Mississippi Today
Scientist: Federal research and research funding matter for all Mississippians
Editor’s note: This essay is part of Mississippi Today Ideas, a platform for thoughtful Mississippians to share fact-based ideas about our state’s past, present and future. You can read more about the section here.
Several years ago, I confronted the possibility that I, like many Mississippians, had been blindsided by cancer.
A routine blood test detected alarmingly high PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels, and after informing me that the odds were about 25% for a positive cancer diagnosis and 60% of that for an intermediate to severe form of the disease, my urologist recommended a biopsy. Those odds represented a 15% probability of a metastatic crisis, and given the low risks associated with prostate biopsies, I opted for the procedure.
After an anxious week of waiting, the pathologist’s report indicated that I had dodged the terrifying reality of cancer—unlike for the roughly 16,000 Mississippians who are diagnosed with cancer each year, with an associated annual death toll of about 6,500.
I am a retired scientist and although my area of expertise involves field biology, my research background helped me evaluate the medical options and procedures related to prostate cancer. I could understand the relevant scientific papers and search for qualities that define good medical research: testable hypotheses, large sample sizes, replicate studies, appropriate statistical analyses and peer-reviewed papers published in reputable journals. When evaluating my options I could avoid ideologically-based claims like those promising that cod liver oil and other vitamin A supplements are effective for preventing and treating measles.
I also understood that although the initial blood test for PSA antigens, preliminary MRI and biopsy were technological procedures, those procedures were developed through painstaking scientific research—the kinds of research carried out by institutions like the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s (UMMC) Cancer Institute, but now threatened by cuts to federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Cancer Institute and National Science Foundation (NSF).
In other words, the Trump administration is directly harming the kinds of scientific research that could improve the lives of those 16,000 Mississippians who are diagnosed with cancer each year.
In 2023, the UMMC received almost $97 million in research grants, awards and contracts, much of which came from federal funding sources. Cutting NIH funding to the UMMC and other American research institutions threatens the well-being of all Mississippians, regardless of their political affiliation, age, sex, gender, race or ethnicity—or whether their health is threatened by cancer, sickle-cell anemia, heart disease, diabetes, traumatic injury or poor delivery of medical services to underserved populations. Who among us doesn’t know multiple people whose lives have been affected by those diseases or problems? Ironically, it seems that cuts to NIH funding likely will hit “red states” like Mississippi the hardest.
Scientific research is a human endeavor, conducted by fallible human beings, as we all are. And yet the core scientific process, which relies on experimental and observational studies, verifiable data and hypotheses that can be tested by multiple independent observers, is the only truly self-correcting discipline—one that rises above the (occasional) false leads, mistakes and pettiness of its individual practitioners to improve the quality of life for everyone.
The scientific process is why we no longer believe that cancer is caused by an excess of black bile, as did physicians in the Middle Ages. We now have targeted gene therapies that dramatically increase survival rates for many types of cancers. It is why we no longer believe that malaria is transmitted by humid and stale air.
And it is why we embrace the germ theory of disease; use antibiotics to treat a variety of diseases, from syphilis to tuberculosis; and employ vaccines to prevent or diminish the damage caused by polio, measles, rubella, whooping cough: on and on and on. The medical benefits derived from high-quality scientific research is one critical reason that average life expectancy in the United States rose from roughly 40 years in 1860 to almost 79 years in 2020.
Of course, federal researchers and research dollars benefit many other aspects of life in Mississippi besides those related to health care. Proposed cuts to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, which could affect as much as 50% of the workforce at some stations (there are four such stations in Mississippi, supporting research projects on everything from cotton ginning to poultry and insect pest management), would harm the productivity and competitiveness of Mississippi farmers.
Proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—54% in the Trump administration’s proposed 2026 funding bill—will hamper the ability of the EPA to clean up Mississippi’s nine active Superfund sites, which contain toxic chemicals like PCBs and dioxins.
Or take the impacts of proposed cuts to scientific research by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Mississippi Gulf Coast is imperiled by rising sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico (almost 2°F between 1970 to 2020), driving increasingly powerful hurricanes, and a sea level rise of up to 10 millimeters/per year, which translates into almost 4 inches of sea level rise per decade, which in turn increases storm-driven flooding. Consequently, along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast homeowner’s insurance is becoming more and more expensive, while the nonrenewal rate by insurance companies is increasing.
Even if one does not “believe” in human-driven climate change, it remains imperative to study sea levels and sea surface temperatures to help protect against the harmful effects of increasingly powerful tropical storms—and the equally damaging effects on homeowner’s insurance rates and availability for Gulf Coast Mississippians.
It also is crucial that we understand the costs of extreme weather events, those causing at least $1 billion dollars, to help insurance companies, policymakers and scientists understand major disasters like the hurricanes that batter the Guld Coast of Mississippi—and yet NOAA will no longer collect these data.
Although scientific research is not primarily a jobs or economic stimulus program, federal research and development funding also contributes in vital ways to overall economic growth, maintaining America’s competitiveness on the world stage and our country’s high standard of living.
Recent analyses suggest that net economic returns for federal research and development dollars are much higher than for other forms of investment such as for physical infrastructure, and may be responsible for as much as 25% of post-World War II productivity and growth—and that contrary to claims by the current administration, public research investments are not less productive than private investments.
I could describe many more examples of benefits provided by federal science funding, but I will end with one perplexing but illustrative story. Last February, President Trump ordered the release of billions of gallons of water from California reservoirs operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ostensibly to benefit Central Valley farmers and help Los Angeles fight wildfires like those that devastated the area in January. However, there were no scientific justifications for President Trump’s order, as related to hydrology, irrigation or wildfire suppression
Still, one Central Valley farmer stated that although the water release was counterproductive, “I have a conservative mindset. I encourage the trigger-pulling attitude, like: ‘Hey, let’s just get stuff done.”
Maybe there are occasions when a “trigger-pulling attitude” is appropriate. But when the gun is aimed at your own head, the results will be predictable and catastrophic—whether we’re talking ill-considered water releases from California dams or indiscriminate and draconian cuts to federal scientific agencies and research funding, which will harm the citizens of Mississippi in so many ways.
Bio: Christopher Norment holds a PhD in Systematics and Ecology from the University of Kansas and is an emeritus professor of environmental science and ecology at the State University of New York – Brockport. During his career he published over 50 peer-reviewed scientific papers and three science-related books of creative nonfiction, and received awards from the State University of New York for teaching and scholarship. He now lives in Jackson.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The post Scientist: Federal research and research funding matter for all Mississippians appeared first on mississippitoday.org
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Left
This article advocates for continued federal investment in scientific research, particularly highlighting its benefits for healthcare and other critical sectors in Mississippi. The author criticizes proposed cuts to research funding under the Trump administration, stressing the potential harm to public health, agriculture, and environmental protection. The tone reflects a clear opposition to these cuts, positioning the argument in favor of government-funded scientific research as crucial for improving quality of life and economic stability. Although the article is focused on the factual benefits of research funding, it implicitly critiques the policies of the previous administration, giving it a center-left perspective. The use of specific examples and the framing of research funding as essential for public welfare suggests a leaning toward supporting government action to maintain and expand federal research efforts.
As an Ole Miss Rebel, he was the MVP of both the Gator and Sugar Bowls. As an NFL rookie, he intercepted eight passes and returned two for touchdowns. As a coach, he won two national championships and two Super Bowl rings. He played for coaching legends John Vaught and Paul Brown, coached with the legendary Tom Landry. He is a member of seven different halls of fame.
And all that doesn’t even begin to tell the story of Clarksdale native and Ole Miss great Bobby Ray Franklin, a gentleman and a winner, who died Wednesday in his adopted hometown of Senatobia. He was 88.
When writing the life story of Franklin, there’s just so much to cover. Where to begin? Let’s start with this: He was the son of a barber and was given the nickname “Waxie” because of all the butch wax he wore in his crew cut hair as a young man.
Says former Ole Miss Chancellor Robert Khayat, an Ole Miss teammate of Franklin’s and a friend for more than six decades, “From the time we stepped onto the campus in August of 1956, Waxie was the best athlete on our football team. He was a terrific quarterback and defensive back, but he was so much more than that. He was fast, he was smart, he was funny. He could run it, pass it, kick it, punt it, catch it and tackle whoever had the ball. He was a leader. There was nothing Bobby Ray Franklin couldn’t do. And everything he did, he did first class.”
Franklin was funny, indeed. One example: The 1959 Ole Miss team was one of the greatest in college football history, out-scoring opponents 349-21 in 11 games. In a September game at Kentucky, Franklin, the Rebels quarterback, was running with the football toward the Rebels’ bench, when three Kentucky players slammed him at the sideline, across the bench and into a brick wall. Franklin went down hard and stayed down. “Frightening,” Khayat called it. Doc Knight, the Ole Miss trainer, raced toward Franklin, yelling “Waxie! Waxie! Are you OK, Waxie?” Finally, Franklin looked up, grinned and said, ”I’m fine, Doc, but how are my fans taking it?”
Knight doubled as the Ole Miss track and field coach, and Franklin was one of his sprinters. Once , at practice, Knight was at the finish line timing Franklin in the 100-yard dash. Franklin finished and Knight started yelling. “He just ran a 9.6 100-yard dash!” There was plenty reason for his excitement, because the world record at the time, held by a German, was 9.76 seconds. Turns out, unbeknownst to Knight, Waxie had moved up five yards from the starting line. He may still hold the world record in the 95-yard dash.
Back to that Kentucky game in 1959 and the injury: Franklin’s head was OK, but his left leg was not. He was stepped on with cleat marks on his left calf, resulting in a blood clot. Hospitalized for three weeks, he lost his starting quarterback job to the great Jake Gibbs, who was backed by Doug Elmore. Franklin played only sparingly for the remainder of the regular season, including the 7-3 defeat to LSU that ruined an otherwise perfect season. Healthy for the first time since September, Franklin came back for the Sugar Bowl rematch with LSU to complete 10 of 15 passes, two for touchdowns, in the 21-0 Ole Miss victory. Franklin was voted the game’s MVP, just as he had been in the 1958 Gator Bowl victory over Florida.
At 5 feet, 11 inches, Franklin was not a prime NFL prospect. The Cleveland Browns got him in the 11th round, and, boy, did they get a bargain. Franklin became an instant starter as a ball-hawking safety and kick returner. He also was the team’s backup punter and placekicker and held for the extra points and field goals of Browns kicking star Lou “The Toe” Groza, a Pro Football Hall of Famer. Franklin once told this sports writer, laughing: “I always told Lou he wouldn’t have been worth a damn without me as his holder.”
Franklin also had been the holder for Khayat’s kicks at Ole Miss. Said Khayat, “The thing was, Waxie was as good a kicker as I was. Great punter, too.”
Franklin retired as a player after seven seasons with the Browns and immediately joined Bud Carson’s coaching staff at Georgia Tech. Among his first recruits to Tech was Meridian’s Smylie Gebhart, who became an All American. Landry, the Hall of Fame coach of the Dallas Cowboys, hired Franklin away from Tech for a five-year run that included two Super Bowl victories. Franklin left Dallas to join Howard Schnellenberger’s staff in Baltimore, but that staff was fired after one season.
His career at a crossroads, Franklin joined his older brother in a private business in Mississippi. That lasted five years before Franklin went back to coaching. Ray Poole, a long-time friend and former Ole Miss coach, had taken the job as head coach at Northwest Community College in Senatobia and offered Franklin a job as offensive coordinator. This was 1979. A guy who had won an NFL championship as a player and two Super Bowl rings as a coach, was asked to be a junior college assistant coach. Franklin once told a sports writer, “I knew what people were thinking. What a comedown: from Super Bowls to junior college. Why would he do that? I didn’t care what people thought. I loved football. I wanted back.”
Two years later, he became the Northwest head coach. Two years after that, Franklin’s Northwest Rangers won the national junior college championship. Ten years after that, they would duplicate the feat. In 2004, Franklin retired having won 201 games, while losing only 57. Thirty-five of his players went on to play professionally.
Speaking by phone Thursday morning of his nearly life-long friend, Khayat said, “One of the most endearing things about Waxie is how emotional, how quick to cry, he was. He would even cry about happy things. When he went into the Coaches Hall of Fame, he started talking about his former players and coaches and he started crying, I mean, really sobbing. I didn’t know if he would even finish, and then he slapped himself in the face. I mean, slapped himself hard, and he said, ‘Come on, Franklin, stop being a crying fool.’ And then he was fine after that. Gave a great speech.”
When you know that about Franklin, it makes what follows all the more impressive. This was Aug. 7, 2007, in Canton, Ohio. Gene Hickerson, the great Ole Miss and Cleveland Browns lineman, was being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Hickerson, stricken with Alzheimer’s, was in a wheelchair and seemingly oblivious to what was going on around him. Hickerson’s family had asked Franklin to be his presenter that night.
It remains one of the most poignant moments experienced in my nearly six decades of sports writing. Jim Brown, Leroy Kelly and Bobby Mitchell, the three Browns running backs Hickerson helped block into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, pushed Hickerson’s wheelchair onto the stage and Bobby Ray Franklin, at the podium, took a moment to gather himself. Then, he congratulated the other honorees, said what an honor it was to present his friend of 52 years, and continued: “Gene’s son, Bob Hickerson, called me and asked me if I would present Gene. The fact that Gene has been ill for the last several years, I was a little hesitant because being as close as we were, it’s a tough thing for me to do, as you can see right here, today. I’ve got to make myself tough when I start talking about Gene…”
Franklin paused again, gathered himself again, and spoke thoughtfully and eloquently, saying what he imagined Hickerson would have said if he were capable of saying anything at all. And then he said this: “Gene finished his entire career as a member of the Cleveland Browns, a fact he was extremely proud of. He quietly did his job as well as anyone ever in NFL history. If not for the circumstances, I would be almost to the point of introducing my good friend to you. Gene would then step to the podium, tell you how thrilled he is to receive this honor today, and crack a joke or two.
“Unfortunately he won’t be doing that, as my friend will not be able to speak to you even though he is here, I love Gene Hickerson as if he were my brother. … Borrowing these words from another Hall of Famer, Gale Sayers, I would like to ask you all to love Gene Hickerson, too.”
Bobby Ray Franklin might have been the only person among thousands there that evening who did not cry. His speech was on-point, splendid even – as was his life.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The post Funny, smart and so very athletic, Bobby Ray Franklin was a winner appeared first on mississippitoday.org
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
This article focuses on the life and achievements of Bobby Ray Franklin, a renowned athlete, coach, and individual, detailing his impressive sports career and personal qualities. The article presents a factual, biographical narrative without promoting any ideological viewpoint. It aims to celebrate Franklin’s legacy, highlighting his athleticism, humor, and emotional moments, such as his heartfelt speech at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The content is neutral and does not contain any discernible political bias, sticking to a factual recounting of Franklin’s life and accomplishments.
MAY 15, 1970
Mississippi law enforcement officers opened fire on the Jackson State University campus, killing two Black students, Phillip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green.
Police insisted the students fired first, but no evidence was found to confirm this. The killings took place 11 days after the slayings of four students at Kent State University in Ohio.
Author Margaret Walker Alexander, a JSU professor, wrote in her journal, “Thursday night all hell broke loose. The Jackson city white police and a special unit of Highway Patrolmen (Ku Klux Klan in uniform) went out to the Jackson State campus and shot without warning into the west wing of the women’s dormitory breaking all the front windows — killing two students and wounding eleven others — four critically — cutting the telephone wires — shooting into the building where all the wounded girls were shot — splattering the place with pools of blood and leaving the bullet holes to prove where the ricocheted bullets of great magnitude had torn the walls.”
A historical marker memorializes the tragedy.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The post On this day in 1970, officers killed 2 in gunfire at JSU appeared first on mississippitoday.org
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
The article on the Jackson State University shootings of 1970 presents a historical recount of the events, focusing on the tragic killing of two Black students by law enforcement officers. It provides detailed accounts from the time, including descriptions of the police actions and the testimony of Margaret Walker Alexander, a professor at JSU. The content adheres to factual reporting, detailing the incident and its significance, without promoting an ideological stance. It emphasizes the historical impact and the need for remembrance, maintaining a neutral tone while recounting a painful chapter in history.
A state organization tasked with advocating for and providing legal services to Mississippians with disabilities received its delayed federal funding Wednesday – two weeks after it was forced to stop taking new cases for the first time in its history.
The federally mandated nonprofit, known as a protection and advocacy organization, was awaiting $700,000 of its federal funding for the current fiscal year. On May 1, it announced it would stop taking new cases as a result of the delay.
The organization’s leaders said they can see the available funds in the online portal and are resuming all the services that were placed on pause.
“I was very much elated to see the money had come in this morning,” said Polly Tribble, executive director at Disability Rights Mississippi. “It has allowed us to take a breather, so we aren’t looking at immediate layoffs.”
The organization received no explanation for the delay, DRMS Communications Director Jane Carroll told Mississippi Today.
The delays affected five of the organization’s larger programs, funded through the Department of Health and Human Services. The programs allowed DRMS to investigate reports of neglect and abuse and to advocate for voter accessibility for those with disabilities – among other services.
However, there are a couple of other top-down changes already implemented or on the horizon, Tribble said.
Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) launched a “defend the spend” initiative which mandates organizations like DRMS provide line-by-line justification of spending. So far, Tribble says her organization hasn’t received any pushback about its expenditures.
Tribble and similar organizations in other states still have concerns about future funding, however. A draft of President Donald Trump’s proposed 2026 budget shows eliminations or significant funding reductions of many of DRMS’ programs.
“Our concern for FY ‘26 still remains … But for now, we’re celebrating this, and we will keep fighting for our clients this month ahead as they firm up a budget.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The post Disability rights group resumes services appeared first on mississippitoday.org
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
The article provides a straightforward account of the Disability Rights Mississippi organization’s resumption of services after a delay in federal funding. It reports facts about the situation, including the lack of explanation for the delay, the impact on services, and potential future funding concerns. The inclusion of an initiative by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and a reference to a proposed budget draft by President Trump signals a political connection, but the reporting itself does not advocate for any particular political position. Instead, it highlights the challenges faced by the organization, maintaining a neutral tone throughout the piece.
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