by Will Stribling November 4, 2021
The Mississippi Department of Health reported zero new COVID-19 deaths on Thursday, making Nov. 3 the first day since June 30 without a pandemic-related death in Mississippi.
Though it’s just a single-day report, the announcement undoubtedly came as a relief to many living in the state with the highest COVID-19 death rate in the nation, which has lost one out of every 300 residents to the virus. In total, 10,134 Mississippians have died from COVID-19
During the pandemic, my 8-year-old son has been struggling with wanting more independence. He wants to have sleepovers with friends, take walks on his own and start to make his own meals. Although the pandemic has restricted much of his independence, I’m happy to welcome more help in the kitchen and to reinforce healthy eating habits, and introduce him to cooking.
The weekend of October 15 – October 17 has been one that I will remember for a long time. Jackson State University held it 2021 homecoming on Saturday. Although I did not attend the game, I have become more interested in the performance of the team. It was great to see on pictures in the news of a full stadium after the challenges of the past 2 years with COVID-19.
Friday, I visited with a great friend who I directly responsible for encouraging me to seek my Ph.D. Although we are in different fraternities, our friendship of over 37 years has sustained itself dispite years of distance. Our friendship started in college and was formed during the first few weeks of my Freshman year. We later hung out during summer interships with Eastman Kodak. He had been there before and introduced me to friend he had made during previous internships. Later when we both worked in the Maryland area, he invited me to participate in his fraternity’s weekend tutoring program. At no time did I feel like an outsider. During this time in Maryland, while he was persuing his Ph.D. at the University of Maryland, he asked me to protor an exam for him. It was the first time I stood in front of a class. Following my time in Maryland, I decided to pursue my MBA at the University of Memphis. My friend would always encourage me over the years as we would touchbase each homecoming. That classroom experience from the initial proctoring experience made working as a graduate assistant at the Univesity of Memphis less scary. Teaching incoming students about the Microsoft Office Suite that they would use throughout ther collegiate career was rewarding. Ten years after graduating from the University of Memphis, I started my Ph.D. journey. My friend’s simple request to fill in for him had sparked an interest that I completed in 2017.
Saturday, I had a breakfast meeting with a fraternity brother and we spoke about potential courses for the university where I currently work part-time. Problem solving is important to leaders so the timing of his desire to work in education and my desire to provide unique experiences to my students alligned. We met for an hour and developed a framework for a possible course and unique offering. Later that morning, my family worked to provide meals for the homeless through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. We served over 40 people and provided Abraham with an experience to remember.
Saturday night, my wife of nearly 29 years this November and I attended a live concert with The Elements in the elements of the outdoor ampitheater. This was the first time visiting the venue and hearing Earth Wind and Fire. I loved the horn section and enjoyed the work of Bobby Burns, Jr. I also enjoyed to outing with my lovely wife and a few of our friends. We held hands and cuddled under the open cool air while enjoying to great sound of Earth Wind and Fire. It was so great to get out and safely enjoy live music.
Sunday, I have the opportunity to catch up on yard work and will play tennis with a good friend and collegue to see who pays for beer. He suggested that the winner buys. He came back on me the first time we played so he ended up buying. In a strange way it has motivated me to improve so I will not loose again. I purchased a new racket hoping it will help me with my game. I know my conditioning will get better and I am budgeting to buy him beer everytime we play.
Southeast Sustainability Directors Network (SSDN): SSDN is a network of local government sustainability professionals from various cities and counties across the Southeast. They focus on collaborative learning, state policy programs, and federal initiatives aimed at creating clean and healthy communities. SSDN supports municipal sustainability professionals with resources, collaborative opportunities, and best practices in urban sustainability. Their programs include the Southeast Sustainable Recovery Center and Environmental Finance Center (SESDN).
EPA’s Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities: This program works with local communities to develop smart growth solutions that benefit both human health and the environment. The program emphasizes a flexible, community-led process to develop strategies for vibrant, walkable, and revitalized neighborhoods. It partners with communities to address environmental justice concerns, preserve natural resources, and facilitate economic growth (US EPA).
Neighbors for Better Neighborhoods (NBN): Based in Winston-Salem, NC, NBN empowers community leaders through the asset-based community development framework. They focus on bringing residents to the table for decision-making processes that impact their communities, advocating for health, safety, learning, prosperity, and justice at the community level. NBN’s initiatives aim to strengthen neighborhoods by leveraging local resources and resident leadership (NBN Community).
Spruce Root: Although based in Southeast Alaska, Spruce Root’s approach to sustainable community development through business coaching, financial resources, and workshops is a model that can be adapted for other regions. They provide comprehensive support for local entrepreneurs, fostering economic development and job creation through their Path to Prosperity and other sustainability-focused programs (Spruce Root ).
Tara Laczynski leveraged Outschool to transform her passion for teaching math into a lucrative side gig.
The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center has released a new report on higher education enrollments. Undergraduate enrollment grew for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic this fall with an increase of 2.1 percent. Community colleges are starting to recover from the pandemic showing a growth of 4.4 percent this fall.
Rural Americans face numerous health disparities compared with their urban counterparts. More than 46 million Americans, or 15 percent of the U.S. population, live in rural areas as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau.
On August 22, 1950, officials of the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) accept Althea Gibson into their annual championship at Forest Hills, New York, making her the first African American player to compete in a U.S. national tennis competition.
These African American heroes battled the Nazis, but were still treated as second-class citizens in their home country.
By Samuel J. Abrams | Ray Rodrigues
August 07, 2023
Federalism is one of our nation’s greatest virtues; states’ discretion to pursue their own policies is a hallmark of the American republic. And state schools offer potent examples of how states can dramatically differ in their quality of governance. Consider higher education. Florida’s remarkable success with its top-ranked public colleges and universities stands as a testament to how higher education can thrive and achieve real diversity without affirmative action. For nearly a quarter of a century, Florida has maintained color-blind admissions to its post-secondary schools while still yielding a diverse student body. The genuine diversity of the Sunshine State’s public colleges and universities serves as a valuable corrective to those who argue that diversity is threatened by the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, which ended affirmative action.
Despite the nationwide disagreement about which barbecue style is best depending on which state you’re from, there is one thing we can all agree on: Plain old pulled pork – or hamburgers and hotdogs – would be nothing without a band of hearty, delicious side dishes. From baked beans and cornbread to potato salad and coleslaw, these sides will bring your cookout menu to the next level.
MLB said Tuesday it is staging the game around the Juneteenth holiday, which commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in Texas in 1865.
