Friday, May 15, 2015   
 
Unmanned aerial system center comes to Mississippi
Mississippi lawmakers praised plans Thursday to make Mississippi State University the site of a national center to develop federal policies for unmanned aircraft. "We're experiencing, all of us, a sheer explosion in the realm of technology," said MSU President Mark Keenum. "Unmanned aerial system is a wonderful example of this technological advancement." FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said the MSU project was chosen after a competitive process, in part because of its diverse group of university partners and their track record in unmanned aerial research. "They had a really good understanding not only of the technology but also of the public policy side of it," Huerta said after the news conference.
 
Mississippi State President Mark Keenum Meets with Congressional Leaders to Launch UAV Consortium
They may seem like unlikely partners but they say they are a perfect fit for incorporating drones into our daily lives. Mississippi State University President Mark Keenum and congressional delegations from Mississippi, North Dakota and Alaska met Thursday about the next steps in a new consortium headed by MSU. The group will start work this fall on developing new systems for allowing unmanned aerial vehicles to work in the nation's airspace safely. It also will work on everything from privacy issues to how new technology and information can be shared.
 
UAS Center of Excellence director says FAA regulations a priority
Helping the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) implement its proposed rules for small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) as quickly as possible is a priority for the agency's newly created National Center of Excellence (COE) for Unmanned Aircraft Systems. The FAA last week announced the selection of Mississippi State University to lead a team of universities engaged in UAS research with their industry partners. "Our goal is to take all this fantastic research and turn it into the rules that the FAA can implement now and get this $80 to $100 billion industry going," said Maj. Gen. James Poss (retired) of Mississippi State University, who leads the COE team. "We're confident that with the FAA's help, we can do that." Poss was the senior career intelligence officer in the U.S. Air Force and retired as the assistant deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) at the Air Force headquarters in Washington, D.C.
 
Land grants take on larger role in UAS research
A new center for unmanned aerial systems (UAS) research led by several land grant universities and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will help ensure that "this nation continues to lead when it comes to aviation and aerospace," said Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., during a press conference Thursday. The Unmanned Aerial Systems Center of Excellence (UAS COE) is a consortium of universities that will research and develop technologies and policies for the use of UAS, or drones, in the U.S. Just last week, the FAA selected Mississippi State University to operate the center with a team dubbed the Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence (ASSURE). Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said the COE is "about creating American jobs, whether it's about making crops grow better, protecting our troops or responding to humanitarian crises... UAS is the wave of the future."
 
Joe Street: A life of service to Mississippi agriculture
With his newly-earned Ph.D. in agronomy and weed science from Auburn University in hand, Joe Street thought he was headed for a job in Kentucky. But that got sidetracked. Instead, he spent his 35-1/2 year working career in his home state of Mississippi, participating in the massive expansion of rice acreage in the Delta in the 1980s, and spending the later years in administration for the Mississippi State University Extension Service. "MSU is a great place to work, and I've enjoyed my years here and in my other positions in the Extension/research system. I've had a tremendous, wonderful career, but it's time for a change. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but I'm a baby boomer who just loves to work. I've jokingly said I only work half days -- and it doesn't matter which 12 hours," he said.
 
Cicada Brood XXIII: They're back! Western half of state hit
That ringing in your ears that begins soon after sunrise may not be a sudden onset of tinnitus. In roughly the western half of Mississippi, you may be hearing the maddeningly persistent mating call of Brood XXIII -- one of three known broods of 13-year magicicadas. "Brood XXIII actually consists of four different species – Magicicada tredecim, M. tredecassini, M. tredecula, and M. neotredecim," writes Mississippi State University Extension Entomologist Blake Layton in a paper on the subject. "Here in Starkville, we don't have cicadas this year, but we had them in 2011," Layton said this week. The coastal and southeastern counties, he added, have no periodical cicadas. Layton said several theories have arisen about how the 13- and 17-year life cycles of periodical cicadas developed, but he agreed none seem conclusive.
 
Starkville prepares for 'hero's send-off'
A Hattiesburg police officer killed last weekend in the line of duty will be laid to rest in Starkville on Saturday. Starkville Police Chief Frank Nichols said his department and Starkville Fire Department plan to give 25-year-old Liquori Tate a hero's send off, and he hopes area citizens will do the same. Tate, 25, and another officer, 34-year-old Benjamin Deen, were shot dead during a traffic stop May 9 in Hattiesburg. Tate grew up in Starkville. "His roots in Starkville run deep," Mayor Parker Wiseman said. "He was raised in this community and he will forever be honored by our city as a local hero."
 
Attorneys hope DNA tests will clear death row inmate
Attorneys for Mississippi death row inmate Willie Jerome Manning say they hope results of recent DNA tests will exonerate him and get him out of prison. Manning, now 46, has been on death row for nearly half his life and came within hours of being put to death in May 2013 for the slayings of two college students more than 20 years earlier. The state Supreme Court indefinitely delayed the execution to allow further consideration of Manning's capital murder convictions. Manning was convicted in two sets of slayings in Oktibbeha County. One conviction, in 1994, was for the killing of two Mississippi State University students, Jon Steckler and Tiffany Miller, in late 1992. The other conviction, in 1996, was for the killing of a 90-year-old Emmoline Jimmerson and her 60-year-old daughter, Alberta Jordan, during a robbery of their Starkville apartment in 1993. The women were beaten and their throats were slashed.
 
Mississippi mourns B.B. King
It didn't sound right coming from the mouth of a genius. "I'm stupid when it comes to the guitar," B.B. King said. This writer waited for the punch line. Instead, he explained: "I don't know nothin' about no alternate tunings and all that. I guess I'm like a lot of musicians. Sometimes when I play, the guitar feels like a nerve in my nervous system, like a deep-down part of me. Then other times I'll play and I finally just set the thing in the corner and swear at it. "I don't play nothin' like I'd like to play. There is a sound I've been searching for all these years. I don't know what it is, but I'll know when I hear it. I guess what I'm saying is, when I really learn how to play I'll let you know." That was B.B. King: A humble, straight-talking, one-of-a-kind blues singer/musician who grew up in Kilmichael and spent part of his teen years in Indianola. His home state mourns, as does the rest of the world.
 
B. B. King, Defining Bluesman for Generations, Dies at 89
B. B. King, whose world-weary voice and wailing guitar lifted him from the cotton fields of Mississippi to a global stage and the apex of American blues, died Thursday in Las Vegas. He was 89. It was reported on Mr. King's website that he died in his sleep. Mr. King married country blues to big-city rhythms and created a sound instantly recognizable to millions: a stinging guitar with a shimmering vibrato, notes that coiled and leapt like an animal, and a voice that groaned and bent with the weight of lust, longing and lost love. "I wanted to connect my guitar to human emotions," Mr. King said in his autobiography, "Blues All Around Me" (1996), written with David Ritz.
 
B.B. King, Blues Legend, Dies at 89
Riley B. King -- better known as B.B. -- was the world's most famous blues musician. If his celebrity rose from his tireless ambassadorship for the art form, it was built on his refined skill as a fiery performer and a stinging, supremely tasteful electric guitarist. Mr. King died peacefully in his sleep at 9:40 p.m. Thursday in Las Vegas, his attorney, Brent Bryson, told the Associated Press. He was 89. Most fans of popular music have known B.B. King their entire lives, and to a degree that familiarity distorts his reputation. When Mr. King recorded his first hit singles in the early 1950s, he wasn't yet the stately icon in a tuxedo who traveled to world capitals and the White House to promote a form of American music that grew from the Mississippi Delta where he was raised. Six decades ago, Mr. King was a determined, hard-touring musician who funded his own revue to play the blues, R&B and swing.
 
B.B. King, Mississippi-born master of the blues, dies at 89
With his guitar Lucille, B.B. King sang and played his way out of the Mississippi cotton fields and onto international concert stages. Squeezing and trilling the strings way up the neck with his amp cranked, Mr. King, who died Thursday at age 89, left an indelible mark on Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy and Fleetwood Mac's Peter Green. "One of the things that enabled B.B. to have such a profound effect on generations of rock-blues guitarists, from Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix to the present day, was [his music's] very accessibility -- its emotional accessibility in the high-flying, single-string focus of his soloing, and its musical accessibility in the broad range of sources from which he drew," blues historian Peter Guralnick said in an interview. The guitar only accounted for part of Mr. King's popularity. "The World's Greatest Blues Singer," as he was often introduced, could shout and exhort the blues in a harsh, blustery baritone like a backwoods preacher, then caress the words with a soft falsetto plea in the same verse.
 
First Mississippi Book Festival to celebrate state's literary legacy
In effort to highlight the state's rich literary legacy and combat its ranking among the lowest in youth literary rates, leaders announced the first Mississippi Book Festival will be held Aug. 22. The free event on the state capitol grounds in Jackson will feature 75 authors, headlined by New York Times bestselling author and Natchez native Greg Iles. Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves said the event will honor Mississippi's legacy of writers such as Tennessee Williams and Willie Morris, but he hopes it will help foster a cultural change. "In a state that is home to Faulkner, Eudora Welty and so many other tremendous national treasures, to have a literacy rate amongst our young people that is alarmingly low is something that is certainly ironic and needs to be addressed," Reeves said.
 
Mississippi product going after teenage drivers
A Ridgeland company soon will start marketing a device that can nag a teenage driver whose parents aren't in the car. The Sentinel, a device from VRM Telematics, senses and reports cellphone use behind the wheel. Using a cloud-based system, it notifies someone outside the car if the driver is sending text messages or talking on a cellphone. It has similar notifications for speeding or if the driver has entered an area deemed off-limits. There's even a notification option for passenger cellphone use. Jeremy Chalmers, VRM's chief operating officer, says the first run of the Sentinel will be for sale sometime in June.
 
Chaney easily outdoes challenger in campaign fundraising
Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney is far outstripping his challenger in campaign contributions as they head toward a Republican primary on Aug. 4. Chaney, who is seeking his third term as commissioner, reported on his May 8 form with the Secretary of State that he has received $116,425 this year, compared with John Mosley, owner of Clinton Body Shops in Clinton and Richland, who reported $46,250 -- more than two-thirds of which, $33,000, came out his own pocket. Chaney's cash on hand amount stood at $338,089.43. Marty Wiseman, former political science professor and director of the Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development at Mississippi State University, said that "for a somewhat obscure position like insurance commissioner, it goes without saying that [Chaney] has developed a significant following, in large measure because of his efforts with insurance exchanges... a very popular move on his part."
 
Harrison County GOP protests state party's actions in Biloxi mayor's race
The Harrison County Republican Executive Committee is protesting the state party's intervention in the Biloxi mayor's race. Chairman Frank Genzer of Biloxi said local Republicans are infuriated by a letter sent by state Chairman Joe Nosef that questioned the Republican credentials of FoFo Gilich, a candidate local Republicans "absolutely" consider a Republican. Gilich had been a Democrat, even serving briefly as local leader, but said he switched to the GOP several years ago. The Harrison County Republican Club also accepts Gilich as a member of the party. Genzer said it's standard protocol for the state party to contact the local party before taking any action, such as an endorsement. "It infuriated us that they decided which one was the better Republican," he said. "You don't do that."
 
His candidate lost, but Gov. Bryant doesn't regret endorsement in Biloxi mayor's race
Gov. Phil Bryant said Thursday he certainly didn't want to leave Biloxians with the wrong impression. Some residents of the city were miffed Bryant got involved in the nonpartisan special election for mayor. Once voters narrowed the field from 10 to two candidates, Bryant endorsed Harrison County Supervisor Windy Swetman. Swetman lost the runoff to FoFo Gilich, a Biloxi native and proud member of what he calls "the Croation Nation." Gilich didn't just win. He won big, pulling in 60 percent of the vote. "Endorsements are something I take very seriously," Bryant said. "Windy is someone that supported me during my campaign as I ran for governor, somebody that I've been close to. He's a real Republican conservative and I thought it was something that I needed to do."
 
Pentagon hosts first Lab Day to highlight gadgets
The tinkerers imagining and putting together the military's new toys got a chance for show-and-tell Thursday. More than 100 display booths sprouted up in the Pentagon courtyard for the first-ever Defense Department Lab Day, an event designed to showcase the department's research and development work. All of the services had representation on-hand, with technologies in different stages of development. The smorgasbord of concepts included missile systems, various threat detection capabilities, flight control systems and airplane engines, vehicle and personal protection from explosions, communications systems and more -- right down to samples of the long-awaited MRE pizza.
 
Appalachian Regional Commission defends mission against pork allegations
A day after getting tagged for wasteful, pork-barrel spending, the Appalachian Regional Commission fought back Thursday. In its annual "Pig Book," Citizens Against Government Waste on Wednesday called out the commission for pork spending. Guy Land, a spokesman for the agency said Congress created the commission in 1965 to bring the Appalachian region up to the standards of the rest of the country. "It's enabling these communities to have a full seat at the table," he said. "There are some unique challenges that confront Appalachia." Land said the commission has focused on improving job skills and education in order to be more competitive in emerging sectors of the economy.
 
In global fight against extreme poverty, a potential game-changer
In efforts to lift some 2 billion people around the world out of extreme poverty by 2030, the "big push" might not be new, but on the right scale, it could be a game-changer, new research suggests. The big push is an approach to alleviating extreme poverty has recorded successes, typically on small scales in various countries. But it has not been examined rigorously to see how well it works across cultural and political boundaries. Now, a study released Thursday suggests that the approach can yield lasting improvements for people in diverse countries. And it shows that when properly implemented, such programs are cost effective.
 
Man gets life in prison for murder of Jackson State professor
A week less than a year from the crime, the man accused in the brutal death of a Jackson State University professor was convicted of murder. Melvin Potts, 21, was sentenced to spend life in prison on the murder charge, and received an additional 10 years on charges of auto theft. Garrick Shelton was found stabbed to death in his home in what Madison County District Attorney Michael Guest described as a particularly brutal crime. "As Dr. Shelton lay dying on the floor, Mr. Potts stepped over the body, unplugged the television and X-Box gaming console, loaded them in Dr. Shelton's car, and drove to Jackson," Guest said. "What we had was a brutal slaying, a slaying in which following the death, his property was taken. Then the defendant claimed his actions were justifiable through self-defense."
 
Gibbs, Green shot and killed at Jackson State 45 years ago
May of 1970 was a time of national unrest. Students at hundreds of colleges and universities held demonstrations against the Vietnam War. Jackson State University Alumni James Lap Baker and Clarence Johnson dispute claims that they were protesting the war. They say students here were protesting racism and that's what led to the deaths of 21-year old Phillip Gibbs, a Junior and 17-year old James Earl Green, a Jim Hill High School Senior. They met me outside Alexander Hall, the women's dormitory on Lynch Street, where the shootings took place. Baker says at the time, Lynch Street was a main thoroughfare that went through the campus and students were routinely harassed.
 
Students killed in 1970 Jackson State shootings remembered
Forty-five years ago today, law enforcement officers shot to death two students on the Jackson State University campus. They will be remembered at 1 p.m. outside Alexander Hall, riddled that night by gunfire. The program will include comments from members of the Class of 1970, and current Jackson Police Chief Lee Vance, a JSU alumnus. A roundtable discussion will follow in the Student Center Theater with Nancy Bristow, a historian who has a book coming out about the tragedy. A Mississippi Freedom Trail Marker memorializes the shootings in 1970, when Jackson police and Mississippi Highway Patrol officers fired 460 rounds into Alexander Hall, a women's dormitory, in response to student protests. The gunfire killed Philip Lafayette Gibbs, 21, a junior pre-law major, and James Earl Green, 17, a Jim Hill High School senior, and also wounded a dozen people.
 
Pearl River Community College holds graduation in new White Coliseum
For the first time in a decade, Pearl River Community College held Thursday's graduation on its main campus in Poplarville. About 375 students participated in the ceremony in the new Marvin R. White Coliseum. Gov. Phil Bryant was the commencement speaker. PRCC last held graduation in the old White Coliseum in May 2005, three months before Hurricane Katrina hit South Mississippi. Damage to the coliseum was extensive, and it was demolished. While a new $8.9 million facility was being constructed in the same location, graduations were held at the Forrest County Multi Purpose Center. Cassandra Pittman, 30, who got her associate's degree in nursing, said it felt special to get her degree in the new coliseum.
 
Gov. Bryant reveals Superman T-shirt as part of PRCC graduation speech
Gov. Phil Bryant told the story of Superman on Thursday morning to graduates of Pearl River Community College. Bryant's speech was all about heroes -- finding yours and being one yourself. The first thing Bryant remembers reading as a child was a Superman comic, he told the graduates, because it was easier for a dyslexic child to follow a story that had pictures. He talked about the tragic death of Superman's parents and destruction of the planet where he was born, his adoption on Earth by simple farmers in Smallville and his super powers. Bryant compared kryptonite -- the one thing that could destroy Superman -- with alcohol, drug abuse and pornography.
 
Auburn,Tuskegee universities to study impact of heir property in Alabama
The USDA's Agriculture and Food Research Institute has awarded a team of researchers from Auburn and Tuskegee universities a $500,000 grant to study heir property and its impact on land loss in rural African-American communities in the South. Conner Bailey, rural sociology professor and Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station scientist at Auburn, and agricultural resource economist Robert Zabawa with the George Washington Carver Agricultural Experiment Station at Tuskegee, will co-direct the project, the central aim of which is to understand how heir property -- land that has been passed down for generations to multiple descendants of an original property owner who died without a will -- hampers asset building, community development and economic growth.
 
2015 commencement: LSU graduates largest-ever spring class
Whole Foods Market Chairman John Elstrott told LSU's latest crop of graduates that the keys to living a happy and fulfilled life lie within family and purpose. "Find your true purpose in life," he told LSU's largest-ever spring graduating class Thursday night. "Find a way to match it with your unique skills, your ideals, your aspirations and passions." Elstrott was the keynote speaker during LSU's main spring commencement ceremony Thursday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on campus. Colleges will have separate graduation events Friday to award degrees to students. Elstrott, a business professor and entrepreneur, earned bachelor's and master's degrees from LSU in 1972. During his nearly 20-minute speech, Elstrott touted the principles of "conscious capitalism."
 
High court overturns U. of Kentucky student's drug conviction over illegal frat house search
Ruling that a fraternity house should be considered a private residence, Kentucky's Supreme Court on Thursday set aside a college student's drug conviction after police entered without a search warrant and were pointed to his room, where they found marijuana. In its unanimous ruling, the state's high court held that a fraternity house is a private residence for purposes of Fourth Amendment protections against warrantless searches and seizures. The justices ruled the trial court erred in refusing to suppress evidence found in the student's bedroom. The state Court of Appeals had upheld the trial court's denial of the suppression motion. The student, David Milam, won his appeal to the Supreme Court. It vacated his conditional guilty plea to a charge of trafficking in a controlled substance and sent the case back to Fayette County Circuit Court in Lexington for further proceedings. Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2015/05/14/3851494_high-court-overturns-uk-students.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy
 
U. of Florida panel again directs architects to save a bluff oak named Bert
A University of Florida advisory committee has made it clear to campus planners and building architects that they want to save Bert, a 36-inch bluff oak that stands in the way of the $53 million NEXUS Building the College of Engineering is planning. For the second time in as many months, the Lakes, Vegetation and Landscaping Committee voted to send the designers back to the drawing board to come up with a plan that saves Bert and four other "heritage" trees -- larger, older trees of historic or unique value. Four alternative plans for the 90,000-square-foot addition to the Nuclear Sciences Building were brought to the committee, but only one was recommended for approval as meeting the academic mission of the college.
 
Former Vandy med student takes deal in child porn case
A former Vanderbilt University medical student was sentenced to two years in prison Thursday for downloading hundreds of images of child pornography. Jeffrey Ewers, 29, pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor involving more than 100 images. Criminal Court Judge Cheryl Blackburn sentenced Ewers, according to terms of a plea agreement, to two years in prison and 10 years of probation. He must register as a sex offender. Ewers will likely be released in November 2016 because he gets credit for time already served. He shook hands with his attorney, Peter Strianse, before being led away to be booked in jail Thursday. His parents watched from the front row of the courtroom.
 
Chemical spill at Texas A&M Nuclear Science Center quickly cleaned up, declared safe
A chemical spill that prompted staff to evacuate and shut down a reactor at the Texas A&M Nuclear Science Center on Thursday morning was quickly cleaned up and declared safe. College Station Fire Department Battalion Chief Robert Mumford said crews responded to a call shortly after 9 a.m. reporting a spill of four liters of toluene, a common colorless liquid solvent often added to gasoline. First responders arrived at the facility within five minutes to mitigate the spill until A&M health and safety staff could clean it. The facility was ventilated and its 15 staff members were allowed to return by 10:30 a.m., but were given the rest of the day off as a precaution. NSC Director Sean McDevitt commended his staff for quick thinking in a situation that posed no serious safety threats.
 
Aggies design, build 'tiny homes' for homeless as part of curriculum
Before walking the graduation stage Friday at Reed Arena, construction science major Austin Dale got the opportunity to punctuate his time at Texas A&M by giving something back. Dale was one of 30 architecture students who worked during the spring semester on building two "tiny homes" that will be donated to Community First! Village -- a 27-acre community in Austin designed to provide affordable housing and amenities to the disabled and chronically homeless. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, there were 19,177 homeless people in Texas in 2014. The two 150-square-foot homes were on display at Rudder Plaza on Thursday and will be open to the public again on Friday.
 
MFA pledges $750,000 to fund U. of Missouri professorship
Jill Findeis, director of the University of Missouri's Division of Applied Social Sciences, had a clear message when she took the stage Thursday morning. "Great faculty members are great mentors," Findeis said. "This gift will further our goal of mentoring the next generation of students." At the event, the university announced that MFA Oil and MFA Inc. had jointly pledged $750,000 to the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, or CAFNR, to fund an MFA professorship in agribusiness. The gift, spread out over four years, will fund the salary and research for a person chosen to fill the professorship. MU Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin said it is difficult to attract and maintain faculty in "a highly competitive market."
 
Dean Mills: A lifetime in journalism, a legacy as School of Journalism dean at Missouri
In 2004, Dean Mills and Roger Gafke waited in the library of an office building in Las Vegas. In a few minutes, they would walk the 50 feet to the Reynolds Foundation boardroom, where Mills, long-time dean of the Missouri School of Journalism, had only minutes to sell the dream he'd fostered for more than a decade. He longed to build a center that would reinforce the principle of the First Amendment -- a right given to citizens, not just journalists. Too often, the dean saw journalists claiming the First Amendment for themselves. Mills believed that for democracy to thrive, both needed to work together. He envisioned a center that could explore the impact of new media technologies and act as a hub to propel journalism forward. Now Mills finally had the chance to pitch his dream to the board of the Reynolds Foundation, a group that could write a $31 million check and create the journalism institute.
 
Obama administration to propose new rules for campus financial products
The Obama administration is preparing to take on banks and other financial firms with new rules that would ban certain fees they can charge college students as well as restrictions on how they market products on campuses. The U.S. Department of Education is expected, as soon as today, to unveil draft regulations on debit cards and other financial products offered on campuses. Consumer advocates have long sought the rules, which have drawn the ire of the financial services industry. The draft regulations will target two categories of financial products, according to two people who are familiar with the proposal. Banking industry lobbyists argue the department is stepping far outside its regulatory powers in going after campus financial products that may or may not involve federal aid dollars.
 
After Suicides, MIT Works To Relieve Student Pressure
On a sunny spring day at MIT in Cambridge, Mass., students line up at a table grabbing ice cream sundaes, milk and cookies, and, if they're interested, a hug from MIT parents including Sonal Patel. "Yes!" Patel says, "giving away ice cream and now hugs." "Oh, I want a hug," a student says, "that will be good." The event -- billed as "Stress Less Day" -- is sponsored by the student mental health awareness group Active Minds. Volunteers are handing out flyers listing mental health facts and campus resources. The event comes at a difficult time for MIT. Six students have committed suicide in the last 14 months. And MIT's suicide rate surpassed the national average both last year and this year. But academic pressure may not have played a major role -- if any. Mental health professionals say a combination of factors, including mental illness, is usually to blame for suicide.


SPORTS
 
Bulldog fans revel in teams' successes
A lot of exciting happenings have occurred in the Mississippi State athletic program in recent months. This past Monday, fans of the Bulldogs got to meet those instrumental in making last year's success happen, and in the case of new men's basketball coach Ben Howland, expected to join in the success in Starkville. Howland, football coach Dan Mullen, women's basketball coach Vic Schaefer and athletic director Scott Stricklin appeared at Cherokee Valley Golf Club in Olive Branch as part of the annual Road Dawgs Tour. The luncheon event allowed fans to speak to the coaches and Stricklin and savor what has been an exceptional year in Bulldog athletics. Greg Perry, President of the DeSoto Dawgs Chapter said the Road Dawgs Tour has made several stops in the past in DeSoto County and he feels it's an important event to bring coaches to this area.
 
Mississippi State softball challenges Baylor today in Lafayette Regional
There is a certain familiarity Mississippi State will have when it takes the field in the NCAA Tournament against Baylor at 5:30 p.m. today. That's because the Bulldogs were in the same Lafayette Regional a year ago going 1-2 with both losses coming to Texas. Now Vann Stuedeman and her squad are hoping to build on the momentum of four straight postseason appearances. "We need to continue to expect this to happen and expect to continue pushing for Super Regionals and to be a national contender and a World Series," Stuedeman said. "Being able to get into the tournament year after year is great and continues to build the resume but it is not the end all, be all. We want more."
 
Mississippi State's Erica Bougard poised for an SEC title in heptathlon
With a new school record already in hand, Erica Bougard walked back to an mark created by two pieces of white tape stuck to the ground. Her previous leap of 6-00.75 topped her competition in the heptathlon in the Southeastern Conference Track and Field Championship. The Mississippi State record book was the junior's only competition in her final two jumps. "I just come to compete and whatever happens, happens," Bougard said.
 
Mississippi State baseball eliminated from postseason play
Two games remain in Mississippi State's regular season, but its hope for a postseason berth ended Thursday night. The Bulldogs' 5-2 loss to Tennessee combined with Georgia beating Arkansas eliminated MSU from the Southeastern Conference Tournament. It's the first time since 2010 that Mississippi State (28-24, 8-20) won't play in the conference tournament. MSU has lost 16 of its last 19 games -- the worst stretch of play since 2010.
 
Bulldogs won't make SEC tourney
Mississippi State's hopes of reaching next week's SEC tournament ended Thursday night. The Bulldogs lost 5-2 at Tennessee, then saw their potential path to Hoover closed off a little later as Georgia beat Arkansas 10-1. MSU (24-28, 8-20 SEC) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on Thursday on a groundout by Wes Rea. But Tennessee (22-25, 9-18) surged to a 5-1 lead by the end of the fourth, helped by a solo homer and a two-run single by leadoff hitter Nick Senzel. "Tonight was a game of psychology," MSU coach John Cohen said. "In all of the winnable moments of this game, we failed miserably."
 
Andy Cox, Nick Senzel keep UT baseball in SEC tourney chase
With so many of its lofty preseason hopes dashed, the Tennessee baseball team will go into every game in the final series of the regular season simply hoping to still be alive in the race for one of the last SEC tournament berths when the day ends. The Vols survived the first night. Thanks to an uneven but gritty performance from junior left-hander Andy Cox and a home run and three RBIs from sophomore second baseman Nick Senzel, the Vols defeated Mississippi State 5-2 on Thursday night in front of 1,635 at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The two teams play Friday at 6 p.m. Saturday's game is 1 p.m.
 
SEC Network extending scope of sports viewership
Since its launch last August, ESPN's SEC Network has extended the scope of college sports viewership, giving eyes and ears to sports fans across a variety of mediums. The progress of the SEC Network so far as it relates to Auburn University was the topic of the Auburn Chamber of Commerce's monthly "Tuesday Talk" this week. Scott Carr, senior associate athletic director of external affairs for Auburn University and Cassie Arner, associate athletic director of communications, said since its launch on Aug. 17, 2014 it has allowed more sporting events, broadcast at a higher quality than before, to be available to more viewers. "It hasn't been a year yet, but it's amazing the number of events that you can now watch," Carr said.
 
Kentucky shows off new-look field at Commonwealth Stadium
A few months ago, Mitch Barnhart gave a hint about what was to come for Kentucky's updated athletics facilities, including the $120 million renovation of Commonwealth Stadium. "What we've come to do in our facilities is a pretty clean look that is a little edgy, that's got an element of cool to it," the Kentucky athletics director said. "Hopefully we've done that. There's a bit of a traditional piece to it that I want to keep. I want to incorporate all of those things." All of those things are evident in the new turf field design for Commonwealth Stadium. After its debut on the new Memorial Coliseum floor, the new UK logo is a part of the Commonwealth Stadium turf and extends 10 yards horizontally (the same as the previous logo) from one 45-yard line to the other.
 
U. of South Carolina football ticket sales booming despite 7-6 season
Despite a sour 2014, season-ticket business is booming. The Gamecocks' 7-6 season last year hasn't dampened enthusiasm for 2015, according to athletic director Ray Tanner and Lance Grantham, assistant AD in charge of ticket operations. The two said Thursday that USC is on pace to at least match the approximately 54,000 season tickets sold last year. "We're practically at the same place now as we were this time last year in season-ticket sales," Tanner said. Tickets remained the same price. USC raised prices $45 to $365 per season ticket before the 2013 season, which was the first increase since 2008. USC also rescinded a dues hike to Gamecock Club members, where membership is required to purchase season tickets, to help with the added cost of seat license fees ($50-$395).



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Mississippi State University  •  Mississippi State, MS 39762  •  Main Telephone: (662) 325-2323  •   Contact: The Editor  |  The Webmaster  •   Updated: May 15, 2015Facebook Twitter