Monday, May 18, 2015   
 
Higher ed briefs: Date set for Robotics Academy at Mississippi State
Summer camp is going high tech for Mississippi teachers, senior 4-H'ers and 4-H agents and volunteers. The Mississippi State University Extension Service will host the second annual Robotics Academy July 27-30 at the Bost Extension Center on the MSU main campus. Participants will learn how to plan a robotics program, how to host a robotics camp, how to plan a successful fundraising campaign, and how to use 4-H robotics and coding in the school setting. Attendees can choose from four educational tracks.
 
On the move: Mississippi State University
Steve Martin has been appointed interim associate director for agriculture and natural resources for the MSU Extension Service. Since 2012, Martin has served as the head of the North Mississippi Research and Extension Center in Verona and will continue his existing responsibilities. Martin was head of the Delta Research and Extension Center in Stoneville for four years, an Extension agricultural economist in Stoneville and worked for Bryan Foods in West Point.
 
Mississippi Horse Park hosting event leading to world's richest rodeo
The Mississippi Horse Park in Starkville will host one of RFD-TV's Barrel Racing Qualifiers on October 16 during the Horse Poor Barrel Race, according to a press release from the Horse Park. The Qualifier is one of 10 qualifying races held throughout the U.S. and Canada and is a qualifying event for RFD-TV's The American, the world's richest one-day rodeo. The Horse Park is the only location in the Southeast chosen for one of the qualifiers. RFD-TV's The American will be held in the AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas, in March 2016. The top 10 contestants from each Qualifier will advance to semi-finals. Only the top five from semi-finals will move to Dallas. The winner at The American will receive $1 million. "To be selected out of all of the competitive arenas in our state and region is phenomenal," said Bricklee Miller, facility manager. "The national attention received from this event is great not only for the Horse Park and MSU but also our community and we look forward to hosting this event."
 
With Jet, Honda Enters New Realm
Honda Motor Co. is finally getting its wings. After three decades of planning and development, the Japanese company known for its cars is preparing to deliver one of its most unusual innovations: an ultrafast business jet that carries its engines above its wings. For Michimasa Fujino, the 54-year-old chief executive of Honda Aircraft Co., the impending certification is the culmination of a decadeslong fight. Honda's aviation aspirations date to its late founder, Soichiro Honda, who was a pilot. Mr. Fujino's work started in 1986, when Honda sent the then-28-year-old aerospace engineer to Mississippi State University's Raspet Flight Research Laboratory to design an experimental aircraft. The effort was so secret that Mr. Fujino's business cards weren't allowed to indicate his Honda employment, he recalls.
 
Data center builders win construction award
The men and women that brought C Spire's $20.3 million data center in the Thad Cochran Research, Technology and Economic Development Park in Starkville from a concept to a finished product in Starkville received a major award for their combined efforts. The project won an Eagle Award in the $10 million to $25 million category of the Associated Builders and Contractors' Excellence in Construction Awards, Dale Partners Architects announced Thursday. Dale Partners, in association with Piper O'Brien Herr Architects, provided full architectural services for the project, while Brassfield & Gorrie served as contractors.
 
A hero's farewell: Fallen police officer comes home to Starkville
As rain fell and wind blew Saturday, an off-duty sheriff's deputy held an American flag in one hand and saluted with the other while a 14-minute procession of law enforcement agencies from throughout the South escorted a fallen officer home. T.J. Picou, a deputy with the Rankin County Sheriff's Department, was among hundreds who lined the intersection of Highway 12 and Spring Street to pay respect to Liquori Tate, the 25-year-old Hattiesburg police officer killed in the line of duty last week alongside fellow HPD officer Benjamin Deen. Tate, who was 25, grew up in Starkville. "It's just heartbreaking," Picou said.
 
Blues great B.B. King leaves legacy in native Mississippi
Blues legend B.B. King grew up as poor as could be, alone and in debt at 14, living in primitive cabins and sharecropping cotton in Mississippi. His natural talent with a guitar enabled him to escape grueling poverty and manual labor. He became a millionaire, and played for presidents, the pope and the Queen of England. But glittering wealth and international fame never kept him from his roots in the Delta, and friends say he showed no bitterness about his rough start. King died at 89 Thursday at his home in Las Vegas, but his impact is still deeply felt in small towns along the Mississippi Blues Trail, where he came of age before the industrialization of agriculture and other factors prompted the descendants of slaves to migrate in huge numbers out of the Deep South.
 
Initiative 42 battle could be intense
The most watched election this November may not be for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general or any other statewide office, but for or against the citizen-sponsored Initiative 42. Based on campaign finance reports filed with the Secretary of State's office, the sponsors of the initiative, the grassroots 42 for Better Schools, previously known as Better Schools, Better Jobs, might be better funded than many statewide candidates. According to the latest reports, the group has $401,957 in cash on hand and has spent $551,042, in part to gather the signatures to place the issue on the November ballot, and now appears to be gearing up for a statewide campaign. House Speaker Pro Tem Greg Snowden, R-Meridian, the primary author of the legislation creating the alternative, says he has been advocating for it with members of the media and to civic groups. But Snowden said he does not see an organized, financed campaign on behalf of the alternative as it appears the supporters of the citizen-sponsored initiative are planning to conduct.
 
In Mississippi, federal criminal charges decline
The number of federal criminal charges has fallen over the past decade nationally, but the rate of decline in south Mississippi is more than twice that of the nation. According to Justice Department reports, the Southern District of Mississippi filed criminal charges against 597 people in 2004. By 2014, that number had fallen to 429, down 28 percent. Across the nation, federal criminal charges were brought in 2004 against 83,984 people. A decade later, that number had fallen to 74,379, an 11 percent decline. In 2013, then-U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder urged federal prosecutors to get "smart on crime," saying current incarceration rates could no longer be sustained.
 
Cash-strapped schools face 3rd-grade crisis
With bottom-barrel state funding and limited resources, Mississippi educators will spend the next three months trying to change the fate of more than 5,600 students doomed to repeat the third grade. Nearly 15 percent of public school third graders last month failed a statewide reading assessment, which according to a new law taking effect this year, requires they be held back. Some students, such as limited English learners, can get an exemption to advance to the fourth grade. The rest have two more chances to pass the test -- once on Monday; once this summer -- before committing themselves to another year in Grade 3. Faced with the challenge of swollen third-grade classrooms and a legion of remedial readers, educators want to slash the current number of children poised for retention. So they're providing intense instruction, holding summer reading camps, and reassigning teachers where they're needed most.
 
Analysis: 6 new judge posts on Nov. 3 ballot
Voters in some parts of central and southern Mississippi will elect new judges this fall because legislators created three new judgeships for chancery court and three for circuit court. Lawmakers file a handful of bills each session to seek additional judges for their regions. State law specifies what criteria should be considered, including population of the district, the number of cases filed there, the caseload of each judge and the geographic area of the district. Rep. Mark Baker, R-Brandon, chairman of the House Judiciary A Committee, said past decisions on new judges often came back to caseload and a few other factors. He said that during the 2015 session, his committee looked initially at the number of residents compared to the number of judges.
 
Mississippi Community College Board taps finance chief as interim leader
Deborah Gilbert will become the interim leader of Mississippi Community College Board, after an impasse among board members stymied their ability to choose a permanent executive director. The board announced it voted unanimously Friday at a meeting at East Mississippi Community College in Mayhew to name Gilbert. Now deputy executive director for finance and administration, Gilbert, an accountant who has worked for the board since 1988, will become interim executive director July 1. She succeeds Eric Clark, who is retiring after holding the post for seven years. The board coordinates the state's 15 independently governed community and junior colleges. The board also voted Friday to hire Malcolm Portera, former president of Mississippi State University and former chancellor of the University of Alabama system, to lead a search for a permanent leader.
 
Job market strong for college grads
No need to convince Harris Kirkpatrick that the job market for college graduates is as good as it's been in a decade. The University of Mississippi graduate had three job offers. With a degree in marketing, Kirkpatrick is headed to Houston, Texas, selling credit card services to merchant customers for Trustmark National Bank. "I had two marketing positions offered to me in Nashville," he said. Kirkpatrick began looking for jobs at the start of the year, while many of his fellow graduates started their job searches later in the spring. "I think that helped a lot, getting an early start," he said. Kirkpatrick and other college graduates enter a job market with hiring expected to increase 9.6 percent compared to last year. Demand in finance, business administration and health care should help the more than 1.8 million college graduates entering the job market this year, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
 
Cathy Ivy: Brightening days at UM welcome center
One of the first people University of Mississippi visitors may encounter is LeCatherine "Cathy" Ivy. She works at the welcome center on University Avenue, offering directions and handling parking permits with a smile and a wave. Some people might find the job repetitive, but the effervescent Ivy, who started working at Ole Miss in Student Housing, finds it a pleasure. "Most of the time I'm bubbly, happy-go-lucky, smiling all the time," she said. "I try to make people laugh. I like to brighten up people's days." Most people coming past the welcome center are either visiting campus or are heading to the handicap parking area near the Lyceum. A Taylor resident and a Lafayette High School graduate, the 29-year-old Ivy earned an associate degree at Northwest Mississippi Community College and is now pursuing a bachelor's in social work at Ole Miss.
 
Coast Guard Auxiliary Program coming to U. of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Park campus
The University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Park campus will become one of just 13 schools across the country and the only one in the state with a United States Coast Guard Auxiliary University Program, officials announced Friday. The program is designed to teach leadership and technical skills that will then allow graduates to join the Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security and other emergency response and public service agencies. "This is most important. What it's really about is partnership," said retired Army Gen. Jeff Hammond, the director for the Southern Miss Center for Military Veterans.
 
Cole challenges Itawamba Community College grads to achieve American dream
Dr. David C. Cole, president emeritus and current interim vice president of economic and community services at Itawamba Community College, challenged the 330 Associate of Arts graduates to achieve the American dream during the 65th commencement ceremony at the Davis Event Center on Saturday. In opening, Cole said, "I am the little boy who hoed, plowed and picked cotton. Education saved me from the life of a sharecropper. This is a special place, a special time, and you are very special people." Cole said he and his high school class of 1965 will celebrate their 50th reunion the third Saturday in July. And as he eagerly awaits that momentous occasion, he reflected on the achievement of the American dream, which he said is not restricted, but available for anyone with the tenacity and drive to succeed. "In America we have to work for what we get," he said.
 
Jones County Junior College says farewell to longtime band director
Longtime Jones County Junior College band director, Jeff Brown has called the band hall his second home for the last 33 years. He has been the Fine Arts Division Chair, Director of Bands, Assistant Director of Bands, JC Jazz Band Director and "percussion guru" over those years, impacting thousands of students. His last performance as conductor and drummer was at the April Java & Jazz concert which had many former students and friends bid him "farewell," like JCJC alumnus and former JCJC Director of Bands, and current Pearl High School Band Director, Matthew Pickering. He explained Brown taught him a hard life lesson about procrastination.
 
AU-based company trains service, emotional support dogs for veterans
On a Thursday afternoon, Velcro -- an 18-month-old German shepherd -- focuses hard on her trainer, Ashton Jakcsy, in a conference room in the Auburn Research Park. Velcro ignores the two other canines, McCrae and Gunner, and the flurry of people in the room, eyeing Jakcsy instead in the hopes of getting a treat. "She is still very much in training, but she's doing very well so far," Jakcsy said. "We're getting them ready to head out and change somebody's life." After months of training by Auburn-based iK9, Velcro will join Gunner as a certified service dog. She will be paired with a military veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder somewhere in the United States. McCrae, a trained emotional support dog, will meet his veteran in a few months. Started in the Auburn Research and Technology Foundation's (ARTF) business incubator, iK9 is training PTSD service and emotional support dogs through a subcontract with ARTF and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
 
Auburn University's Market at Ag Heritage Park opens for season
About 10 years ago, John Aplin first set up his produce stand at The Market at Ag Heritage Park on Auburn University's campus. That first day he came alone, and the line from his stand wound through the park and onto nearby Donahue Drive. "I will never forget my first day here," Aplin said with a laugh Thursday afternoon as he handed a bag of peaches to a customer. A decade later, Aplin is a pro. He and Beverly Aplin traveled from Aplin Farms in Slocomb for the Market's Thursday afternoon for the Market's first day of the season. The Market, located at the Ag Heritage Park on Auburn's campus off Donahue Drive, will be open every Thursday from 3 to 6 p.m. from May through August. The open-air market is hosted by the College of Agriculture and is open to the public.
 
James Carville wants LSU grads to demand secure funding for higher ed, be molders of society
Political strategist James Carville warned graduates of LSU's Manship School of Mass Communication that his speech to them on Friday wouldn't be the standard graduation fare or, as the "Ragin' Cajun" put it: "The world is your oyster, so don't put too much horseradish in your oyster sauce." Instead, the LSU alumnus perhaps best known for helping Bill Clinton win the presidency spent most of his 30-minute speech railing against Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration and the threat of cuts to state funding for higher education. "Our university is in crisis," he told the crowd. "This has gone on too long." As he has in the past, Carville again accused Jindal of allowing conservative Washington, D.C., lobbyist Grover Norquist to rule Louisiana's fiscal future.
 
Meet James B. Smith: At 16, he's the youngest person ever to receive an LSU degree
Computer science major James B. Smith was among thousands of students celebrating graduation from LSU this week -- the university's largest spring graduating class in history. But at just 16 years old, Smith has the distinction of being the youngest person ever to receive a degree from the university. "I think it's still kind of sinking in," he said Friday just before the College of Engineering diploma ceremony. "It feels good." LSU colleges held several diploma-awarding ceremonies throughout the day Friday, following a Thursday night main commencement event. Smith, who enrolled in LSU when he was just 13 years old, had been homeschooled. "It was different walking into my first class and there were about 900 people in it," he joked.
 
U. of Kentucky student's proposal for 'food tower' creates buzz in tornado-ravaged West Liberty
A 200-foot-tall "food tower" -- a vertical greenhouse that would grow fruits and vegetables for sale -- might be the signature structure that the tornado-ravaged community of West Liberty seeks as a symbol of its rebirth and as a draw for visitors. Everyone admits it's a bold idea. But it captured local residents' imaginations when it was among the projects presented by University of Kentucky architecture students at a recent "town hall" meeting. "It's the craziest thing, but by its essence, it's also the most interesting thing," said West Liberty retiree Brent Engle. "Maybe it's too outrageous for a lot of people to think of such a thing." Ian Pangburn, a third-year student in UK's College of Design, was just relieved that people were intrigued by his idea for an urban farm.
 
U. of Kentucky plans to leave Kirwan and Blanding towers empty this fall
The 23-story Kirwan and Blanding towers that loom over the University of Kentucky's campus will likely stand empty during the fall 2015 semester, dramatically reducing the number of lower-cost dorm rooms on campus. UK plans to vacate the towers, which together can house about 1,200 students, before the upcoming semester and keep them empty until the university develops a plan to either renovate them or tear them down. The surrounding complex of low-rise residence halls will remain open for the fall semester. They can house about 1,350 students. The administration has not decided on a long-term plan for the towers. Demolishing or renovating them would cost more than $10 million, UK spokesman Jay Blanton said, and the university is evaluating its options.
 
U. of Arkansas for Medical Sciences BioVentures Providing Business Guidance
Navigating a startup business from idea to execution to turning a profit can be a precarious journey in any field. But when that field is biomedicine, with its inherent demands for licensing technology and sometimes exorbitant manufacturing and development costs, it helps to have a guide throughout the process. The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences BioVentures was launched more than a decade ago with that concept in mind and seeks to combine research at UAMS with entrepreneurship, technology licensing and economic development. BioVentures has since spun off 22 companies using technologies developed at the campus. Nancy Gray, who became director for the program on Feb. 2, has worked in the biomedical industry for more than 30 years, most recently at the Southern Research Institute in Birmingham.
 
U. of Florida hires noted Alzheimer's researcher
UF Health has hired a noted Alzheimer's disease researcher as the deputy director of the Evelyn F. and William L. McKnight Brain Institute and a professor of neurology in the College of Medicine. Dr. Steven T. DeKosky, a former vice president and dean at the University of Virginia College of Medicine and former chairman of neurology and head of the Alzheimer's center at the University of Pittsburgh, is scheduled to start July 1, UF Health announced this week. DeKosky has received National Institutes of Health research funding consistently for three decades, and he is expected to boost the already active Alzheimer's research programs at the Brain Institute, the Institute on Aging and the Center for Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration.
 
Over 8,700 graduates from various Texas A&M branches to receive diplomas by June
Daniel Campa has less than 100 hours to enjoy one of the proudest days of his life. With more than 10 family members in the audience, he graduated from Texas A&M University and became a commissioned officer after four years in the Corps of Cadets. He leaves his home in San Antonio on Monday for Army military police training in Kentucky and then Missouri before moving on to Korea by March. With his little sister, Jocelyn, hugging his side, he said the first thing he wants to do with the limited he time he has with family is grab some pizza. Campa was one of 130 cadets to commission as officers into Army, Navy, Marine and Air Force branches Friday during graduation ceremonies at Reed Arena. More than 8,700 graduates across 16 ceremonies at branch campuses around the state will receive diplomas by the end of the month as part of the largest graduating class in university history.
 
U. of Missouri graduates celebrate success, look to the future
In broadcast-style, master of ceremonies Katie Moeller invited Matt Ingram up to the microphone. "Four years we've been going nonstop. It might be hard to believe, but this is a chance to stop. Look around. You are so cool, Class of 2015," Ingram said. Journalism students Moeller and Ingram were among the 5,574 students to receive degrees during the University of Missouri's spring commencement ceremonies. The university held 17 graduation events, which began Friday. The School of Journalism awarded 473 students with degrees Saturday afternoon at Mizzou Arena. Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Brian Smith gave the commencement address and offered 10 pieces of advice he wished someone had given him in 1981 at his graduation. Smith challenged the graduates to talk to strangers, tell stories and treat every assignment as a dream job. "When people properly do journalism, it isn't a job," he said.
 
Report criticizes public colleges on use of funds to recruit out-of-state students
Public universities are using non-need-based aid to recruit out-of-state students, at the expense of low-income and in-state students. That's the thesis of a report released today by New America. Public colleges that provide substantial amounts of what they call merit aid to students tend to enroll more nonresident students -- and have experienced a greater decline in resident students over the past 15 years -- than their peers that don't use that strategy, the report found. They also tend to enroll fewer students with Pell Grants and charge low-income students a higher average net price than colleges that provide little merit aid. Out-of-state enrollment at the University of South Carolina, for example, has more than doubled since 2000, and is now at 45 percent.
 
Duke professor, attacked for 'noxious' racial comments, refuses to back down
Jerry Hough has made a career out of cutting against the grain. As one of the nation's leading Kremlinologists, Hough tried for decades to dispel what he considered misconceptions about the Soviet Union. "Hough's arguments are forcefully put, backed by intriguing details and the kind of arch contempt for conventional wisdom that has made Hough an enfant terrible in his field," according to a 1988 book review in The Washington Post. Nearly three decades later, however, Hough's contempt for conventional wisdom has gotten him into a serious controversy. During the past week, the Duke politics professor has come under attack from students, colleagues and school administrators over allegedly racially "noxious" comments he posted online. The enfant terrible has been accused of simply being terrible.
 
PAUL HAMPTON (OPINION): Endorsement could come back to haunt Palazzo
The Sun Herald's Paul Hampton writes: "I doubt Gov. Phil Bryant or Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves will feel much pain over their ill-fated endorsements of Windy Swetman in the Biloxi mayoral election. ...That leaves U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo, who endorsed Swetman not for some lofty political ideals -- such as he's Republicaner than the other guy -- but because they're friends. Perhaps memories will be short, and by the time 2016 rolls around all will be forgiven. They may even forget 2014, when Biloxi went solidly for Gene Taylor, another fellow who wasn't Republican enough for some party leaders, in the GOP primary. Palazzo won that race by owning the Pine Belt. He has owned it like no other -- except Chris McDaniel... In 2014, McDaniel gave Sen. Thad Cochran the fight of his life ... and got more votes in Harrison County in the primary. This is where it gets weird."
 
BILL CRAWFORD (OPINION): Virtue, not hate, will defeat our enemies
Syndicated columnist Bill Crawford of Meridian writes: "'GOT 'EM' shrieked the Facebook post by a Subway worker in Laurel. 'Two police officers shot tonight in Hattiesburg.! -- GOT 'EM' read the whole post. (Subway said it fired the employee.) This was Laurel, Mississippi, not Ferguson, Missouri, or Baltimore, Maryland! We face growing subcultures, linked-up and emboldened by social media and the Internet, that target law enforcement and encourage violence. In 2014, the number of law enforcement officers shot to death in the line of duty rose more than 50 percent. We face emerging homegrown terrorists, inspired by ISIL over social media, like the two recently taken down in Garland, Texas. FBI Director James Comey said Mississippi'"has troubled souls that might look to find meaning in this sick, misguided way.' ...We face intensifying, calculated use of social media and the Internet by Americans to spread hate and fanaticism. As we watch this growing abuse of social media and the Internet to subvert our nation, so far protected by our constitution, what will we do?"
 
SAM R. HALL (OPINION): MS01 had good storylines, but runoff won't be one
The Clarion-Ledger's Sam R. Hall writes: "The First District Congressional ended up being more exciting than originally expected, and not just because of the results. Let's start with the man who led the pack Tuesday night, Walter Zinn. The lone Democrat in the race, Zinn garnered 17 percent to lead heading into the runoff. With 13 candidates in the race, being the only Democrat definitely benefited Zinn. ...That said, when it comes to the runoff, you can safely bet Zinn will not win. ...Zinn's opponent, Republican Trent Kelly, is a popular district attorney from Saltillo (near Tupelo) and a colonel in the Mississippi National Guard. ...Kelly is all but certain to be the next U.S. congressman from Mississippi's first district."
 
GOV. PHIL BRYANT (OPINION): Criminal class vs. law enforcement
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant writes in The Clarion-Ledger: "It is becoming apparent that a deadly conflict now exists between the criminal class and law enforcement across America. Make no mistake, this is not a racial conflict or a new civil rights movement by a group of Americans segregated and abused. This is an attack on law enforcement -- a profession which includes the necessary burden to interact with violent and drug induced behavior by the criminal class. ...The time has come for the people of this nation, of all races and cultures, to stand again against criminal behavior and with our police officers. On May 9, 2015, two Hattiesburg police officers lost their lives in a senseless act of violence. I believe the facts will show the perpetrator was no societal victim but a murdering felon who should pay for his crime."
 
SID SALTER (OPINION): B.B. King and a case of the 'Backwater Blues'
Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: "Some artists simply sang the blues. B.B. King made his audiences feel the blues, feel it down in their soul. Never was there a sadder, more empathetic voice and never were there more talented hands wringing the blues from an electric guitar he called 'Lucille.' I was fortunate to have interviewed King a few times. He was generous, well-read, intelligent and possessed of a marvelous and gentle sense of humor. To say that I was a fan was an understatement, but in my mind King spent his life as one of Mississippi's greatest ambassadors. His talents were recognized around the globe and his music inspired millions to learn more about the birthplace of the blues in the U.S. and particularly in the Mississippi Delta."


SPORTS
 
Hearn wins title for Mississippi State men
The two weather delays Saturday were more of an inconvenience for the fans than they were for Scottie Hearn. The Mississippi State sprinter had to endure one that came immediately before his lone solo event -- the 400-meter hurdles -- at the Southeastern Conference Championships. By the time the meet was set to resume, meet officials had decided to do a "rolling" meet in which warmup periods and podium recognition would be abandoned. It wasn't a sweat for Hearn, who set a new personal record and won the event with a time of 49.39 seconds.
 
Mississippi State women take eighth at SECs
In a span of six minutes, the Mississippi State women's track team tallied 27 points, which helped propel it to its highest team finish at the Southeastern Conference Championships. The burst started with a 14-point haul in the 1,500 meters, where Rihanwedd Price and Marta Freitas finished second and third, respectively, with times of 4 minutes, 18.32 seconds and 4:19.38. Then, Erica Bougard ran 13.02 in the 100 hurdles for third and Ste-yce McNeil took seventh. Shayla Lucket then ran a 47.24 in the open 400 to take fourth. MSU coach Steve Dudley said the performance by Price and Freitas set the tone for that stretch and helped energize their teammates. "That stretch, it happened so quickly because all of the events run together," Dudley said. "But that's what put us in position to finish where we did. That put us in single digits, where we've never finished before."
 
Mississippi State's Bougard wins heptathlon at SECs
After a record-breaking performance Thursday, Mississippi State senior Erica Bougard continued her dominance Friday at the Southeastern Conference Track and Field Championships, when she finished first and set a meet and school record with 6,250 points in the heptathlon. "I really didn't even know I was breaking those records," Bougard said. "I was just wanting to go out there and win all of my meets and make sure I stayed focused." Georgia's Kendell Williams, a sophomore, was second in the heptathlon (6,003), while Arkansas' Alex Gochenour was third (5,892). Bougard, who was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and is from Byhalia, had family members in attendance to make the day even more memorable. It was the first time members of Bougard's family have watched her compete this season. Bougard said she used her family being there as motivation.
 
Why the U. of Florida's O'Dome renovation was put off a year
When the design-development agreement for the O'Connell Center expansion and renovation project was signed in October, the University of Florida's first choice for construction manager estimated the job would cost $42 million. Three months later, UF officials experienced sticker shock when Charles Perry Partners Inc. submitted a budget of $64 million -- well over the $50 million UF had budgeted for the massive overhaul of its 35-year-old multipurpose building and basketball arena. After several weeks of negotiations in an attempt to scale back the project to a manageable budget, UF did the rare thing -- it fired Gainesville-based CPPI and went with its second choice, the Birmingham construction company Brasfield & Gorrie. "We couldn't afford this price and are hoping to get a better price," said Miles Albertson, director of major projects & special programs for UF Planning, Design, & Construction.
 
Wary of concussions, college athletes choose early retirement
The exact long-term effects of concussions are still being discovered and debated, but the consensus is that the head injuries can cause lasting damage. While hard data on the number of players leaving athletics due to concussions are difficult to come by, medical and athletics professionals say an increasing number of them are deciding that whatever the long-term risks of concussions are, they're too costly. And so some players are choosing to cut short their promising careers in sports in an attempt to avoid further injury. Over the past academic year, at least seven high-profile college players have retired from their sports due to concussion concerns.



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