| Monday, June 15, 2015 |
| Millea named interim dean at MSU-Meridian | |
 | A 17-year faculty member at Mississippi State University has been named interim administrative dean for the institution's Meridian Campus. Meghan Millea, finance and economics professor and former Holland Faculty Senate president, fills the MSU-Meridian role most recently held by interim administrative co-deans Julia Hodges and Allison Pearson. "Mississippi State University-Meridian's outstanding College Park and Riley campuses remain an integral part of the university's overarching teaching, research and service missions," said MSU President Mark E. Keenum. |
| Large-animal vets in short supply | |
 | If you are one of the estimated 10,000 cattle producers in Mississippi, you may have faced a challenge in finding a veterinarian to treat a sick or injured animal right away. Dr. Carla Huston, a former private-practice, large-animal veterinarian who is now an associate professor at Mississippi State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, said there is clearly a shortage in some areas. One contribution to the shortage of large-animal vets is the change in veterinary focus over the past several decades. Incentives are available for new or prospective large-animal veterinarians. |
| Mississippi blueberries going global | |
 | South Mississippi blueberries are going global. Members of the Miss-Lou Blueberry Co-op, which includes farms from Poplarville, Purvis and Lumberton, have for the first time exported their produce to India and the United Arab Emirates. All told, members shipped 9,000 pounds of what those in the industry call "blues." Frequent rain in the South Mississippi growing region have complicated harvests, though Mississippi State University's Extension Service reported that, as of May 31, 90 percent of the crop was in good to excellent condition. "Growers have been harvesting in South Mississippi for a few weeks," said Eric Stafne, an associate fruit crops professor at the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station in Poplarville. |
| Mississippi Will Lead FAA UAS Effort | |
 | Mississippi State University is the site of the Federal Aviation Administration's Unmanned Aerial Systems Center of Excellence. MSU will lead 13 other universities in helping the FAA research methods to integrate commercial, government and private UASs into the national airspace system. "FAA's decision recognizes that Mississippi State University and the State are already leaders in unmanned systems," said Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant. "The Mississippi congressional delegation, the Mississippi Development Authority and my office have been heavily involved with the process for the last year." |
| Mississippi State hosts history and genealogy fair | |
 | In the Mitchell Memorial Library at Mississippi State there was a genealogy and history fair Saturday. Long-time Mississippi TV personality Walt Grayson was the featured guest. "We are the sum total not only genetical of our ancestors, but also a lot of our values comes from our ancestors, and it'd be good to go back and find out what they thought about things," said Grayson. This is the second year of the E.O. Templeton, Jr. History and Genealogy Fair, and there were around 40 people in attendance. |
| ZZ Ward, 'Dracula' among 2015-16 Lyceum Series lineup at Mississippi State | |
 | A Sept. 3 concert by American musician and singer-songwriter ZZ Ward will kick off Mississippi State's 2015-16 Lyceum Series season. All begin at 7 p.m. in Lee Hall's Bettersworth Auditorium. Coordinated by the MSU Performing Arts Committee, annual Lyceum Series programs are designed to expose residents of campus and surrounding communities to national and international artists in dance, music and theater. Season ticket renewals for those wishing to retain the same seats as last year will take place through June 19, while new season tickets will go on sale June 29-July 17. |
| MSU Grant Library joins online presidential library program | |
| The Ulysses S. Grant Library at Mississippi State University's Mitchell Memorial Library now is part of the Connecting Presidential Collections project. The CPC partnership resulted from contacts made by John Marszalek and Meg Henderson. Marszalek, a historian, author and Giles Distinguished Professor Emeritus, is executive director and managing editor of the Mississippi State-based U.S. Grant Association. Henderson is an associate at the university's Mitchell Memorial Library which houses the Grant Library. Stephen Cunetto and Randall McMillen also assisted providing metadata for digital documents. Cunetto is MSU Libraries' systems administrator; McMillen, digital projects coordinator. |
| High school students mix nature and fashion at Mississippi State | |
| Bugs and fashion aren't two things you might think of together, but several teens found out that the two are closer than you image. Students from across the state of Mississippi and South Tennessee participated in a fashion camp with the focus of drawing from ancient, bug-intwined clothing. The goal of this camp was to show how unusual materials can inspire new design. "We thought it would be a good fit for them to come and kind of kick off the camp over here. And see what those metamorphosis mean, how does it affect the fashion industry," said Mississippi State assistant professor of fashion and merchandise Charles Freeman. |
| Mississippi State alum named ERDC deputy director | |
| David W. Pittman has been named deputy director of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center. He began his ERDC career in 1983 as a research civil engineer in the Pavements Systems Division of the former Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg. Pittman has bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering from Mississippi State University. |
| Starkville mayor, aldermen have $60K in travel expenses | |
| Starkville's mayor and seven-person board of aldermen have racked up a combined $60,121 travel bill this term, and the bills of three individual officials -- Mayor Parker Wiseman, Ward 2 Alderman Lisa Wynn and Ward 7 Alderman Henry Vaughn -- each surpassed the $10,000 mark. Documents obtained by The Dispatch show the three officials leading in travel expenses have combined for $41,285.68 in costs dating back to 2013's Mississippi Municipal League's Small Town Conference in Tunica. Wynn, the official with the highest accrued travel expenses, has entries for 11 events totaling $15,827.48, records show. |
| Golden Triangle third graders improve on reading test | |
| More Golden Triangle and statewide third graders are moving on to fourth grade. The state Department of Education released this week the results from the first retake of the statewide third grade reading assessment and more than 5 percent of third graders who failed to pass it the first time have now passed. The Starkville School District improved on its results, but not at the rate of other local schools. SSD now has a 87.5 percent passing rate, up from 85 percent in April. SSD has 11 good cause exemptions, and superintendent Dr. Lewis Holloway told The Dispatch last month 52 of the 55 students who failed the test on the first attempt had been under district monitoring since the first grade. |
| Leadership Lauderdale Molding Leaders for More Than 10 Years | |
 | Are new leaders born or made? That's one question that the program Leadership Lauderdale hopes to answer, through their monthly classes that help participants better understand how our community works. For more than 10 years, the program Leadership Lauderdale has been developing the leadership skills necessary to assume leadership roles for those participating. Participants are chosen through an extensive application and interview process and is based off of Stephen Covey's self-help book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. "You go through these steps of diversity training, seven habits training, things of that nature," Leadership Lauderdale Coordinator Derron Radcliff said. Leadership Lauderdale is sponsored by The East Mississippi Business Development Corporation and is jointly presented by the MSU Riley Center, Mississippi Power Company, Anderson Regional Medical Center and Midway Baptist Church. |
| Mississippi history, civil rights museums taking shape | |
| Just like the state whose history will be housed there, the two museums under construction in downtown Jackson have come a long way, but there is still a lot of work to do. The exterior of the Museum of Mississippi History and the adjoining Mississippi Civil Rights Museum is nearly finished. The outline of the single 200,000-square-foot building has joined the skyline of Jackson. The parking garage has been planted into the once vacant hillside descending from North Street to Jefferson. "This is going to be an incredibly impressive complex," said Kane Ditto, president of the board of trustees for the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, speaking from a podium on a terrace overlooking the construction site Thursday. |
| Hosemann banks on crowdfunding to kickstart Mississippi businesses | |
| Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann wants to help would-be entrepreneurs through a new program from his office called Invest Mississippi Crowdfunding. Invest Mississippi Crowdfunding is just one of a handful that are available for would-be business owners, said Meridian Main Street Executive Director Karen Rooney. "We did a webinar series on crowdfunding back in March, which was produced by the Mississippi Development Authority and the Mississippi State University Extension Service," Rooney said. "We learned about the practice for funding a project by raising money online through a large number of people. But the program we used was called Kickstarter.com. It is completely independent from other forms of crowdfunding." |
| Clayton Kelly to be sentenced today | |
| Clayton Kelly is expected to be sentenced today in Madison County Circuit Court. Kelly, 29, last week pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy. Kelly last year during the U.S. Senate race between incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran and state Sen. Chris McDaniel took video of Cochran's late wife in her nursing home bed and used it for an online political hit piece. Kelly had also faced charges of burglary and attempted burglary, but took a last-minute plea deal just before a jury was to be selected for his trial last week. He had faced a total of 55 years in prison. |
| Analysis: Ballot titles important in school funding fight | |
 | There's a good reason that attorneys have committed hours to researching, writing and arguing about two brief items that will appear on the Mississippi ballot this November. Both items deal with the state's commitment to education funding. If one of them becomes part of the state constitution, it could shape the Legislature's budget-writing process for decades to come. That could affect spending not only for K-12 schools but also for universities, community colleges, health care, mental health programs, prisons and a wide variety of other state government services. So, where does all of this leave the voters? Confused, most likely. |
| State Sen. Massey explains MAEP issue position | |
 | State Senator Chris Massey (R-Nesbit) spoke on a wide range of topics centered on legislation passed by the Mississippi State Legislature during Tuesday's Hernando/Main Street Chamber of Commerce quarterly luncheon at the Gale Center. Massey spent a good share of his time before Hernando business leaders on the impending constitutional amendment ballot issue in November called Initiative 42 and the legislature's Alternative 42A. Education interests, including DeSoto County Schools Supt. Milton Kuykendall, back Initiative 42 because of the legal component for enforcement if MAEP is not fully funded. |
| Surge of new abortion restrictions limits access 'brick by brick' | |
 | With state legislatures across the country passing dozens of abortion restrictions for the fifth year, access is becoming more limited than at any time since the Supreme Court's landmark decision legalizing the procedure in 1973. The current legislative session is shaping up to be among the most active, and abortion rights advocates point to what they call an alarming result of the steady flow of new laws: In some states, so many limitations have piled up that the procedure, while technically legal, is nearly impossible to obtain. The backdrop for the latest burst of abortion restrictions is the Supreme Court, which is poised to announce as soon as Monday whether it will weigh in on the contentious issue in a major way for the first time since 1992. It is considering whether to hear two abortion-related cases, one from Mississippi, the other from North Carolina. |
| Same-Sex Parents' Rights May Be Unresolved After Justices' Ruling | |
 | If same-sex marriage is legalized nationwide as part of the monumental case before the Supreme Court -- a decision is expected this month -- married couples living in states that do not acknowledge their unions will gain significant financial and legal benefits. But as sweeping as the changes will be, one aspect of marriage may not always be automatically guaranteed: parental rights. Family law varies in different states. With a court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, a report said, married couples would generally be permitted to adopt in all states but one, Mississippi, which expressly bars couples of the same gender from doing so. |
| Security clearance companies still sacrifice thoroughness, workers say | |
 | For years, investigators charged with vetting the backgrounds of those who handle the nation's secrets have said they were pressured to churn through cases as quickly as possible. The faster they turned them in, the faster their company got paid -- even if the investigations were rushed and incomplete. The company, USIS, lost the contract to conduct background checks used in granting security clearances after an employee blew the whistle in a lawsuit, eventually joined by the Justice Department. But a similar quota system used by USIS to drive its investigators continues at the companies that now perform the bulk of the investigations -- and in some cases is even more demanding, according to internal company documents and interviews with current and former investigators. |
| Alabama's aerospace sector flying high into 2015 International Paris Air Show | |
 | As Alabama's emphasis shifts from aggressive recruitment to relationship building, the state's physical presence at the 2015 International Paris Air Show might be noticeably smaller than years' past but no less focused. "Alabama has developed a substantial foundation in the aviation and aerospace sector over many decades, and we want to build on that base to penetrate all levels of the industry supply chain," Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce, said. Alabama's robust sector currently boasts more than 400 aerospace companies, employing 83,000 in the aerospace and defense industries and representing foreign investments from 30 countries. |
| Boil water alert for Ole Miss lifted | |
| It's safe again to drink tap water at Ole Miss. The Mississippi State Department of Health has lifted the boil water alert for campus that was issued earlier in the week. People at the University of Mississippi were told to boil water that came out of the faucet for one minute before consuming it. The alert was a precaution just in case the water had become contaminated following a water main break. |
| Committee looking for next USM provost gets its charge | |
 | University of Southern Mississippi Student Government President Jeffrey George knows some of the characteristics he would like to see in the university's next provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. "That this person is open to listening to people across the campus and to understanding how a dual campus works and to listening to the needs of students and faculty," he said. George is one of a 26-member university screening committee that already has begun organizational work as it prepares to search for candidates to fill the provost job. Current Provost Denis Wiesenburg's resignation is effective July 1, at which point he will return to the faculty in the Department of Marine Sciences. |
| New USM associate provost job will help students | |
| A new position created at the University of Southern Mississippi will aid faculty members in helping students thrive. Amy Chasteen Miller has been named the university's first associate provost for academic excellence, effective July 1. Miller will lead the university's increased focus on undergraduate student engagement and faculty development. "The creation (of this position) is a gesture that students matter here at Southern Miss," Miller said. "I'll be working very closely with the faculty to help them and support them in all the work they do with students." Miller said she'll be spending the first half-year in the position doing research on how she can be most effective. |
| USM spending $2.5M to repairs administration building | |
| The centerpiece of the University of Southern Mississippi's Hattiesburg campus will undergo major repairs later this year. USM officials say in a news release the $2.55 million project for the Aubrey K. Lucas Administration Building will begin after Sept. 8 and is scheduled for 600 days. Work will -- among others things -- stabilize the foundation and replace about 72 pieces of deteriorating terracotta. |
| Delta State students return from Russia | |
| Fresh off of the plane and still suffering from jet lag, several Delta State University students and teachers are on cloud 9 from a recent trip to Russia as a part of the "Rivers of Music -- Rivers of Culture" program. "Rivers of Music -- Rivers of Culture" utilizes music as a universal language to explore the cultures, histories and heritages of the Mississippi Delta and Perm Krai regions, both situated along historic rivers. According to the Delta State website, support for the program comes from a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Department of State through the U.S.-Russia Peer-to-Peer Dialogue Program. To help foster greater contacts between Americans and Russians, the State Department launched the program in 2013. |
| Delta State graduate shares international perspective | |
| Danielle Meerholz is a recent graduate of Delta State University and Delta Aquatic Club coach, who came to Cleveland 4 years ago to pursue her passion for swimming alongside an academic career. Before moving to Cleveland, she lived in Johannesburg, South Africa. There, she could study or pursue swimming but not both. She was recruited by Daniel Murray, a DSU coach, who found her through an international website for athletes. Meerholz noted that Cleveland, and Delta State in particular, is very diverse. Many international students study at DSU. |
| Pearl River Community College board hires Picayune attorneys | |
| The Pearl River Community College board of trustees has hired a Picayune law firm as its legal counsel. The board approved hiring McDonald, Patch and Bryan Law, PLLC, at its May meeting. Members of the firm are Claiborne "Buddy" McDonald IV, Gerald Patch and Manya Creel Bryan. The board's longtime attorney, Martin Smith of Poplarville, died Feb. 26. The members' community involvement played a major role in the firm's interest in representing PRCC, Bryan said. "We're very interested in the county, number one," she said. "And number two, we're very interested in education. We've all had family that have gone there. It's part of the county, and we're very community minded." |
| President Judy Bonner reflects on her U. of Alabama tenure, future | |
 | University of Alabama President Judy Bonner sat on the porch of the campus' antebellum president's mansion on a muggy afternoon in late spring. Joggers made their way around the Quad, and the heat and humidity gradually rose after a brief afternoon shower. The porch is one of Bonner's favorite places and one of the things she will miss about the UA presidency, a post she will leave in mid-July. "I will miss graduation, I will miss the first day of school, everyone is so excited when they come back for a new academic year... I will miss the students who want to do selfies," Bonner said. As the system prepares for the fall, Bonner, 67, considers a life ahead without the university at its center. |
| Auburn University signs pact with Cuba: Why it matters to Alabama | |
| Beyond the headlines of new diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba, Auburn University is put that diplomacy into action. The school has signed an academic exchange pact with Agrarian University of Havana and the Cuban National Center for Animal and Plant Health. What does that mean? A lot, according to Henry Fadamiro, College of Agriculture assistant dean and Office of Global Programs director, who signed the treaty on behalf of the college and Auburn in Cuba on May 21. |
| Auburn University professor pens book on golf course designer Robert Trent Jones | |
 | Last year, Dr. James Hansen, professor in Auburn University's Department of History, published his 12th book, "A Difficult Par: Robert Trent Jones Sr. and the Making of Modern Golf." The work earned him the U.S. Golf Association's Herbert Warren Wind Award winner in 2014 and will send him to signings at both next week's U.S. Open in Washington State and Opelika's Barbasol Championship in July. At the Open, the Golf Channel will air a 10-minute piece on the Jones family of architects based on Hansen's research. Hansen, a lifelong golfer, partially credits the construction of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama in the 1990s with sparking his interest in the family. |
| Texas A&M Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory aids in bovine trade with Ecuador | |
 | More than 150 cattle piled on a plane last month to become the first American bovines to step hooves in Ecuador in the past 12 years, ending a trade ban with help from the Texas A&M Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. "It's an unusual shipment in terms of opening trade," said Bruce Akey, director of the lab. "To aid our clients to get back in a market like this is the significant part of it." Ecuador, as well as many other countries in Southern and Central America, has remained closed to U.S. beef exports driven in part by a Mad Cow Disease outbreak in 2003. In October of last year, the lab hosted six members of Ecuador's government. One of the meetings led to Ecuador's Minister of Agriculture Javier Ponce purchasing 167 beef and dairy cattle from Florida and Texas for $730,000. |
| State Farm makes $160,000 donation to U. of Missouri | |
 | State Farm Insurance Co. was recognized by University of Missouri officials for State Farm's recent donation of $160,000 to MU. The donation brings State Farm's total giving to MU academic programs to $1.8 million. The money will support MU programs such as the College of Education's achieve program; the risk management and insurance program and the marketing program in the Trulaske College of Business; the Family Impact Center and personal finance program in the MU College of Human Environmental Sciences; MU Health Care's Frank Mitchell Trauma Center; and MU Extension's emergency services training. |
| Are lazy rivers and climbing walls driving up the cost of college? | |
 | There's not much Elizabeth Warren and Chris Christie agree on. But last week they struck a similar chord in speeches that knocked increasingly common and luxurious college amenities like climbing walls and lazy rivers. Such features, Warren said in a June 10 speech, contribute to rising tuition. A day later, Christie criticized colleges that are "drunk on cash and embarking on crazy spending binges," including the building of amenities like climbing walls." Such critiques are hardly new, and they tend to frustrate those who work at community colleges and many other institutions that have never invested in anything resembling a country club amenity. But for those colleges that compete for full-pay residential students and status, they do invest in amenities. But how much are amenities really driving up the price of college? |
| 'Colorism Has Its Limits': Campuses React to Storm Over White Adjunct Who Posed as Black | |
 | An adjunct instructor at Eastern Washington University became the focus of a fierce debate about race and identity last week, when her parents asserted that she was white, despite having passed herself off for years as a black woman. Rachel A. Dolezal, 37, earned a master's degree in fine arts from Howard University and has worked as an adjunct in Eastern Washington's Africana-education program, teaching such courses as African and African-American art history and "the Black Woman's Struggle." Ms. Dolezal is president of the Spokane, Wash., chapter of the NAACP, and earned a track record as a civil-rights advocate through her work locally and in Mississippi. Reactions to the questions about Ms. Dolezal's identity swirled on campuses and online. |
| DENNIS SEID (OPINION): Manufacturing still a major pillar of our economy | |
| The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal's Dennis Seid writes: "Just last week, H.M. Richards announced it was adding 500 jobs. A week before that, Emerald Home Furnishings in New Albany said it was adding 150 workers, and Pride Mobility also said it was adding 150 workers. As Gov. Phil Bryant so eloquently put it, 'we still make things in Mississippi.' And in Northeast Mississippi, where manufacturing once comprised a third of the work-force, it remains strong. About a quarter of the workers in the region still are in manufacturing. Most of it is furniture-related, of course. So yes, we still make things, and recent announcements reinforce that message. We still want more and better jobs, but we won't turn down opportunities like these." |
| GEOFF PENDER (OPINION): Louisiana lawmakers keeping it weird | |
| The Clarion-Ledger's Geoff Pender writes: "While I'd put Mississippi's Legislature up against anyone's in terms of comedy, drama, weirdness, pandering and sheer entertainment, sometimes our neighboring states really step up. Louisiana did so with the legislative session it just ended. It was by all accounts a real twist-about." |
| SID SALTER (OPINION): MDOC, local leaders at political fork of road | |
| Syndicated columnist Sid Salter writes: "When considering the future of the Joint State County Work program and the impact that program -- or the lack of it -- has on the taxpayers, the Mississippi Department of Corrections and local governments eventually end up at cross purposes. ...It's unlikely in the extreme that the Legislature will revert from their current trajectory in reducing the state's prison population -- regardless the impact on inmate labor supplies for local governments." |
SPORTS
| Mississippi State's Rhianwedd Price is a national champion in the 1500m | |
| Mississippi State's streak of super sophomores continued Saturday. Rhianwedd Price won a national title in the 1500 meter at the NCAA Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon. It's the second consecutive season Mississippi State has won an individual national title. Brandon McBride won the 800m as a sophomore last year. Price saved her best for her last race of the 2015 season. She won the event in 4:09.56. Her personal best heading into Hayward Stadium was 4:10.95, which she ran in the East Preliminaries. Mississippi State will leave Oregon after enjoying historic success. The MSU men's track and field team finished eighth overall. It was the first top 10 finish since 1923. |
| Mississippi State's Price wins 1500 title at NCAA Track and Field Championships | |
| Mississippi State sophomore Rhianwedd Price won the women's 1500 meter title on Saturday, the last day of the NCAA Track and Field Championships. The Oregon women won their first NCAA title in 30 years, a day after the Ducks successfully defended their men's title. Price ran down defending champion Shelby Houlihan of Arizona State over the final 10 meters to lean across the tape just ahead, winning by .89 seconds. "With 100 meters to go I just got a kick and thought 'I can do this, I can do this,'" Price said. "I could see the line coming closer and closer and I was getting more and more excited. ...I thought she knew that I was there. I thought she was going to kick harder." |
| Mississippi State men finish eighth in NCAA Track and Field Championships | |
| Brandon McBride traveled to Oregon looking to defend his crown in the 800 meters. He wasn't able to, yet Friday still turned out to be successful as Mississippi State finished eighth in the NCAA Track and Field Championships. The Bulldogs scored 20 points. Oregon won the national title with 85. |
| Mississippi State Sun Bowl vets highlight Gulfport Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2015 | |
 | Two members of the one of the most storied teams in Mississippi State University football history were among the 15 men and women inducted into the sophomore class of the Gulfport Sports Hall of Fame on Saturday. Former MSU offensive lineman Bill Bell and his teammate Fred Collins, a Gulfport native who played fullback, were part of the historic 1980 Emory Bellard-coached team that saw the Bulldogs go 9-4 and win a berth in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. But Bell and Collins have a history that goes back further than college football. "It's an honor and a privilege to be inducted with my teammate and friend, Fred Collins, " Bell said Saturday. "We started playing football together when we were in junior high. We played side by side together at Gulfport High School and all the way through Mississippi State. There were five of us from Gulfport who were starters at Mississippi State." |
| U. of Florida still negotiating with new firm over O'Dome renovations | |
 | A second construction management team tapped to bring down the cost of the O'Connell Center renovations has submitted a preliminary budget of $55 million with another $1.85 million in add-ons. University of Florida officials say that is still too high and will continue to negotiate with the Birmingham, Alabama-based Brasfield & Gorrie to bring the costs in line with the $60 million budget before signing a contract. "We're committed to the project," UF Athletics Director Jeremy Foley said. "We will continue to work with UF and Brasfield & Gorrie to get the price where it needs to be." The athletic association has $50 million earmarked for the project, with UF putting up an additional $10 million. |
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