| Tuesday, April 28, 2015 |
| Mississippi State Students from Nepal Talk about Devastating Earthquake, Collect Donations | |
 | The death toll continues to rise in Nepal as search and rescue crews dig through the rubble looking for possible earthquake survivors. Now students born in Nepal and staff at Mississippi State are talking about the tragedy and what we all can do to help. "The first thing that comes to our minds is our families. We tried to contact our family," says bioengineering graduate student Ritesh Karki. Karki says he and other Nepalese friends were celebrating at a birthday party late Friday night when they got the news of the 7.9 earthquake in Nepal. Karyn Brown works in the Department of Communication at MSU and has also adopted a son from Nepal. "I got a message this morning from a friend of ours, saying his home was leveled. He has the shirt on his back and an Internet connection. That's all. You could tell he just wanted to talk via the Internet just to have somebody," says Brown. |
| Mississippi State staffers recognized | |
 | Masoud Gheisari, an assistant professor in the building construction science program of the College of Architecture, Art and Design at Mississippi State, is a new ExCEEd Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Julie White of Starkville, an agent with the MSU Extension Service, has been selected to participate in the two-year American Farm Bureau Federation's Partners in Agricultural Leadership class designed to enhance leadership skills and agricultural advocacy roles. |
| US farms hit by bird flu -- but a vaccine might make things worse | |
 | Eight million chickens and turkeys have been destroyed at 70 farms in 13 states due to the spreading H5N2 bird flu virus. Health officials are cautiously optimistic the virus will not affect humans. Federal agriculture officials are hopeful the outbreak will diminish as warmer weather and sunshine destroys the flu virus. But they also say this may only be the beginning. There is a chance that vaccinating poultry for the virus would lead to pockets of "silent infections" that would spread unnoticed, making things worse. Henry Wan of Mississippi State University says, "vaccination will always be the last option for avian influenza." He cites widespread poultry vaccination programs in China, Indonesia and Egypt that have not done anything to halt or get rid of the strain Vaccinated poultry can spread the virus without getting sick, making the virus silent or invisible to detect. |
| US farms hit by bird flu, but a vaccine might make things worse | |
| Bird flu is rampaging across the Midwestern US this week. So far 13 million chickens and turkeys have been culled or earmarked for destruction to stop the spread of H5N2, an offspring of Asia's H5N1 bird flu. At the moment, an infected farm must kill all of its birds to stop H5N2. Poultry producers want a vaccine instead. Researchers at the US Department of Agriculture are starting tests, and USDA chief veterinary officer John Clifford says he is talking to vaccine companies. But "vaccination will always be the last option for avian influenza," says Henry Wan of Mississippi State University, who discovered H5N1 in 1996. Widespread poultry vaccination in China, Indonesia and Egypt has not got rid of that strain. On the contrary, vaccinated poultry spread the virus without getting sick, making its spread invisible. |
| Oak Hill Academy hires new headmaster | |
 | Cathy Davis will begin her new position as Oak Hill Academy's headmaster June 8, Oak Hill board president Gene Childress announced Monday. She succeeds Yandell Harris who is returning to coaching at Heritage Academy. Davis is a 28-year veteran of the classroom and administrative offices, serving the last three years as supervising principal at Wayne County High School, where she oversees a faculty and staff of 120 and more than 1,000 students. Prior to her Wayne County position, Davis worked at Mississippi State University as Coordinator of Leadership and Workforce Development at the Research and Curriculum Unit. |
| One year ago: Life after 23 tornadoes | |
| Eddie Pippin remembers the date April 28, 2014, this way: It was the day the devil visited his Louisville neighborhood. "Well really, the devil come through here and just tore us apart," he said. "We barely did get out of there, because we were up under the old house. That blowed away from us and we were in it, so it just took everything from us," Pippin said last week while sitting on the porch of a new home built with FEMA money. One year ago today, Pippin's devil -- 23 tornadoes -- roared through Mississippi. Fourteen people were killed. Estimates of insured damage losses reached $207 million. Sen. Giles Ward's home, too, was destroyed. He and his wife have since relocated. "Without question, it was the most indiscriminate track you could have imagined. It went through what were some of our subdivisions with more modern and expensive homes, and it tore right through the middle of some neighborhoods with older homes that weren't those things," he said. "It hit the industrial park, the cemetery, the medical community." |
| Judge: Caesars can demolish Harrah's casino in Mississippi | |
 | A Chicago bankruptcy judge has blessed plans to dismantle the former casino at the shuttered Harrah's complex in Mississippi's Tunica County. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Benjamin Goldgar authorized the dismantling March 30. It's one facet of a massive bankruptcy case involving Caesars Entertainment Corp. and its attempt to restructure or shed almost $20 billion in debt. It's unclear when Caesars will begin demolition or how long it will take. Alicia Draper, a permit clerk with the Tunica County Planning Commission, said Monday that Caesars has yet to seek a required permit. Spokesman Patrick Collins would only say Friday that Caesars is "proceeding with the court-approved process." Demolition was opposed by the Clarksdale-based Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee Board. |
| Nissan pledges $500K for Mississippi history, civil rights museums | |
| A $500,000 donation from Nissan to the Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum completes the $12 million private fundraising goal supporters had set to fill the facilities with artifacts. "Now we're going to raise $16 million," Sen. John Horhn, D-Jackson, said at a news conference Monday morning at Nissan's manufacturing facility in Canton. The automaker's contribution will fund the construction of a dining and gathering space that will serve both museums, set to open in December 2017 adjacent to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. The Nissan money will also pay for a gallery at the Civil Rights Museum. |
| Sen. Wicker to keynote Delta Council's 80th annual meeting | |
 | U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, chair of the Armed Services Committee, will be the keynote speaker for the 80th Annual Meeting of Delta Council on the Delta State University campus May 29. The gathering will be at the Bologna Performing Arts Center in Cleveland. "We have worked with Sen. Wicker throughout his career, and there is no more dedicated public servant in Mississippi that is attuned to the issues and opportunities that we have," said Delta Council President Walton Gresham, a businessman from Indianola. Gov. Phil Bryant will introduce Senator Wicker to the Delta Council audience. |
| Ex-Booneville lawyer asks for bribery conviction to be tossed | |
| A former Booneville attorney is asking a federal judge to vacate his conviction for conspiracy to bribe a state judge. Joey Langston pleaded guilty to the charge in 2008, served prison time and completed court ordered probation in the case. WTVA TV reports Langston is seeking to throw out the conviction because of recent rulings about federal jurisdiction in alleged crimes involving state judges. |
| Poll no surprise on Gov. Bryant re-election numbers | |
| A Mason-Dixon poll from late April shows incumbent Republican Gov. Phil Bryant with an extremely healthy -- 72 percent -- approval rating. It also shows him with a 61 percent to 30 percent margin over his most serious challenger, Democrat Vicki Slater. Against Democrat Valerie Short the margin was similar, 63 percent to 28 percent. Reform Party candidate Shawn O'Hara clocked 2-3 percent, with 7 percent undecided. |
| Supreme Court will hear historic arguments in gay-marriage cases | |
 | The Supreme Court is set for historic arguments Tuesday in a cluster of cases that could allow same-sex couples across the nation to claim a constitutional right to marry unheard of a generation ago. In cases from Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, the justices will consider two questions: whether the Constitution requires states to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and whether states must recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states where they are legal. The recognition of such a constitutional right would mark the culmination of an unprecedented upheaval in public opinion about gay rights and a dramatic change in the nation's jurisprudence. Same-sex marriages were practically unheard of in the nation until a Massachusetts court decision cleared the way for unions there just a dozen years ago. |
| Mississippi eyes U.S. Supreme Court on gay union issue | |
| Mississippi turns its eyes today toward Washington, D.C., where the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments from six same-sex marriage cases spanning four states in advance of what will become its landmark decision affecting gay couples nationwide. At issue is whether state bans on same-sex marriage violate the U.S. Constitution in terms of discrimination. Supreme Court justices are expected to issue an opinion on the matter in late June. When they do, it will settle several ongoing cases, including one in Mississippi. |
| Conservatives leading push to increase funding for National Institutes of Health | |
 | Deficit hawk lawmakers have found something they want to spend money on: medical research. They say they want to cure cancer and other diseases by boosting the budget for the National Institutes of Health, and they argue that investing in those cures now will save taxpayer money later by lowering health care costs over time. Spearheaded by conservatives in the Republican-controlled Congress, the unlikely campaign has the potential to unite both parties in a common cause and give the NIH its best chance at substantial budget growth in more than a decade. At stake is billions of dollars in grant money that could end up at research institutions in lawmakers' own backyards. |
| After a night of rioting and looting in Baltimore, the cleanup begins | |
| The morning after looters and rioters wreaked havoc on Baltimore's West Side, cleanup efforts began before dawn as shop owners swept broken glass out of their stores, residents filled garbage bags with refuse and towtrucks removed burned cars. Although the streets became calm shortly after sunrise, problems were reported as late as 5 a.m. and police officers in riot gear continued to block an intersection that had been at the center of the mayhem, near a CVS pharmacy that was burned and looted. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who activated the National Guard to assist Baltimore police, promised a heavy law enforcement presence throughout the day and into the night Tuesday to deter further violence and fires. |
| Tyson Joins the Flock on Curbing Antibiotics | |
 | Tyson Foods Inc. plans to largely eliminate antibiotics used in human health from its chicken production, a sweeping move that signals how public pressure over health concerns is rapidly changing a decades-old practice in the meat industry. Tyson, the largest U.S. meat packer by sales, intends to curtail use of the drugs by the end of September 2017, a decision aimed at allaying mounting public-health concerns over drug-resistant bacteria. The company may still use some antibiotics used in human medicine to treat birds that become sick, and its suppliers will continue to administer antibiotics used solely to prevent and treat animal maladies. Tyson's plan, announced Tuesday, is among the biggest in a string of actions by meat producers, restaurant chains and retailers. |
| Huntsville close to landing Alabama's first industrial development 'Megasite' | |
 | A 1,500-acre farm in Huntsville-annexed Limestone County is in line to become Alabama's only TVA Megasite for large-scale manufacturing. Shane Davis, the city's director of urban development, said he is confident the Sewell property along Powell Road will be certified as a TVA Megasite by late June or early July. "We've had site selectors tell us that logistically, workforce, and the way the property is easily developable, it's one of the better sites in the country," said Davis. Davis said he envisions a "Honda or Mercedes or Volvo-type" industry in the center of the property, surrounded by smaller parts suppliers. That model has played out at the four TVA Megasites that have been sold so far, including Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Toyota in Tupelo, and PACCAR and Severstal in Columbus. |
| Students Get Look at Historically Black Colleges and Universities | |
 | Northeast Lauderdale High School senior Alyssa Hodges was originally planning to attend Mississippi State University but on Monday she decided to look at several Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) at a student fair at the Carlia E. Oatis Jr., building in Meridian. "I wanted to come out and see some different schools," Hodges said. "I was going to Mississippi State, but now I'm open to different views. I've been accepted to Jackson State (University) but I also want to take a look at Southern (University)." Hodges said she is looking to major in criminology. She is exactly the type of student event organizer Jaclyn Buford said she wanted to come and check out what HBCUs can offer students from Meridian and East Mississippi. |
| UM history department named for Amory native | |
 | An Amory native who made his mark on the University of Mississippi will soon have an academic department named after him. The University of Mississippi announced Monday the first named department on the campus: the Arch Dalrymple III Department of History. The Dalrymple family of Amory also announced a $5 million endowment to the UM History Department. Chancellor Dan Jones and Martha Dalrymple, Arch's daughter, unveiled a bronze plaque to be installed in Bishop Hall, home to the history department. |
| USM students from Nepal start earthquake relief drive | |
 | University of Southern Mississippi students from Nepal are working to raise awareness and support for those affected by the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck their homeland Saturday. Khem Raj BC and Pradip Bastola, along with their fellow students and members of the Hattiesburg Nepali Society, have established a gofundme account to help with donations through social media, and are providing contact information for other relief agencies assisting the people of Nepal. "We request the support of the Southern Miss and Hattiesburg communities in our efforts to secure relief for Nepal," Khem Raj BC said. "The families of USM Nepalese students are safe, but some have lost their homes in the earthquake. Any support will be greatly appreciated and help our country and its people recover from this disaster." |
| USM commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act | |
 | The Center for Black Studies at the University of Southern Mississippi will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 with a community dialogue and panel featuring local civil rights' activists and scholars at the African American Military History Museum on May 2. The panel will be followed by a voter registration drive in the historic Mobile/Bouie Neighborhood in Hattiesburg organized by the Black Studies Student Alliance. Cheryl Jenkins, associate director of the Center for Black Studies and associate professor in the School of Mass Communication and Journalism, believes this event will be impactful enough to generate conversations about current voting rights in America. |
| Longleaf Trace looking at upgrades and extensions | |
| Two weeks ago, the Longleaf Trace received a $10,000 grant that will be used to further enhance an expanded parking area that will add 100 spaces at the Jackson Road Station in Hattiesburg. By this fall, another parking problem should be alleviated, this one at the University of Southern Mississippi Gateway, where construction of 50 new parking spaces east of the gateway's office is underway. And by this time next year, the Trace should be in the process of adding at least another few miles to the 40-plus that already run from USM through Sumrall and Bassfield to its northwest terminus in Prentiss. |
| Top distance runner Goucher coming to William Carey | |
| Adam Goucher has had a lifelong love of distance running, but the sport hasn't always loved him back. Goucher was one of the nation's most promising runners coming out high school in Colorado Springs, Colo., but injuries kept him from realizing that potential. Nevertheless, Goucher continues to give back to the sport he loves, and Tuesday he will be in Hattiesburg preaching the benefits of long-distance running. Goucher will lead a group run at Tatum Park at 6 p.m. Tuesday, then give his presentation at 7 p.m. at the Fail-Asbury Nursing Building on the William Carey University campus. "I've been helping out trying to get the word out," said Presbyterian Christian distance coach Wayne Williams, who is a former track and cross country coach at Southern Miss. |
| Auburn University collaborates with VCOM for medical college | |
 | A private, non-profit college affiliated with Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., and Wofford University in Spartanburg, S.C., will extend its roots in Auburn this fall, when the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine begins classes at the Auburn Research Park. VCOM opened its Virginia campus in 2003 and started its second campus in the Carolinas in 2010 to answer the growing need for physicians in primary care fields, according to VCOM's website. Cindy Shepard Rawlins, assistant vice president for communications, marketing, website and publications for the Virginia and Auburn campuses, said that between the three campuses, VCOM has had more than 11,000 applications. VCOM and Auburn University will collaborate on education, research and student activities, according to Rawlins. |
| LSU students found different ways to weather the Monday storm | |
 | As a strong line of thunderstorms approached Baton Rouge Monday morning, cell phones in classrooms all over LSU started to go off with a warning. Jessie Smith, 19, and Christina Barrios, 20, were in class when they got the text that there was a tornado warning. They went out to stand under a pavilion near their class for a bit and then made their way to the student union so they could get inside. Neither student said they were nervous about the weather until they started getting text messages from friends. "My friends were texting that they were being evacuated into the basement of the dorm and I'm standing outside," Smith said. |
| LSU reports damage, flooding across campus | |
| The Monday morning thunderstorm caused flooding and other damage to at least two dozen buildings across LSU's campus. According to details from LSU, the damage ranges from plastic siding that has come off of Thomas Boyd Hall to water leaking in from ceilings, windows and through doors. The basements of Allen Hall and Atkinson Hall had experienced flooding, as did the fourth floor of Choppin Hall. Sand bags were needed at the back door of the LSU cafeteria and officials warned that expensive equipment could be threatened by the water in the Life Sciences Building. |
| U. of Florida names Laura Ann Rosenbury as dean of law school | |
 | After a lengthy search, the University of Florida named its first female dean for the Levin College of Law on Monday. Rosenbury, professor at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, was named dean by Provost Joe Glover after a national search and extensive interview process that included campus visits and appearances before faculty, students and staff. It was the second attempt to find a new dean to replace Robert Jerry, who stepped down last June after 11 years as dean. The first search was terminated after failing to produce a candidate with the vision and academic qualifications then-President Bernie Machen and Glover wanted in the next law dean. |
| UF finds dissatisfaction still flows, 5 years after Gulf oil spill | |
| People who have been living with the consequences of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill that killed 11 people and released nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico are still struggling to overcome the effects of the spill five years later. Nearly 30 percent of 444 coastal residents from Baldwin County, Alabama, to Levy County who responded to a University of Florida phone survey conducted in January said they were personally affected by the spill. "I was particularly struck with respondents' level of satisfaction with their community's economy," said Tracy Irani, one of the authors of the report on the survey and chair of the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences in the UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. |
| Texas A&M faculty honored at Distinguished Achievement Awards ceremony | |
 | Some of Texas A&M University's most respected educators were honored by peers for their commitment to teaching during an awards ceremony Monday. Twenty-four honorees in categories of teacher, researcher, administrator and student relations received a plaque, a $4,000 cash prize and a gold engraved watch during the 60th annual Association of Former Students' Distinguished Achievement Awards ceremony in Rudder Theatre. The award is considered one of the highest honors an educator can receive at the school. Provost Karan Watson said that although the cash prize is important, the watch garners immediate respect. |
| Nepalese students at U. of Missouri spend anxious weekend waiting for word from home | |
 | Nepalese students at the University of Missouri and Westminster College endured an anxiety-filled weekend as they watched the aftermath of a major disaster in their homeland from afar. On Monday many of those students said their families back home were living in tents after an earthquake Saturday killed more than 4,000 people. Nila Manandhar is a fourth-year medical student at MU and a member of the Nepalese Student Association. She said when she woke up Saturday morning, she saw posts on social media websites about the earthquake in her homeland. Manandhar began calling and texting her family members. After a few hours, she received a one-word text from an uncle that her family was fine. "They're all safe," Manandhar said. "The main problem is... finding food and water." |
| U. of Missouri's Nepalese students emphasize relief needs | |
 | After a 7.8 magnitude earthquake devastated parts of Nepal, some MU students are looking to their community and the world to help send relief to the South Asian country. MU doctoral student Khem Aryal's parents were on the way to Kathmandu to apply for visas so they could attend his graduation in May when the earthquake struck. They had to cancel their trip and return to his brother's home, which was not badly affected by the quake due to its location outside the city. Many major humanitarian groups, including Oxfam and the Red Cross, have started relief efforts for Nepal. Aryal, who has already donated to the Red Cross, said he believes these relief efforts are the key to helping the country cope with the effects of its worst earthquake in 80 years. |
| Communication an issue for college administrators, faculty during era of financial change | |
 | As colleges across the country attempt to navigate tough economic times and respond to calls to change their business models, conflicts abound. They are about not only the substance of various strategies, but about the ways administrators and faculty communicate during an era of sweeping change in how the business side of universities operate. Both large and small, colleges around the country are working to adapt to a changing financial landscape. As more and more faculty resolutions against strategic plans and administrative actions surface, nearly all of them have a common thread: concern over not only the proposed changes, but how those changes are communicated. |
| NICHOLAS B. DIRKS (OPINION): Rebirth of the Research University | |
 | Nicholas B. Dirks, the chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley, writes in The Chronicle of Higher Education: "Those of us leading or working in research universities, especially public ones, face the urgent imperative to articulate and give full-throated explanations of the extent to which university research not only brings economic and social betterment (through new medicines, policies, products, jobs, etc.) but also is crucial to the educational mission. It drives discoveries that can be commercialized to enrich innovators and their backers, and it ensures that those innovations will be deployed to sustain the vitality of our economy, our society, and our human values. Research is also a good in itself across the full set of disciplines and fields that constitute university life; it is an aptitude and skill that students, both undergraduate and graduate, learn in college that can be of lifelong value; and it is a force that generates new knowledge -- and new modes of teaching and learning." |
SPORTS
| Week ahead provides Mississippi State chance to knock off rivals | |
| In most seasons this week would highlight Mississippi State's schedule. It begins with the Governor's Cup in Pearl against Ole Miss on Tuesday then concludes with a three-game series at Dudy Noble Field against No. 1 LSU. The two foes are MSU's most bitter rivals. The Bulldogs' recent struggles soften the intensity to a degree. Mississippi State can contribute in determining NCAA Tournament regional seeding, but its role will be as spoiler. |
| Governor's Cup: Rebels, Bulldogs collide tonight in Pearl | |
 | Ole Miss players are hoping to build on a good week on offense and play their way into the NCAA tournament. A win over rival Mississippi State would be a big help. The Rebels and Bulldogs meet just for fun tonight at 6:30 in the annual Governor's Cup game at Trustmark Park in Pearl. The game will not be televised. It does not count in the SEC standings, but it counts very much in the Rebels' quest to climb a little higher above the .500 mark. "Obviously, they're our rivals. We want to go down there, play well and beat them," Ole Miss catcher Austin Knight said. |
| Mississippi State women's golf NCAA regional bound | |
| After a season full of success, the No. 12-ranked Mississippi State women's golf team learned Monday night it will be traveling to Raleigh, N.C,. for the NCAA Regional Championship. During a night where the team, students and fans all gathered at a packed house inside Buffalo Wild Wings, the announcement was made that the Bulldogs will be playing in the East Regional slot at Raleigh, N.C., on May 7-9. Play will be at the Lonnie Pool Golf Course, home of the N.C. State Wolfpack. "I am excited to go to North Carolina, as it's really one of the sites we wanted to go to the most," MSU coach Ginger Brown-Lemm said. "The weather is more consistent there, better than some of the other locations. More importantly though, the grass is similar to what we have here in Mississippi..." |
| Mississippi State women's golf No. 3 seed in Raleigh | |
| For the third time in as many years, the Mississippi State women's golf team is hitting the links in an NCAA Regional. This year the fifth-ranked Bulldogs are the No. 3 seed in the Raleigh Regional hosted by N.C. State at the Lonnie Poole Golf Course. The three-day event gets underway on May 6. "That was one of the regionals we were really excited about," said senior Ally McDonald, the All-American from Fulton. "I'm glad we're going to go there. We're definitely going to be in a good atmosphere." There will be plenty of familiarity among the 18 other teams in the regional as MSU will be one of five teams representing the SEC. |
| Mississippi State's sights set on another NCAA championship appearance | |
| Mississippi State flooded Old Waverly Golf Club with a mid-70s rock song to regain momentum last week. The Bulldogs started its postseason with a 12th-place finish in the Southeastern Conference Tournament last week. To erase the bad vibes and resurrect their play at the end of the season that saw a second place finish at LSU, MSU coach Ginger Brown-Lemm told her team two things: Charge their cell phones and report to Old Waverly at 2 p.m. When Bulldogs arrived, Brown-Lemm challenged her team to a round of 18 while music, such as Kansas' "Carry On Wayward Son" blasted in the background. "We just laughed and had fun and gave putts and hit shots," Brown-Lemm said. The Bulldogs look to take their new found momentum into the NCAA Tournament on May 7. Mississippi State learned Monday that it earned the three-seed in the Raleigh Regional. |
| Mississippi State track & field men and women ranked in top 25 | |
| Capturing eight wins at the Southern Miss Invitational this past weekend, both Mississippi State track and field teams moved up in the USTFCCCA rankings. Moving up five spots from No. 18, the men's team lands at 13th in the country, while the women move back into the Top 25 at No. 22. "I'm glad going into the last meet of the season that both teams are receiving national attention," MSU coach Steve Dudley said. "I'm hoping after this weekend we can continue to improve our program. There's still a lot to do this season." The Bulldogs are set to host the Jace Lacoste this Friday and Saturday at the Mike Sanders Track Complex. This will be the last regular season meet of the season. |
| Mississippi State's Alwal signs contract with WNBA's Atlanta Dream | |
| Martha Alwal is discovering life as a prospective professional athlete can make you feel like you're in a whirlwind. In a five-day span in the past two weeks, the Mississippi State senior center went from anxious to disappointed to excited -- without hearing her name called in the WNBA draft. That Alwal wasn't selected April 16 in the three-round event was a source of disappointment because she and her agent, Tom Cross, believed she would be one of the 36 players selected. But not being drafted might work out for the best for Alwal, who learned Tuesday she had secured an opportunity to attend training camp for the Atlanta Dream. Later in the week, Alwal signed the non-guaranteed contract and started preparations for the next step in her basketball journey. |
| 'Crazy morning:' LSU to host Alcorn State on Tuesday despite storm damage, toppled foul poles | |
| Paul Mainieri stepped onto Skip Bertman Field and said to himself, "Something looks different." He quickly realized what. "There are no foul poles!" the coach said. Both foul poles at Alex Box Stadium were toppled during a fierce thunderstorm that roared across south Louisiana on Monday morning, but the Tigers still will host Alcorn State on Tuesday. Temporary 20-foot foul poles will be erected for the game between the Tigers (37-7) and Braves (11-36) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. New foul poles will be installed by the time LSU hosts Missouri in the last home regular-season series May 8-10, Mainieri said. "It was a crazy morning," Mainieri said. |
| Texas A&M shows off upgraded Kyle Field press box | |
| The vision to make Kyle Field an NFL-quality stadium manifested itself in a new press box overlooking the 12th Man. Texas A&M University officials introduced local media to their new home for fall Saturdays in the new east-side press box and gave the first construction progress update since the Dec. 21 implosion, which brought the old press box down with the rest of the stadium's west side. A&M System Chancellor John Sharp said the new press box above the student section, which will host television and radio broadcasters, print journalists and coaches, will rival or exceed the quality of the press quarters at the Dallas Cowboys' AT&T Stadium or the Houston Texans' NRG Stadium. |
| Auburn University designated Olympic training site | |
| The United States Olympic Committee designated three separate facilities on the Auburn University campus as official Olympic training sites, the university announced. Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum, Watson Fieldhouse and the College of Education's Kinesiology Building will display the Olympic rings this fall as Auburn assists the men's and women's USA Team Handball teams. There are 18 Olympic training sites in the country, and of those only four are housed at universities. "This designation brings together three enduring American brands – Auburn University, the United States Olympic Team and USA Team Handball," said David Pascoe, Humana Germany Sherman Distinguished Professor in the College of Education and a lead negotiator with the USOC on Auburn's behalf. |
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