trustees approves $15 million toward practice field | |
| The University of Florida Board of Trustees on Monday unanimously approved floating a $15 million bond to pay for the construction of an indoor practice field for the Gator football team and other athletic programs. UF is one of two schools in the Southeastern Conference that doesn't have such an indoor facility, University Athletic Association Director Jeremy Foley said. University of Georgia has a small indoor field, and last month got approval to build a larger indoor facility, he said. Curtis Reynolds, UF vice president for business affairs, said the indoor practice facility is estimated to cost $15 million, but it is still in the final design stage. |
| New athletics director Rhoades says he's found 'the best' program at U. of Missouri | |
| As eyes fixed on him in the University of Missouri Student Center, Mack Rhoades thought about reality television. Rhoades, who Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin formally introduced as Missouri's next athletics director Tuesday, is a fan of the HGTV's "Fixer Upper" -- a program about home renovations. Missouri athletics, Rhoades said, wouldn't make for much of a show. "This is not a fixer-upper," Rhoades said. "The job that Mike (Alden) has done here in his 17 years and his staff has been tremendous." Rhoades complimented Alden, whom he will succeed in April once he leaves his athletics director position at the University of Houston. |
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