| Tuesday, March 24, 2015 |
| Keenum supports faculty and staff salary increase | |
 | The eight universities in Mississippi that are part of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning are requesting a $36 million raise for faculty and staff. Mark Keenum, president of Mississippi State University, said all eight university presidents agreed salaries play a significant role in education. Keenum said he believes salary increases are necessary to keep the most talented faculty and staff. Keenum said students would greatly benefit as well. "The increase would allow us to be able to retain and attract faculty and to recruit the best. Students who have motivated staff would benefit, and it would also allow our outstanding scientists to be able to conduct cutting-edge research," Keenum said. |
| Mill at MSU to complete construction, host opening ceremony in August | |
| The Mill at MSU is a $40 million project that has transformed the E.E. Cooley Building into a state-of-the-art conference center. The building's amenities will include a parking garage with 450 spaces and a hotel with 110 rooms. The conference center also has a ballroom that can hold 1,000 people, media rooms with 100-200 seats each, and office space on the west end. David Shaw, vice president for Research and Economic Development, confirmed the project is ahead of schedule and the conference center will be done by August. Mark Keenum, MSU president, said he looks forward to celebrating the completion of the project. Keenum said MSU has needed a conference center capable of accommodating large academic and professional meetings for many years. |
| MSU-Meridian Career Center helps students put their best foot forward | |
 | In today's tough job market, everyone knows it is imperative that you stand out in the crowd, an Mississippi State University press release states. At a Dinner Etiquette Workshop sponsored by MSU-Meridian's Career Center Monday night, students learned how to be "noticed and remembered" by prospective employers -- for all the right reasons. The workshop, facilitated by Kelly Atwood, senior coordinator of The Career Center in Starkville, was held in Kahlmus Auditorium for students from MSU-Meridian, as well as the Business and Office Technology program at Meridian Community College. |
| Mississippi State Students Attend Dinner Etiquette Workshop | |
 | Students with MSU Meridian and the Business and Office Technology Program at Meridian Community College attended a Dinner Etiquette Workshop Monday evening. The workshop was facilitated by Kelly Atwood, who is the Senior Coordinator of the Career Center in Starkville. Through the course of the evening students had a five-course meal, learning how to utilize each piece of glass, plates, and utensils. "What we want to make sure, is that the students on the Meridian campus are absolutely the best prepared that they can be, when it comes time to interview for full-time positions," said Scott Maynard, Director of the MSU Career Center. |
| What will it take to get Mid-South farmers to plant cotton in 2015? | |
 | The question in the headline has been asked in a lot of venues this winter and now the spring. But it may just be the wrong question. Perhaps we should be asking, instead, what will it take to make cotton profitable in 2015? A paper written by four entomologists at Mississippi State University includes a figure that speaks volumes about why producers are shying away from the crop: The cost of foliar insect control in the Mississippi Delta has risen to an average of $140.49 per acre -- three times what it was in 2005. |
| Coastal ag producers, Mississippi State experts exchange ideas | |
| Mississippi State University experts met with agricultural producers and industry professionals recently to exchange ideas about educational programming and research for 2015. About 100 participants attended the annual Coastal Research and Extension Center Commodity Advisory Council meeting to discuss priorities with MSU Extension Service and Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station specialists, researchers and agents. "We welcome your comments and suggestions," said Patricia Knight, center head. "Our purpose is to support you through our research and education. Your input is important to us in this process." Eleven commodity groups were represented. |
| U.S. Catfish Fight Expected to Sink a Popular Import | |
 | A white flaky fish that recently overtook cod and crab to become the sixth most popular seafood in the U.S. could soon disappear from American dinner plates. Depending on whom you ask, the reason stems from either imported food safety concerns or a bureaucratic entanglement designed to protect the shrinking market share of American-produced catfish. The fish in question -- pangasius -- is produced in Southeast Asia, mostly in Vietnam. Pangasius supplies could dry up as early as this year as the Agriculture Department assumes control over catfish and pangasius this spring -- a job currently done by the Food and Drug Administration. The USDA is expected to impose tough new standards on Vietnam and other countries that export pangasius to the U.S. U.S. catfish farmers pressed for tighter import standards. The driving force behind the change was Republican Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi, one of the largest catfish-producing states in the U.S. |
| Mississippi part of project to train SNAP recipients | |
 | Mississippi is one of 10 states participating in a $200 million federal pilot program aimed at getting people trained, employed and off food assistance. Gov. Phil Bryant, U.S. Department of Agriculture and state community college leaders announced the program Monday at the Capitol. Mississippi will receive $20.5 million over three years for workforce training, support services such as transportation and child care and job placement for "able-bodied" people receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program money. Bryant said the state Department of Human Services will lead the program in Mississippi. |
| Lawmakers pass watered-down contract reform | |
| The House on Monday sent a contract reform and transparency bill on to the governor, amid complaints that the Senate had greatly weakened the measure. The bill, HB825, was in response to corruption scandals, including former prisons Commissioner Chris Epps operating one of the largest and longest-running criminal conspiracies in state government. He took $2 million in bribes to steer hundreds of millions worth of "no-bid," or sole-source state contracts to a co-conspirator. House Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency Chairman Jerry Turner, R-Baldwyn, author of the original bill, urged his colleagues Monday to pass the measure. He said the Senate wouldn't negotiate on the House's stronger reforms. |
| Mississippi negotiators have less than a week on hospital transparency bill | |
 | The governor has signed the Property Insurance Clarity Act, but House and Senate negotiators have less than a week to agree on a public hospital transparency bill or it will die. The deadline for the conference report on that bill is Saturday, said Sen. Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula, the bill's primary author. The bill, which would subject public hospitals to open meetings and open records laws, passed the Senate unanimously but was changed in the House. Wiggins said he expects Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves to appoint him and Sen. Nancy Adams Collins, the chairwoman of the Accountability, Transparency and Efficiency Committee, to negotiate for the Senate. |
| Governor signs bill banning texting while driving | |
 | Mississippi has become the 45th state to ban texting while driving. Gov. Phil Bryant signed the bill into law this past week. House Bill 389 prohibits drivers from writing, sending or reading text messages, emails or social media messages. It set a $25 fine until July 1, 2016 and $100 after that. Making and receiving phone calls would still be legal. |
| Mills becomes third candidate to qualify in 1st District | |
 | Itawamba County prosecuting attorney Chip Mills of Fulton officially qualified Monday for Mississippi's 1st Congressional District seat. Mills is the third candidate to have gathered and submitted 1,000 signatures from registered voters to the Secretary of State's office. District Attorney Trent Kelly of Saltillo and Oxford attorney Quentin Whitwell are the other two candidates to qualify. That leaves 10 announced candidates left to qualify before the Friday deadline. |
| In the Senate, where Ted Cruz played rough, scarce praise for his presidential run | |
 | For conservative activists, the first day of Sen. Ted Cruz's presidential campaign was a time to gush. On his radio show, Rush Limbaugh called Cruz's kickoff speech Monday "masterful" and "flat-out amazing." Grass-roots pioneer Richard Viguerie called him a "top-tier movement conservative." And the Tea Party Patriots hailed his entry, saying Cruz had "yielded to no one" in championing its values. Meanwhile, for Cruz's Republican colleagues in the Senate, it was a time to equivocate. In his short time in the Senate, Cruz has arguably become the most polarizing figure in all of Congress. |
| South Carolina strategist Tompkins to head Rubio super-PAC | |
 | According to The New York Times, Warren Tompkins, who runs a political consulting firm with top Rubio adviser Terry Sullivan, will be in charge of the new organization. Tompkins is a longtime South Carolina guru who worked on former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's previous campaigns and has close ties to the donor class as well as fundraising powerhouse and former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R), though Barbour's relatives have signed on to help former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R). |
| Jindal's tax plan blessed by Norquist, cursed by conservatives in Louisiana | |
| Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal was caught in a jam. He had to plug a $1.6 billion projected deficit for next year and he had to do it without violating an anti-tax pledge he made to Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), the influential conservative group headed by Grover Norquist. Jindal's anti-tax credentials have been a prime selling point in his unannounced campaign for president. Jindal's solution: eliminating $526 million in tax rebates, most notably for the state's business inventory tax. Norquist's group blessed the decision, concluding that ending tax rebates would not amount to a tax increase. But that distinction has prompted ridicule from state lawmakers and political commentators on both the right and the left, who accuse Jindal of selling out the state's tax policy to Norquist. |
| USN Ship Strategy Focuses on Industrial Base | |
| Decisions are looming on two major new US Navy shipbuilding programs, and while the service wants to get the best deal for the ships, it's also concerned about preserving its industrial base. To that end, acquisition chief Sean Stackley is structuring the competition to build the new T-AO(X) fleet oiler and LHA 8 amphibious assault ship so that San Diego-based General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. (NASSCO) and the Huntington Ingalls Industries' yard in Mississippi -- each of which plan to bid for the ships -- both get enough work to remain viable. To many observers, it appears as if the Navy's bidding strategy concedes that Ingalls will win the assault ship and NASSCO the oiler. |
| Supreme Court appears reluctant to force Texas to issue Confederate license plates | |
 | Motorists have the right to put their favorite bumper sticker on their car, but do they have a free-speech right to a special state license plate with a Confederate battle flag or a message about abortion? That was the question before the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday in a case from Texas. During an oral argument, the justices appeared to lean in favor of giving states the power to reject certain messages or symbols. They said they were wary of giving hate groups a right to ask for a highly controversial symbol, such as a swastika, or a message that supports hatred or violence. "Your position is that if you prevail, a license plate can have a racial slur. That's your position?" Justice Anthony M. Kennedy asked a lawyer representing the Texas Sons of Confederate Veterans. |
| Israel Spied on Iran Nuclear Talks With U.S. | |
| Soon after the U.S. and other major powers entered negotiations last year to curtail Iran's nuclear program, senior White House officials learned Israel was spying on the closed-door talks. The spying operation was part of a broader campaign by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to penetrate the negotiations and then help build a case against the emerging terms of the deal, current and former U.S. officials said. In addition to eavesdropping, Israel acquired information from confidential U.S. briefings, informants and diplomatic contacts in Europe, the officials said. The espionage didn't upset the White House as much as Israel's sharing of inside information with U.S. lawmakers and others to drain support from a high-stakes deal intended to limit Iran's nuclear program, current and former officials said. |
| College Board firm on firing Ole Miss chancellor | |
| Members of Mississippi's College Board met Monday and said they aren't backing down from a decision to seek a new chancellor for the University of Mississippi, despite rising criticism of the move. Board members, commenting publicly after an executive session lasting more than an hour, said Dan Jones never resolved problems with contract and financial management at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The members said the board had pushed repeatedly for a resolution of those problems without success over the years. "This led to our conclusion that the only practical way to deal with this ... was to make a change in the institutional head," said Alan Perry, the board's incoming president. |
| IHL affirms Jones decision, backlash grows | |
| The Board of Trustees of state Institutions of Higher Learning late Monday reaffirmed its decision not to renew the contract of University of Mississippi Chancellor Dan Jones, while the opposition to that decision grew in intensity. The board met in executive decision for about an hour at the IHL complex in Jackson. After reconvening in open session, board vice president Alan Perry, a Jackson attorney, provided a 15-minute explanation to a room of about 70 people, primarily Jones supporters, of how the panel reached its decision. Perry said the sole reason for the decision -- made last week -- not to renew Jones' contract dealt with the financial management of the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. "All I can say, I think all the board members would say, we are trying to do our best to make the best decisions we can for our universities and staff," said Perry. |
| Board VP: UMMC issues led to Jones' contract nonrenewal | |
| Multiple policy violations regarding spending and contract procurement at University of Mississippi Medical Center were the undoing of Ole Miss chancellor Dan Jones. The justification came Monday evening, 72 hours after the state College Board voted 9-2 not to renew Jones' contract. The violations were spelled out in an audit Board members commissioned, and whose results became available within the past month. This was strictly a management decision, state College Board Vice President Alan Perry said, not a political hit. Instead, widespread and repeated violations of contract procurement procedures and shoddy financial reporting to the Board that went unchecked is why Jones will no longer serve as chancellor once his contract ends in September. |
| Students prepare for Wednesday rally at UM | |
 | University of Mississippi students gathered in the Student Union to make posters for Wednesday's rally to protest the state's Institutions of Higher Learning Board's refusal to renew Chancellor Dan Jones' contract. "I felt betrayed," said sophomore public policy leadership major Eloise Tyner. "I'm sure they had good intentions, but all I know is that it feels to me, as a student, like they took preference to politics over what's best for the university." The event was organized by sophomore international studies major Alex Borst and senior public policy leadership major Ryan Felder. A petition on change.org had received 6,040 signatures as of Monday night, and over 1,800 people had signed up to attend the rally. |
| USM's Point Sur research vessel will be put to work quickly | |
 | Now that the University of Southern Mississippi has ownership of the Point Sur research vessel, plans are in the works to put it to work as quickly as possible. One of the projects already in the works is the "CONsortium for oil spill exposure pathways in COastal River-Dominated Ecosystems (CONCORDE)," said Monty Graham, chairman of Southern Miss' Department of Marine Science and interim director of the Gulf Coast Research Lab. The Point Sur traveled through the Panama Canal this past weekend and is expected to arrive at its Gulfport home around the end of March, with plans to put it to work in April. A group from USM, including President Rodney Bennett, traveled to Panama to tour the boat. |
| Making a statement: Itawamba Community College plans five-year Tupelo campus overhaul | |
| Itawamba Community College will embark on a five-year plan that will dramatically upgrade its Tupelo campus. Included will be the construction of a new 62,000-square-foot academic building and the renovation of the technical education building. "We believe the Tupelo campus will be where our population growth will be in the future," ICC President Mike Eaton said in announcing the project during a faculty meeting. "...It is time we make a statement over here." The new academic building will be constructed along Eason Boulevard, where several existing buildings will be demolished. Those include the administration building, physical plant, faculty house and shops that have served welding and HVAC classes. |
| LSU's F. King Alexander talks budget cut impact, plans | |
 | LSU President and Chancellor F. King Alexander and "five of the most influential" members of the LSU Board of Supervisors recently met with Gov. Bobby Jindal to stress the devastating impact that deep cuts to higher education funding would have on the university. Alexander, who has emerged as one of the key voices in the fight against the potential state budget cuts, spoke to the Baton Rouge Press Club on Monday. He gave several examples of what the worst-case scenario, based on Jindal's budget recommendation, would mean. "This budget reduction is so large we'd have to furlough everybody for the entire year," Alexander said. "We want people to know what this may feel like at the end of the day." |
| Four candidates will interview for U. of Florida law dean | |
 | A year after the search for a new dean to take the helm of the University of Florida Levin College of Law was scrapped, four fresh candidates have been selected to come and plead their case before faculty and students. The visits by the candidates selected by the law dean search committee will be spread out over the next three weeks. They are Mark Alexander, associate dean for academic affairs at Seton Hall University School of Law; Michael Cahill, vice dean at Brooklyn Law School; Laura Rosenbury, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri; and Charles Tabb, a law professor at the University of Illinois. |
| U. of Florida physician part of Parkinson's panel at White House | |
| UF Health physician and researcher was part of a panel of experts who gathered at the White House Monday morning to discuss progress and challenges in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. "The mind-blowing changes we can see from research are really amazing," said Dr. Michael Okun, the co-director and co-founder of the UF Health Center for Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration. Okun, who is also the medical director of the National Parkinson Foundation, described Parkinson's as "the most complex disease in medicine. Period." But he said its complexity has also led to some treatment techniques that people decades ago may not have imagined possible. |
| Yik Yak pushing back against bullying, founders say in UGA talk | |
 | Tyler Droll and Brooks Buffington didn't set out to create a refuge for trolls when they invented Yik Yak, the two Atlantans told a University of Georgia crowd Monday night. Combining GPS and instant messaging, the app lets people comment anonymously on things, people or ideas to others within a radius of 1.5 miles -- big enough to encompass an entire college campus. Anyone in the area can post "yaks" and read other people's posts. The intent of Yik Yak was to give users anonymity as a way to make everyone's voice equal, said the 24-year-old Yik Yak founders. "We wanted everyone to be able to reach all of campus, it didn't matter who you were," Buffington told a crowd of about 175 in UGA's Tate Student Center Theater. "Content would be judged on content, not on who wrote it." |
| 'Good Morning America' anchor to speak at UGA commencement | |
| "Good Morning America" anchor Amy Robach is set to give a commencement speech to University of Georgia undergraduates. The university says Robach will speak at the May 8 undergraduate commencement ceremony at 7 p.m. in Sanford Stadium. Robach graduated from UGA's Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication in 1995 and has been an anchor on "Good Morning America" for about a year. |
| Keeping tabs on the bird flu: U. of Missouri lab mines genetics after outbreak in turkeys | |
 | University of Missouri veterinary scientists are working overtime to monitor bird flu outbreaks that infected two Missouri turkey farms earlier this month. Two H5N2 avian influenza outbreaks were confirmed on March 8 by the Missouri Department of Agriculture at separate commercial turkey facilities in Moniteau and Jasper counties. The H5N2 virus presents only a slight risk to humans but is highly contagious in birds, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory at MU is one of two state laboratories monitoring the quarantined animals, Daniel Shaw, poultry diagnostician at MU, said. The lab is testing the samples it receives for viral genetic material. Genetic testing is the go-to method during outbreaks, Shaw said, because it's quick and can be performed as soon as the outbreak is detected. |
| Academy Award-winning rap artist to come to U. of Missouri | |
 | Common, a well-known rap artist and 2015 Academy Award winner, is coming to the University of Missouri. He is set to speak at 7 p.m. April 8 at the Missouri Theatre. Tickets are $10 for students and $15 for the public, and are available at the box office in the first floor of the Student Center, 901 E. Rollins St. Common and musician John Legend received an Academy Award at this year's Oscars ceremony in February for their song "Glory" from the soundtrack to the movie "Selma." |
| Alexander weighing new accountability tools, better data in Higher Ed Act rewrite | |
 | The leading Republican in the Senate who is working on a rewrite of the Higher Education Act is weighing new ways to hold colleges accountable for their students' success and is considering a federal database to keep track of student outcomes. Senator Lamar Alexander on Monday released three policy papers outlining ideas on making colleges share in the financial risk of the federal loans they provide students, overhauling accreditation and changing how the federal government collects data from colleges. The documents offer the most expansive look yet at Alexander's priorities for rewriting the Higher Education Act, which he has said he wants the Senate to vote on by the end of 2015. |
| A New Grant Aims to Help Young Medical Researchers Jump-Start Their Careers | |
 | The average age at which American medical researchers receive their first major grant from the National Institutes of Health is frustratingly, persistently high. So three leading philanthropic groups are attempting to step in and support young medical researchers early in their careers. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Simons Foundation announced on Monday a $150-million grant program designed to counter tight NIH budgets. The program hopefully will "give people some optimism" at a time of great concern that NIH's budget constraints may be discouraging large numbers of young medical researchers, said Erin K. O'Shea, vice president and chief scientific officer at Hughes. |
| UAB National Alumni Society leaders call for Ray Watts to resign immediately | |
 | Leaders of the UAB National Alumni Society say they have no confidence in President Ray Watts' leadership and have called for his immediate resignation. The board of directors and past presidents met Monday night and issued a statement approved unanimously. Their position is based on information and documents released today by Alabama state Rep. Jack Williams, as well as the voices of UAB alumni. Watts has said Williams "made a number of inaccurate accusations." The group also wants the Athletics Assessment Task Force to continue its work of coordinating a new study to determine the viability of reinstating the university's football, bowling and rifle programs. In a statement Monday evening, Watts expressed his disappointment in the alumni society's decision. |
| Police Find No Evidence to Support Alleged Gang Rape at UVa | |
| After announcing on Monday that there was no evidence a gang rape described in Rolling Stone magazine had actually occurred at a University of Virginia fraternity, a local police chief urged colleges to involve the police as quickly as possible when someone complains of a sexual assault. While the case involving a student the magazine identified as "Jackie" has been suspended for lack of evidence, "that doesn't mean that something terrible did not happen" to her that night in September 2012, Timothy J. Longo, chief of police in Charlottesville, Va., said during a news conference. "We are just not able to gather sufficient facts to conclude what that something may have been." |
| At Penn State, one woman's rule at frat parties: Don't go upstairs | |
| When Bridget Winch went to parties at Kappa Delta Rho, she observed one rule: Never go upstairs. The petite Penn State sophomore, an engineering major with daisies painted on her fingernails, said men at the stone mansion culled guests at the door, admitting mostly women. Inside, she and others said, the brothers plied female guests with bottomless cups of Natural Light while a DJ blasted pop hits in the beer-soaked basement. And at a rager last fall, Winch said, several KDR brothers sidled up as she danced under the strobe lights and asked: Want to go upstairs? "All of the scary things at frats seem to happen upstairs," said Winch, 19, who said she deflected their advances by retiring to the bathroom. "They only want you there for one reason." Last week, Winch said, her fears were confirmed. |
| New Studies Find That, for Teachers, Experience Really Does Matter | |
 | The notion that teachers improve over their first three or so years in the classroom and plateau thereafter is deeply ingrained in K-12 policy discussions, coming up in debate after debate about pay, professional development, and teacher seniority, among other topics. But findings from a handful of recently released studies are raising questions about that proposition. In fact, they suggest the average teacher's ability to boost student achievement increases for at least the first decade of his or her career -- and likely longer. Moreover, teachers' deepening experience appears to translate into other student benefits as well. One of the new studies, for example, links years on the job to declining rates of student absenteeism. |
SPORTS
| Done deal: Mississippi State introduces Howland today | |
| Mississippi State made quick work in hiring its next men's basketball coach. The Bulldogs reached an agreement with former UCLA head coach Ben Howland on Monday to take the position vacated when Rick Ray was fired after three seasons on Saturday. "I'm just so humbled and grateful to be the new basketball coach at Mississippi State University," Howland said in a release. "I'm elated and excited for the opportunity build a consistent winner here at State. I know we have some of the greatest fans in the country, and I look forward to making them proud of our team and our efforts. Hail State." The university did not release the terms of Howland's contract but is expected to do so during a 2:30 p.m. press conference Tuesday. |
| Mississippi State makes it official: Ben Howland is new coach | |
| Scott Stricklin needed a no-doubt hire, someone who would energize a Mississippi State fan base that was tired of losing. It did not take long for the athletic director to find his man. Mississippi State announced Ben Howland as its new basketball coach Monday night. The school will officially announce the hire of the former UCLA coach on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. at Humphrey Coliseum. Fans are invited to attend. "We have a coach who is a proven winner that's taken three schools to the NCAA Tournament," MSU athletic director Scott Stricklin said in a statement. "Ben is someone who is ready to invest in the people of Mississippi and Bulldogs everywhere, while bringing championship basketball back to the Hump." |
| A Howland wind of change for Mississippi State | |
| Scott Stricklin orchestrated an extreme makeover in about 55 hours. The facelift concluded Monday night when Stricklin, the school's athletic director, announced Ben Howland as Mississippi State's new basketball coach. "We have a coach who is a proven winner that's taken three schools to the NCAA Tournament," Stricklin said in a statement. "Ben is someone who is ready to invest in the people of Mississippi and Bulldogs everywhere, while bringing championship basketball back to the Hump." Humphrey Coliseum will be the site of Howland's introductory press conference at 2:30 p.m. today. Fans are invited. |
| Former UCLA coach Ben Howland is Mississippi State's new coach | |
| Mississippi State has hired former UCLA coach Ben Howland to lead its basketball program. The university announced the hiring Monday night, and Howland will be introduced in a news conference on campus Tuesday. Howland, 57, coached at UCLA for 10 years, leading the Bruins to three straight Final Fours from 2006 to 2008. But the team never made it past the second round of the NCAA tournament during the next five seasons and he was fired in 2013 despite winning the Pac-12. |
| PATRICK OCHS (OPINION): Howland may be the perfect fit for the defense-oriented Bulldogs | |
| The Sun Herald's Patrick Ochs writes: "Not only was Ben Howland arguably the best 'free agent' college basketball coach on the market, but, as it turns out, he may be the perfect fit for Mississippi State. ...In talking with a few folks who covered Howland at UCLA a few things stood out. Howland knows defense: Much like MSU women's coach Vic Schaefer is known as the 'Secretary of Defense,' Howland's most successful stretches at Pitt and UCLA have come when his teams played smothering man-to-man defense. ...With the majority of MSU's team set to return and a strong incoming signing class due to arrive in Starkville, Howland and the Bulldogs may be the perfect match." |
| Off-campus housing at U. of Kentucky declared 'emergency area' during rest of NCAA tournament | |
 | In hopes of preventing celebratory couch fires, city officials are declaring off-campus housing near the University of Kentucky an emergency area. The notice takes effect at 9 a.m. Thursday and ends at 9 a.m. April 7, starting with the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Sweet 16 and continuing through the Final Four, according to a news release from the Division of Code Enforcement. In 2012, State Street was the epicenter of nonstop partying after UK beat the University of Louisville in the Final Four before winning the title. Trash bins, couches and other items, including an overturned car, were burned. Last year, when UK lost to Connecticut in the title game, was a bit calmer -- no cars were burned, but bottles were thrown. |
| LSU challenges jurisdiction of John Chavis' lawsuit, takes swipe at Texas A&M's defense in new filing | |
| LSU is challenging the jurisdiction of a lawsuit filed against the school in Texas by former defensive coordinator John Chavis and is asking the court to dismiss the suit entirely. The school filed an answer to Chavis' lawsuit Monday in the 272nd District Court in Brazos County, Texas, claiming the squabble over the ex-coach's buyout does not belong in a Texas court and taking a shot at Chavis' new school, Texas A&M, in the process. Chavis left the Tigers for the same position with the Aggies. In the documents obtained by The Advocate, LSU refers to Texas A&M's defense as needing "dire" help. |
| LSU attorneys argue Chavis suit shouldn't be tried in Texas | |
 | A petition filed Monday in a Brazos County court could send a lawsuit by Texas A&M defensive coordinator John Chavis against his current and former employers out of state or to a higher court, officials said. Attorneys for Louisiana State University filed a plea of jurisdiction in Judge Travis B. Bryan III's 272nd District Court, citing several cases in which lawsuits against state entities, including the Baton Rouge school, could not be tried in courts outside of Louisiana. "It's up to the court to determine if we go to Louisiana or a federal court in Houston," Chavis' attorney, Bill Youngkin, said. LSU is seeking $400,000 from its former defensive coordinator, saying that Chavis breached his contract twice; first, for the early termination of his contract and, second, for discussing or negotiating with Texas A&M while his contract was still in effect. |
| The N.C.A.A. Women's Brackets May Be Crowded, but the Arenas Aren't | |
 | Behind both baskets in the upper levels of Cameron Indoor Stadium during the Duke women's basketball team's game Sunday were swaths of empty blue seats. Those two upper-deck sections remained largely unoccupied throughout the fourth-seeded Blue Devils' 64-56 victory over fifth-seeded Mississippi State in the second round of the N.C.A.A. tournament. Closer to the court, the wood bleachers on the sideline behind press row -- known for seating the ever-spirited and rowdy Cameron Crazies -- featured more empty seats than occupied ones. The announced attendance was 2,293. The stadium can seat 9,314. The paucity of fans Sunday reflected a larger trend of stagnant attendance in Division I women's basketball. Attendance at the first two rounds of the N.C.A.A. tournament has followed suit. |
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