| Friday, July 17, 2015 |
| Mississippi State center receives grant for Marks project | |
 | The Carl Small Town Center at Mississippi State is receiving a $25,000 grant to provide a cultural master plan for the city of Marks. The National Endowment of the Arts grant will help fund an interpretive trail and center for the city, while highlighting and explaining civil-rights related sites and the historic 1968 Poor People's Campaign "Mule Train." MSU's Carl Small Town Center was created to help improve the quality of life and create economic opportunity in small towns by improving their physical environments. |
| U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce visits Meridian, tours MSU Riley Center | |
 | U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce Jay Williams was in Meridian Thursday where he toured the MSU Riley Center and met with local officials and economic development leaders. Williams, who heads the U.S. Economic Development Administration, said he was impressed with the Riley Center and lauded the facility as a testament to how government and the private sector can work together to help enrich a community. "It's a gem, a real jewel for this community," Williams said. Those who met with Williams included Meghan Millea, interim administrative dean for Mississippi State University/Meridian and Riley Center Executive Director Dennis Sankovich; Meridian Community College President Scott Elliott; East Mississippi Community College President Thomas Huebner; members of the Meridian City Council; East Mississippi Business Development Corporation President and CEO Bill Hannah; EMBDC Chairman Bob Luke; and economic development leaders. |
| Mississippi State alum Campbell new deputy ag commissioner | |
 | John Gordon Campbell of Greenville has been named the new Deputy Commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce. John has been with the agency for eight years and served as the director the Bureau of Plant Industry for the last four years. He graduated from Mississippi State University with a bachelor's degree in agricultural pest management. |
| He's back: Fred Carl aims for the high-end market with modular homes | |
 | Fred E. Carl Jr. is emerging from his Viking Range years with a new venture, C3 Design. The company will build modular homes that are not what one might think of as "prefab" houses. It aims instead for the same high-end market that Viking dominated. Carl's ventures are coming full circle. The first was homebuilding, a continuation of the construction business founded in Greenwood by his grandfather and carried on by his father. The buildings will range from small, specialty buildings -- studios, offices and the like -- to full-size houses. The company is designing a 4,000-square-foot house now, he said. But the longer range goal is to go even bigger -- to include hotels and multifamily projects, he said. "Over a 10-year period, we've got big plans." |
| Most Mississippi incumbents continue with campaign cash advantage | |
 | Most of Mississippi's statewide incumbents continue to raise more campaign cash than their challengers leading into the party primaries. The exception is still in the Republican primary for state treasurer, where challenger David McRae is reporting that he collected more campaign cash than incumbent Lynn Fitch, just as he did last month. Of the $216,550 McRae's campaign reported collecting in June, $200,000 came from him and his wife. They were the top donors in the previous round of reporting. McRae, an attorney who comes from the family that started the McRae's department stores decades ago, said Thursday he thinks it's good to invest in his own campaign to give confidence to his supporters. "I don't call my donors 'donors,'" McRae said. "I call them investors." |
| Hosemann streamlines purchasing public property | |
| The secretary of state's office has created a site to allow people to buy tax forfeited lands online. Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann says the program allows the public to search for available tax forfeited land, apply to purchase property and pay application fees. Customers can check the status of their application by logging into the system. Hosemann says chancery clerks will be able to process tax forfeited parcels internally. |
| Chattanooga Shooting Suspect's Trip to Jordan Scrutinized by Authorities | |
 | Counterterrorism investigators are looking closely at a monthslong trip the Chattanooga shooting suspect took to Jordan in 2014 to determine if he had contact with any extremists or traveled to other countries, according to people familiar with the investigation. Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez., 24, spent about seven months in Jordan last year, according to one person close to the investigation. The trip was one of a number of trips he took to that country during his life. Mr. Abdulazeez died Thursday in a gunfight with police, after allegedly firing a rifle at two military facilities in Chattanooga. Four Marines were killed in the attacks. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies are now trying to determine if he made connections, or drew inspiration, on that trip to later commit an act of violence once he returned to the U.S., these people said. |
| Wal-Mart's self-interested shot at reviving the American factory | |
| The group cheer at Wal-Mart's third annual U.S. manufacturing summit -- convened to find more American-made products -- was greeted with a voice from another era. "Almost anything can be made by Americans, in this country, and be done efficiently," said founder Sam Walton, in a grainy black-and-white video clip from the 1980s, explaining Wal-Mart's new mission to buy more products at home. Ultimately, Walton failed. Critics blamed Walmart's insistence on low costs for driving the U.S. supply chain to China. Now, Wal-Mart is trying to revive it. Two years into a ten-year plan to buy $250 billion more in products from U.S. factories, the retailer is heavily hyping its effort, which comes as it struggles with flagging sales and labor strife. Skeptics, citing the company's history, say it's just a glitzy PR stunt. |
| Silicon Valley Doesn't Believe U.S. Productivity Is Down | |
| Google Inc. chief economist Hal Varian is an evangelist for Silicon Valley's contrarian take on America's productivity slump. Swiveling to a large screen on the desk behind him, Mr. Varian types in a search for the most commonly asked question on the subject economists elsewhere are wringing their hands over. Up pops, "What is productivity?" See, he says, vindicated: "Most people don't know what it even means." To Mr. Varian and other wealthy brains in the world's most innovative neighborhood, productivity means giving people and companies tools to do things better and faster. By that measure, there is an explosion under way, thanks to the shiny gadgets, apps and digital geegaws spewing out of Silicon Valley. Official U.S. figures tell a different story. For a decade, economic output per hour worked---the federal government's formula for productivity---has barely budged. |
| Experimental UAS Sets Flight Record | |
 | A US experimental unmanned aerial verhicle has set a record for the longest continuous flight of a craft of its size, staying in the air for three days, the International Aeronautical Federation said. The Orion prototype long-endurance UAV, similar to the well-known Predator and Reaper style drones used by the US military, flew for 80 hours two minutes and 52 seconds, according to the data validated by the federation. The craft was built as part of an experimental US Air Force program to meet the round-the-clock needs of American intelligence and surveillance. Its manufacturer, Aurora Flight Sciences, hopes to build a series of the planes for the Air Force. The overall record for flight duration by a UAV belongs to a small solar powered craft built by Airbus. |
| Science Confirms 2014 Was Hottest Yet Recorded, On Land And Sea | |
 | For the past quarter-century, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been gathering data from more than 400 scientists around the world on climate trends. The report on 2014 from these international researchers? On average, it was the hottest year ever -- in the ocean, as well as on land. Deke Arndt is a climate scientist with the agency and an author of the State of the Climate in 2014 report, released Thursday. It's the lower atmosphere that's warming, not the upper atmosphere, he points out -- just as the total of greenhouse gases in the lower atmosphere continues to increase. That's not a coincidence. "The changes that we see in the lower part of the atmosphere are driven by a change in the composition of the atmosphere," Arndt says. "If an external forcing -- such as the sun or some orbital phenomenon -- would be driving the warming, we would see a warming across the board in most of the atmosphere. And we don't." |
| IHL responds to faculty, student questions from UM chancellor listening session | |
 | Two listening sessions on Tuesday gave the Institutions of Higher Learning board much to ponder, following the pleas and statements from University of Mississippi faculty, staff, students and alumni. Glenn Boyce, College Board commissioner, was a member of the panel for both sessions and met with the campus search committee on Monday. "It's been a great couple of days up here," Boyce said. "We've got a really good feel for what the next chancellor should look like." Of the two, the afternoon meeting encouraged more participation from crowd and brought many points to the surface. Boyce said one of the things he recognized above all else on this trip is the university's ability to push forward. |
| USM's College of Business Makes Move to Scianna Hall | |
 | The University of Southern Mississippi's College of Business began relocating July 15 to Scianna Hall, its new home, from Joseph Greene Hall on the Hattiesburg campus. On May 10, 2012, Southern Miss officials broke ground on Scianna Hall, a 93,000-square-foot facility located next to the Trent Lott National Center for Excellence in Economic Development and Entrepreneurship. It is named in honor of Southern Miss alumnus Charles "Chuck" Scianna, who committed $6 million toward the project. A ribbon cutting ceremony for the facility will be held in September. "It's the beginning of a new era," said Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Assessment Dr. Brigitte Burgess, who praised the student-focused design. |
| New East Mississippi Community College president meets with Lauderdale supervisors | |
| New East Mississippi Community College President Dr. Thomas Huebner met members of the Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors for the first time at Thursday's work session. Huebner took over for former EMCC President Dr. Rick Young, who retired June 30. Huebner told supervisors the college needs to address the need for more dorms. "We do have a dramatic need to for housing at the Scooba campus," Huebner said. "We have two residence halls we need to replace." The housing matter was first brought to the attention of supervisors in April when Young attended the board's meeting to pitch a plan to construct new dorms. Huebner said he plans to continue that conversation with the supervisors going forward. |
| MGCCC invests $6M in athletic upgrades to help recruit, retain students | |
 | Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College officials said a $6 million investment into upgrading athletics facilities will create a better college experience for all students, not just those who play sports. "If you have good and strong athletic facilities, then your recruitment is strong. But more importantly, it's a great retention tool for our students," said Dr. Mary Graham, MGCCC President. "Studies have shown that if you can keep students engaged out of the classroom and in the classroom with extracurricular activities, then students will stay in school, and we're all about students finishing what they start with us." The excitement brewing on campus isn't just among student athletes. "We'll have state of the art concession stands and bleachers, and I think more people will want to come and watch the games at our facilities," said freshman Tara McDonald. |
| Tuscaloosa Police seize more than 10,000 Xanax pills from U. of Alabama student | |
 | A 22-year-old University of Alabama student accused of possessing massive amounts of the prescription anti-anxiety pill Xanax. Sgt. Brent Blankley said agents with the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force conducted a month-long investigation that eventually led to the doorstep of the alleged dealer, Ryan Patrick Jones. Jones was arrested at a home on Meador Drive, very near to the University of Alabama campus, where agents found more than 10,000 Xanax pills and 141 grams of marijuana. |
| Auburn University's Burgess inducted into Military Intelligence Corps Hall of Fame | |
 | Retired Army Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess, Auburn University's senior counsel for National Security Programs, Cyber Programs and Military Affairs, has been inducted into the Military Intelligence Corps Hall of Fame at Fort Huachuca, Ariz. Burgess is a former director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, and during his 38-year career, provided leadership and broad strategic vision that contributed to safeguarding national security interests. "Auburn University is fortunate to have Lt. Gen. Burgess as a senior administrator serving many units on campus, as well as organizations throughout Alabama and across the nation," said John Mason, Auburn University vice president for research and economic development. Burgess, a 1974 Auburn graduate, joined the university in 2012 to lead its security and cyber initiatives. |
| Feds launch sexual violence investigation at U. of Tennessee | |
 | The federal government has launched an investigation into sexual violence at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights confirmed they launched their investigation on June 29. UT officials said Thursday they were "in the process of collecting and preparing the information the Office of Civil Rights has requested." In an emailed communication to faculty, staff and students, UT Chancellor Jimmy Cheek said the university had been notified that an individual had filed a complaint with the federal government regarding the university's response to a report of sexual violence. The university has come under scrutiny over the past year for its handling of sexual assault allegations against student athletes. |
| UGA makes bid to get better in study of informatics | |
 | University of Georgia administrators plan to hire eight new professors in the relatively new field of informatics. The UGA president's office sent out an announcement this week of the initiative, which could potentially bring new faculty members to any of UGA's 17 schools and colleges. Informatics is the study of information processing --- specifically digital data, said Jessica Kissinger, one of a number of UGA researchers already working in informatics. And with the advent of digital data, informatics is applicable to just about any field of study, she said. Kissinger, a genetics professor, specializes in bioinformatics; she's the director of UGA's Institute of Bioinformatics. |
| LSU lakes final draft plan features boathouses, bird blinds, trails and beach | |
 | In the best-case scenario, construction on the LSU lakes restoration project won't start for another two-to-three years. But when it comes times for breaking ground, the vision for the six-lake system and its surrounding acreage will be rooted in nature. Houston-based landscape architect Kinder Baumgardner presented a final draft of the LSU lakes master plan to a crowd of Baton Rouge residents Thursday at the Lod Cook Alumni Center. Features of the plan include a much improved trail system, a bird watching center, added park space and boat rentals. Baumbardner said the master plan seeks to make the lakes a more integral part of LSU's campus by adding public spaces inviting to all students, not just sorority and fraternity members whose houses front University Lake. |
| Texas A&M Transportation Services staff recognized for efforts in Las Vegas | |
 | A game day parking app and three members of Texas A&M Transportation Services were recently recognized for their efforts in promoting and improving parking-related services during an international conference in Las Vegas. The International Parking Institute selected Peter Lange, executive director of Transportation Services, Clint Willis, parking facilities projects and maintenance unit project manager, and Cindy Ishaq, a parking services officer, as the top honorees. In addition to the individual honors, the A&M Parking Services department was recognized as one of 16 outstanding marketing and communications programs for its Destination Aggieland app. The app helps fans find parking locations and directions to Kyle Field, as well as the best means of leaving the area around the stadium during home games. |
| College officials excited by Access Missouri scholarship increase | |
 | Columbia-area colleges are beginning to rework the financial aid packages for students receiving Access Missouri scholarships after Gov. Jay Nixon moved to increase the maximum award amount of the need-based scholarships. The maximum award amount for Access Missouri, a scholarship program for Missouri college students, will increase between 23 and 30 percent this coming year, Nixon said Wednesday during a press conference at North Central Missouri College. The University of Missouri has awarded 4,551 students a total of $6,686,250 in Access Missouri scholarship funds for the coming school year. MU spokeswoman Mary Jo Banken said the university will be making adjustments because of the award amount adjustment. |
| Closure Concerns and Financial Strategies: a Survey of College Business Officers | |
 | Nearly one in five college and university chief business officers are worried their institutions are at risk of shutting down in the foreseeable future, and skepticism over the financial model of their institutions continues from last year, according to a survey by Inside Higher Ed and Gallup. But are institutions doing enough to navigate an era of financial difficulty? The 2015 Survey of College and University Business Officers, Inside Higher Ed and Gallup's fifth such study, reveals that as institutions deal with financial concerns, they are using some strategies, like increasing enrollment, more widely than more unpopular methods of trimming the budget. And that's not necessarily to the benefit of struggling colleges, analysts interviewed for this article say. |
| Teenagers and Colleges Are of 2 Minds on the Best Recruitment Strategies | |
 | If you understand teenagers, then -- wait, does anybody really understand teenagers? No, of course not. But colleges spend a lot of time and money recruiting them. That means embracing various communication strategies: the old-school, the high-tech, and the because-my-president-thinks-this-will-work. Yet what you think you know might not be right. Admissions officials and prospective students sometimes have very different ideas about recruitment. At the ACT's annual Enrollment Planners Conference in Chicago on Thursday, admissions officers heard a fascinating discussion of where, based on the findings from recent surveys, their perspectives often differ. |
| Clemson gets tough on Greek life community | |
 | Clemson announced an overhaul of its Greek life oversight Thursday, instituting new rules that it says go beyond national standards to change the culture of Greek life following multiple incidents with fraternities last school year. Fraternities and sororities will no longer be allowed to purchase alcohol for events. Events must be bring-your-own-beer or contracted to third-party vendors. Chapters must hire more security for events, limit the number of non-member guests and record who is in attendance. Rush and recruitment events will be alcohol-free and drinking games are banned for all social events. No alcohol will be permitted at any new member activities such as "bid nights" or initiation activities. Chapters that break the rules will be subject to penalties, including probation or suspension of the chapter, said Almeda Jacks, vice president for student affairs. |
| Some UAB faculty receive hefty doses of drug company money | |
| Dr. Richard Whitley holds an endowed chair in pediatrics at the UAB School of Medicine, faculty appointments in six centers, prestigious posts with the federal government and the past-presidency of an eminent infectious diseases society. He also has another job that doesn't appear on his faculty profile. Whitley earned about $500,000 last year as a paid member of the board of directors for Gilead Sciences, Inc., a pharmaceutical company that developed antiviral drugs to combat HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. The medical school at UAB received more than $12 million from drug and device companies for research last year, along with $1.3 million in general payments. University administrators approve and encourage some collaboration with drug and device companies. But similar arrangements at other medical schools have raised concerns about the autonomy and integrity of medical education. |
| Guaranty agency sues Ed Department in latest fight rippling from end of bank-based lending | |
| More than five years after President Obama won his contentious fight to remove private lenders from the federal government's student loan program, his administration is still sparring with parts of the student lending industry. To be sure, the biggest battle -- stopping the flow of federal subsidies and guarantees to private lenders, which Democrats derided as wasteful -- is over. And there's no serious effort in Congress to undo it. But as the federally guaranteed loan program continues to wind down, the entities whose business it is to collect those loans, known as guaranty agencies, remain a dueling partner of the Obama administration. The latest battle came Thursday, when a guaranty agency sued the Education Department in federal court over a letter the department sent last week prohibiting agencies from imposing collection fees on borrowers who default on their loans but quickly arrange to start repaying. |
| Senate Passes ESEA Rewrite With Big Bipartisan Backing, 81-17 | |
 | or the first time since 2001, the U.S. Senate Thursday passed a sweeping overhaul of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the country's federal K-12 law, which if enacted would significantly roll back the role of the federal government in public education and give states more flexibility in the process. The legislation, the Every Child Achieves Act, proved a rare example of bipartisan politicking, with co-authors Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., carefully ushering the measure through the amendment process and floor debate with little to no drama. In the end, they held their caucuses together to pass the bill, which would overhaul the law now known as the No Child Left Behind Act, with overwhelming support from both sides of the aisle, 81-17. |
SPORTS
| What Do College-Football Fans Today Want? | |
| The most powerful people in college football are desperate to figure out what the millennials on their campuses actually want. They thought they knew. To stop the puzzling decline of student attendance at football games, schools across the country have taken numerous steps in recent years. The most radical was upgrading cellular reception and installing wireless networks around their stadiums -- a multimillion-dollar endeavor for a service that may only be used a handful of times each year. Now, though, schools have more data than ever on their fans and especially their student fans. That new information has them rewriting their old theories. The Southeastern Conference, which led all leagues in average attendance last season, has come to the same conclusion. "Our data tells us that the most important things for fans coming to the game are parking, restrooms and concessions," Mississippi State athletic director Scott Stricklin said. |
| Mississippi State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz looks forward to USM matchup | |
| Mississippi State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz and several former players made a stop in the Pine Belt for the second annual Calling All Dawgs event at the Laurel Country Club on Thursday. Diaz's return to the maroon and white begins with a huge in-state matchup versus Southern Miss in Hattiesburg on Sept. 5. "Going on the road is always going to be tough and (in the) first game of the season everybody is filled with optimism. Everybody is undefeated. So, we know we'll have our hands full," Diaz said. "Anytime you play in-state it's going to a be a big-time game. We know we'll have a lot of our fans there. It should be a big-time atmosphere. We can't wait." |
| SEC Moves Ahead Alone on Tougher Transfer Rules | |
| The Southeastern Conference has taken the high road when it comes to domestic violence, aiming to keep alleged abusers off their rosters even if it means they land in a rival league. It's a rare move that could put the SEC, which won seven straight national titles from 2006-2012, at a competitive disadvantage in some cases. So far, no other conference has put a similar rule into effect. SEC schools passed a rule in May barring the signing of any athlete disciplined for serious misconduct at another college stop. Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott, one of the league's most high-profile players, said it was a line that needed to be drawn. "I'm not going to be shy to say that maybe you shouldn't play college football again with a domestic violence issue," Prescott said. "We shouldn't have things like that in this day and time. As men, we need to get better and get past it." |
| LSU looking forward to 'hearing those cowbells' in Starkville | |
| Prior to last season, LSU welcomed Mississippi State to Baton Rouge 11 times since 1991. The Tigers captured wins in all 11 meetings. The Bulldogs ended the streak with a dominating performance that wasn't indicative by the 34-29 final score. LSU travels to Starkville as both teams open Southeastern Conference play on Sept. 13. The Tigers will have revenge on their minds. "We really look forward to playing them," LSU linebacker Kendell Beckwith said. "We look forward to going out and hearing the cowbells. We just enjoy it." Mississippi State last beat LSU at home in 1999. |
| Ben Howland went from Southern California to Starkville for a challenge at Mississippi State | |
| Former UCLA coach Ben Howland left an oceanfront estate for Starkville, Mississippi. Why? He wants to keep coaching, and he has already hit the ground running at Mississippi State. His biggest fan in Starkville -- and the best sign that Howland has found a place where his edge will be welcomed -- is the one most likely to make Mississippi State a factor in the SEC as soon as 2015. "I love him," Malik Newman said. "He's just intense, man. Extremely demanding. Extremely competitive." |
| Conference USA commish stepping down | |
 | Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky is stepping down after nearly 13 years running the league to join the College Football Playoff. Banowsky will become executive director of the College Football Playoff Foundation, the organization's charitable arm. Banowsky will stay with C-USA -- which the University of Southern Mississippi is a longtime member of -- until the conference finds his replacement. Southern Miss president Rodney Bennett said Banowsky will be missed. "He has been a steady but progressive commissioner for Conference USA, and under his leadership the conference has been well-positioned for future success, particularly in the areas of membership and revenue growth," Bennett said. |
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