Thursday, April 23, 2015   
 
Street retiring after 35 years in MSU Extension Service leadership roles
After decades of service to Mississippi State University, a long-time scientist and administrator is retiring. Joe Street, associate director for agriculture and natural resources with the MSU Extension Service, will retire April 30. Street began his career at MSU in 1980 as a plant physiologist for the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station in Stoneville and spent 17 years in that position. An early proponent of growing rice in the Delta, Street played a key role in developing Mississippi's rice industry. Extension Director Gary Jackson said Street has dedicated his life to Mississippi State. "Joe has been a champion for all aspects of agriculture and the Mississippians responsible for producing our food, fiber and fuel," Jackson said.
 
MSU-Meridian historian honored with state nonfiction award
A state history book authored by a Mississippi State University-Meridian administrator is receiving the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters' 2015 Non-Fiction Award. "A New History of Mississippi" by Dennis Mitchell is the first comprehensive chronicle of the Magnolia State since a national bicentennial history was published in 1976. An associate professor of history and head of MSU-Meridian's Division of Arts and Sciences, Mitchell will be among MIAL honorees recognized formally June 6 in ceremonies held at the University of Southern Mississippi. Other award categories include fiction, poetry, music composition (classical), music composition (popular), photography and visual arts.
 
Unruh keeps Noxubee County from going to the dogs with help from MSU
Over the past four years, 1,604 Noxubee County dogs have been spayed or neutered, with more than a quarter of them -- 440 -- being adopted by a Massachusetts-based rescue organization called Sweet Paws Rescue. Two forces of nature are most accountable for this. The first was Hurricane Katrina, which ultimately led to the Mississippi State University School of Veterinary Medicine's mobile spay/neuter clinic. Funded by grants to create a mobile emergency animal clinic in the aftermath of the devastating events such as hurricanes, MSU's mobile clinic now provides cost-free spay/neuter services for 18 Mississippi counties that do not have humane societies. The second force of nature -- far less imposing than a storm yet just as relentless -- is a slightly-built, bespectacled 49-year-old Macon resident named Jeannette Unruh.
 
Starkville aldermen forecast willingness to find sanitation revenue, savings
Three aldermen Tuesday indicated they're willing to discuss Starkville sanitation changes that could generate additional revenues as the department continues to suffer through equipment shortage and repair issues. Talks on sanitation finances are expected to continue next month after an internal city audit is presented to aldermen. Additionally, Ward 5 Alderman Scott Maynard said a consultant will appear before aldermen and discuss a new system for residential garbage bag distributions.
 
Mississippi Development Authority closing regional offices
The Mississippi Development Authority is closing its regional offices across the state, in an effort to streamline operations and on recommendation from a recent study. The move will close eight offices and eliminate 11 positions, 10 of which are currently filled, MDA officials said. They said they could not immediately provide what the cost savings would be for the agency. Lawmakers recently increased MDA's budget from 24.1 million this year to $26.7 million for fiscal 2016. But officials said the increase was for "pass-through" specific projects the Legislature earmarked, and the agency's operating budget remained flat. MDA Chief Marketing Officer Marlo Dorsey said the move is based on recommendations from a recent competitiveness study of the state's economic development operations "as well as the changing landscape of economic and community development in the last 20 years."
 
US to announce plans to reduce agricultural carbon emissions
Federal agricultural officials are planning to announce voluntary programs and initiatives for farmers, ranchers and foresters meant to build on President Barack Obama's efforts to combat global warming -- and don't require congressional approval. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is expected to unveil plans Thursday at Michigan State University, where Obama signed the sweeping farm bill into law last year. The efforts, many of which have their roots in that law, aim to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions, boost carbon capture and storage and come with various enticements, including grants, low-interest loans and technical assistance. Specific actions to be announced Thursday include reducing the unnecessary use of fertilizer and methane emissions from cattle and swine, reforesting areas damaged by wildfire and disease and encouraging tree planting in urban areas.
 
Farm-state senators introduce bill to ease ag sales to Cuba
Two senators announced legislation designed to boost the sales of U.S. agricultural products to Cuba, seeking to tap a market that has seen shipments from the U.S. dwindle in recent years. Sens. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., and John Boozman, R-Ark., introduced the bill Wednesday, the latest in a series of legislative and administrative steps taken since President Barack Obama in December announced a thawing of relations with the island nation. The bill seeks to remove one of the main barriers to open agricultural trade with Cuba: the prohibition on credit sales. According to the lawmakers, current law prohibits any kind of financing of exports to Cuba and requires cash payment up front, curtailing potential sales.
 
Carter To Unveil New Pentagon Cyber Strategy
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter will unveil the Pentagon's new cyber strategy during a Thursday speech at Silicon Valley, according to DoD officials. Carter will also use his speech at Stanford University to announce a new program designed to reach out to the commercial sector to drive new technologies, including the creation of a permanent Pentagon presence in the Valley. The new strategy will lay out the goals and guidelines for how the Pentagon handles cyber issues, an issue which Pentagon leaders have been increasingly vocal about over the last year. The overall focus of the strategy falls into three categories: defending DoD networks, systems, and information; defending against cyber attacks of what the department calls "significant consequence;" and providing integrated cyber capabilities to military operations.
 
Pisgah teacher organizes College Signing Day for seniors
Seventeen-year-old Pisgah High School student Aaliyah Pierce will be the first in her family to have the chance to graduate college, and she credits Pisgah with that opportunity. Pierce, along with about 40 other seniors, celebrated their acceptance into college at the school's first-ever College Signing Day, an event dreamed up by 12th grade English teacher Lillian Sims. "Some people think school is like a jail, something you have to go through to be able to go on and do fun things," Sims, who is in her second year of teaching at the rural high school, said. "But school is an opportunity, and you can become good at it the way you become good at sports." The College Signing Day was an attempt to promote that attitude -- that continuing education is something to celebrate.
 
Small Business Administration tour to hit USM Gulf Park campus
The Small Business Administration is launching a 20-state road tour, joined by 11 fellow federal agencies participating in the SBA's Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs. The tour will stop at the University of Southern Mississippi-Gulf Park Campus on April 27. The SBA is working in coordination with Marine Industries Science and Technology Cluster and Magnolia Business Alliance to support tech-based entrepreneurship by bringing America's largest seed fund for small businesses in the STEM fields to Mississippi.
 
Tulane moving Coast campus across the street
The Tulane University School of Continuing Studies Mississippi Coast Campus is moving from Edgewater Mall across the street to Edgewater Village. The announcement was made Wednesday at the new location at 2650 Beach Blvd., Suite 44, the former site of Books-A-Million. Tulane is investing more than $2 million to renovate and equip the 15,000-square-foot building, said Associate Dean Karen Lucas. Johnny Olsen with LPK Architects in Gulfport said the university has a long-term lease and the inside of the building is a very blank slate. It doubles the space Tulane has in Edgewater Mall and will provide room for 500 evening and weekend students and an additional 500 daytime students.
 
Don't worry about the bare Auburn Oak, yet, horticulturist says
While Auburn University officially celebrated the Auburn Oaks at their new home at Toomer's Corner on Saturday, a visible difference in the foliage and general appearance between the two live oaks had many in the crowd worried about the Magnolia Avenue tree. Though the tree planted along Magnolia Avenue may not look to be as in good of health as the oak near College Street, Auburn University Professor of Horticulture Gary Keever said this isn't a cause of concern just yet. The tree is simply showing more signs of transplant shock, which refers to the stress-related conditions that can result from moving trees, than its sibling. For now, the university will be keeping a close eye on the tree and doing everything possible to ensure it heals properly from the moving process.
 
On Earth Day, Auburn University celebrates status as 'Green College'
Earlier this month, Auburn University was named the state's only "Green College" by the Princeton Review, the sixth consecutive year the university has been included in "The Princeton Review's Guide to 353 Green Colleges." "Auburn has developed a reputation for being a center for sustainability," Mike Kensler, director of the university's Office of Sustainability, said Wednesday during the 2015 Spirit of Sustainability Awards. He added that Auburn 's push toward becoming a sustainable campus started 10 years ago. "It's why we're far and away the leader in the state of Alabama."
 
Alabama lawmakers to consider creating two-year college board
The Alabama House of Representatives is expected to debate a bill to create a new governing board for Alabama's two-year college system. The legislation at the top of the debate agenda for Thursday would remove oversight of the Alabama community college system from the state Board of Education. The state school board has fought against the bill and opposed lawmakers have said the two-year college system should be controlled by an elected board.
 
UGA faculty, staff to get pay raises
University of Georgia faculty and staff should soon see more money in their paychecks, but not enough to make them even with their counterparts at other universities. UGA President Jere Morehead said on Wednesday that he plans to boost pay by 5 percent next fiscal year, but admitted the salary hike won't increase faculty pay to a competitive level with comparable institutions of higher learning. It will take several years of raises before UGA faculty pay recovers from a long slide in the 2000s, he said.
 
Tuition hike outpaces increase in HOPE scholarhip at UGA
The expense of a college education remains on a steep upward trend. It's true of college institutions nationwide and right here in Athens. The combined annual cost of tuition and fees at the University of Georgia has more than tripled in the past 15 years. With a 9 percent tuition hike going into effect next fall, UGA undergraduates will shell out a total of $11,610 for two semesters, about twice what it cost in 2007. The declining value of the HOPE Scholarship is also helping drive up the cost of attending UGA.
 
Two gun-related crimes, police chase in and around U. of Florida early Thursday
Two Alachua County residents were arrested this morning after two gun-related incidents --- one of them a robbery --- occurred in the vicinity of the University of Florida campus and ended with a cross-campus police chase. At 12:48 a.m., two UF students called 911 and alerted a campus blue-light phone after a man, later identified as 22-year-old Jared Christopher Williams, of Alachua, confronted them with a gun. UF police rushed to the scene near Walker Hall and off Union Road and set up a perimeter, according to Maj. Brad Barber, a university police spokesman. About an hour later, the Gainesville Police Department received a 911 call from another person who reported an armed robbery off campus in the 800 block of Northwest 15th Street.
 
Immigrant tuition bill fails as Tennessee legislature adjourns
The Tennessee Legislature adjourned its 2015 session Wednesday night after passing bills restricting abortion, curtailing use of unmanned speed cameras, regulating ridesharing companies and other measures. But a controversial bill that would allow undocumented immigrants' children who grew up in Tennessee to pay in-state tuition at the state's public colleges and universities fell one vote short. The hard-fought bill won a 49-47 plurality but one vote under the 50 required for approval in the 99-member House. The bill won Senate approval 21-12 last week. Scores of Tennessee-raised children of undocumented immigrants have rallied at the statehouse throughout the year in support of the bill.
 
Lexington teen makes research breakthrough with fruit flies in U. of Kentucky lab
Clara de Castro, 17, has made a significant scientific discovery in a University of Kentucky lab. A junior at Sayre School, de Castro has been working in Robin Cooper's UK lab, mostly on evenings and weekends, dissecting fruit flies. Through her work, she has developed a technique that enables researchers to study the effects that drugs have on the hearts of Drosophila, the genus of small flies often called fruit flies. "I looked at the different aspects of the saline that would cause the heart to slow down and stop," de Castro said. Eventually, she came up with a technique and a saline solution that kept the heart beating for hours.
 
South Carolina panel OKs borrowing $236 million for colleges, tech schools
A panel of state senators Wednesday approved borrowing $236.7 million for building projects, mostly at S.C. colleges and technical schools. That bond bill is roughly half the size of a nearly $500 million borrowing proposal defeated last month in the S.C. House after opposition from Republican Gov. Nikki Haley. Haley has been outspoken in her opposition to borrowing to pay for building maintenance and capital projects. If the borrowing plan passes, the University of South Carolina would receive $20 million, including $11 million to renovate its Main Street law school building for reuse, $6.3 million for repairs to the South Carolina library on the Horseshoe and $2.7 million to renovate the War Memorial Building at Sumter and Pendleton streets.
 
U. of Missouri notifications differ in recent incidents on and near campus
A series of MU Alert notifications about incidents on or near the University of Missouri campus in the last week has created some confusion about the gravity of threats. It has also sparked criticism of what some see as inconsistency in the approach to keeping people informed. As an example, a bomb threat on Tuesday night did not trigger a mass MU Alert, while a shots-fired incident did. And in that incident, MU Alert tweeted that a shooting -- not shots fired -- had been reported at Tenth and Walnut streets. Columbia Police Public Information Officer Latisha Stroer said she didn't know why MU had tweeted about a shooting when what had been reported was a "shots fired," an incident in which a gun is discharged. She said Columbia police were looking into the miscommunication.
 
Out of Favor With House GOP
Republicans won the first scrimmage Wednesday over how much money should be devoted to federal research in coming years -- and how that money ought to be divvied up. The America COMPETES Act passed along straight party lines in a 19 to 16 vote after a more than five-hour drafting session Wednesday in the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. Despite roughly 30 attempts by the outnumbered Democrats on the committee to amend the bill, it sailed through with only slight changes. The bill sets suggested funding levels for the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Department of Energy's Office of Science. While overall research and development spending would see a slight boost over what was appropriated this year, the bill suggests a reshuffling of money that would result in cuts to social sciences, climate and energy research.
 
Once a field of self-taught hackers, cybersecurity education shifts to universities
There's a sea change occurring in how information security is taught. Millions of dollars are pouring into universities to launch cybersecurity programs. While cybersecurity is still an industry that celebrates self-taught outsiders and hackers working for good, the future is sure to bring more engineers and specialists trained in the classroom. It's a stark change from the days Sushil Jajodia launched the country's first academic center devoted to computer security, the Center for Secure Information Systems at George Mason University, more than two decades ago. "When we started, there was no World Wide Web," says Dr. Jajodia, who opened the center in 1990 and still runs it today.
 
Iowa Legislator Wants to Give Students the Chance to Fire Underwhelming Faculty
A bill circulating in the Iowa State Senate offers a novel (and cutthroat) way to hold professors accountable: putting their fates into students' hands, Survivor-style. Every year the professor most disliked by students would be voted off the campus. The bill, introduced by Sen. Mark Chelgren, a Republican, would require the state's public universities to rate professors' performance based solely on students' evaluations of their teaching effectiveness. Professors whose evaluation scores didn't reach a minimum threshold would be automatically fired by the university. Then comes the competition. The names of the five professors with the lowest ratings above the minimum threshold would be published online. Students would then vote on those professors' future employment -- and the professor with the fewest votes would be fired, regardless of tenure status or contract terms.
 
Promising Full College Credit, Arizona State University Offers Online Freshman Program
Arizona State University, one of the nation's largest universities, is joining with edX, a nonprofit online venture founded by M.I.T. and Harvard, to offer an online freshman year that will be available worldwide with no admissions process and full university credit. In the new Global Freshman Academy, each credit will cost $200, but students will not have to pay until they pass the courses, which will be offered on the edX platform as MOOCs, or Massive Open Online Courses. Education policy experts said the new Arizona State effort could be different, because it offers academic credit under its well-known brand and the opportunity to delay payment for that credit until it is earned. With 83,000 students, Arizona State has adopted a mission of inclusivity, instead of going after the exclusivity favored by most top universities.
 
BOBBY HARRISON (OPINION): Northeast Mississippi remains key to control of state House
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal's Bobby Harrison writes: "Republicans captured the Mississippi House in the 2011 elections for the first time since the late 1800s thanks in large part to voters in Northeast Mississippi. ...If Democrats want to recapture the House during this year's elections, they must reverse their fortunes in Northeast Mississippi where Democratic incumbents once dominated the Mississippi House of Representatives. ...No doubt, odds are against Democrats regaining the House. With Republicans' recent gains and legislative redistricting, which paired more Democratic incumbents and created some strong Republican-leaning districts, Democrats are needing to capture about nine seats from Republicans in November to regain their majority."
 
SID SALTER (OPINION): Term limits push in Mississippi begins again
Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: "Republican state Sen. Chris McDaniel and his United Conservatives Fund followers want Mississippi voters to reconsider the old notion of term limits -- something state voters have already twice rejected in the initiative and referendum process. In 1995 and again in 1999, state voters rejected two separate term limits initiatives each by a margin of about 55 percent to 45 percent. And to be sure, the two prior term limits initiatives were rejected by Republicans, Democrats, whites, blacks, affluent voters and the poor. The initiatives died an across-the-board political death. ...Why? Mississippi voters weren't willing to give up their right to return competent, familiar public servants to office from their local supervisor and Justice Court judge to their congressman and U.S. senators."


SPORTS
 
Mississippi State softball knocks off Memphis in final home game of season
Over the weekend, Mississippi State honored its softball seniors playing their final Southeastern Conference games at home. Wednesday night, MSU boasted another celebration as sent out its present softball stadium on a high note. Behind four RBIs from Amanda Ivy and a complete-game pitching performance from Cassady Knudsen, MSU knocked off Memphis 11-3 in five innings in the final home game of the season and the final game scheduled to be played at the MSU Softball Field. Construction on a $7M renovation to the softball complex and the adjacent A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre is set to begin next week.
 
Mississippi State's Ross Mitchell a candidate for Senior CLASS Award
Ross Mitchell was named one of 30 candidates for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award. The award recognizes those with notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. Mitchell is a member of the SEC Community Service Team, and has gone on mission trips to the Bahamas the last two winters to help build homes and teach the game of baseball. The senior has spoken to more than a dozen schools and churches since 2013. He also coaches high school summer league baseball teams. Mitchell has excelled as a double-major student and will graduate in May with a bachelor's in both business administration and marketing.
 
Several Bulldogs working out in anticipation of the NFL Draft
For Jay Hughes, the days are different now. And they are the same. For five years, Hughes toiled daily as part of Mississippi State's football program. By working, grinding, sweating, Hughes became part of a program renaissance, signing with a Bulldogs' team that finished 5-7 the year before he arrived then leaving on a 10-3 note with memories of the school's first Orange Bowl bid in 73 years fresh in his mind. But now, three months after his final game as a Bulldog, the MSU safety is once again working, grinding, sweating. Though there's no practice in sight, no game on Saturday to prepare for, no Sportscenter appearances on the horizon, Hughes is back in the weight room and back on the football field, because even though his MSU career has ended, his dream of playing football hasn't. Welcome to life on the edges of the NFL Draft.
 
NFL visits piling up for McKinney, Smith as draft nears
Preston Smith's orange neon gloves slapped four black football dummies last week. Each collision forced the top of the dummy to the turf behind Mississippi State's football complex. A total of eight steps allowed Smith to finish the drill in preparation for the NFL Draft. "It's not about getting better," Smith said. "You're going to be the same person. You've just gotta make sure you're polished and you don't fall off." Smith has done well in his meetings as NFL teams continue to arrange meetings with the 6-foot-5 defensive lineman. He could also move to outside linebacker at the next level. The same is true for his former teammate Benardrick McKinney. The linebacker could be the first Mississippi State players since Fletcher Cox in 2012 to be selected in the first round.



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