Articles

On his first day as interim chancellor, Brady Deaton is reorganizing some of MU’s most controversial departments.

“The area of minority affairs will report to Mike Middleton, deputy chancellor” effective today, said MU spokeswoman Mary Jo Banken. Minority affairs, which includes black studies, women’s studies and programs to recruit and retain minority students, previously reported to Vice Provost Handy Williamson.

Partnership in a more than $400 million contract to operate a nuclear laboratory would further boost MU’s nationally recognized nuclear science program, campus leaders say.

The Columbia and Rolla campuses of the UM system, along with the Shaw Group, a Louisiana-based management company, have formed Shaw Missouri Idaho LLC with the intent of managine and operating a federally owned nuclear laboratory in Idaho for 10 years.

“Financial stress,” breathes a female voice in the radio ad. “It starts out as an irritation, and over time it grows larger, scarier and uglier.”

“You’re paralyzed because it’s sitting on your chest, its weight pressing down,” the voice continues, building to a nervous, high-pitched climax.

It became a household term during the O.J. Simpson trial, and it’s a constant theme in popular forensics dramas like “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.”

Now, DNA sampling will be a feature at Columbia’s Twilight Festival. A new program, sponsored by the Columbia Police Department and U.S. Cellular, will allow parents attending the festival to obtain samples of their children’s DNA.

Columbia horse enthusiasts should prepare for a little equine diversity in the area.

Tuesday night, the Boone County Commission granted permission to Knipp Farms LLC to open a 305-acre equine boarding facility at 10600 Hardwick Lane.

The 10-megawatt MU Research Reactor off south Providence Road, which began operations in 1966, is the largest university-operated research reactor in the United States.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology comes in second with a reactor half the size of MU’s. Rolla’s reactor is 0.2 megawatts.

This semester, Columbia College junior Amanda Burfield is taking all of her classes online.

“I used to take evening classes, but it got to be too much,” said Burfield, who works full time at a bank. “Sometimes I would not get out of class until 10 p.m. and then I would have homework. I just got tired.”

Brady Deaton has spent 15 years teaching and leading at MU. Today, he’ll start learning something new — how to be chancellor.

Deaton will assume the job of MU chancellor following the official retirement of Richard Wallace on Tuesday. Deaton, the former provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, will serve as interim chancellor of the university during MU’s search for a new chancellor.

The sun is setting earlier every day in Columbia, but downtown, things are just getting brighter. The Columbia Special Business District, along with the city of Columbia, is putting the finishing touches on the lighting plans outlined in its downtown beautification project.

On Ninth Street, new streetlights are being installed this week as part of a district-wide change out. Additional streetlights are being installed to increase lighting in the area, and existing lamps are undergoing a transformation to create a new, more unified look. All the streetlight poles will be black, and about half of them will have a decorative light fixture attached. The streetlight project is part of phases one and two of the Special Business District plan.

The Regional AIDS Interfaith Network of Central Missouri, known as RAIN, was awarded a federal grant of nearly $85,000 to expand primary-care services for people living with or at risk for HIV.

The money was granted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under Title III of the Ryan White CARE Act.

For a team to have a good defense, it needs a strong front four.

For Missouri’s season to be a successful one, it needs its front four to excel on a consistent basis.

Every player has a bad day.

For Rock Bridge tennis player Kara Hickey, Tuesday wasn’t one of those days.

It wasn’t his first choice, but Rickey Paulding will play pro basketball overseas next season.

Paulding’s agent, Doug Neustadt, said on Tuesday that Paulding signed a one-year contract to play basketball in Jerusalem.

The Rock Bridge boys’ soccer team sent a message to the rest of the state: We can beat you.

Striker Michael Ferguson scored the game’s only two goals and the Bruins knocked off state runner-up Chaminade Tuesday at Cosmopolitan Park.

If there were a pill for golfing consistency, the Rock Bridge girls’ golf team must have filled the prescription on Tuesday.

Rock Bridge finished second at a tri-meet with solid rounds from each of its top four golfers, for a total of 173. The Bruins finished one stroke behind Rolla and four ahead of Hickman at L.A. Nickell Golf Course.

The Rock Bridge volleyball team dug hard for its first victory Tuesday against Jefferson City but came up empty-handed.

The Bruins won the first game 25-22 but dropped the next two, 26-24, 26-24, because of their inconsistent play and the inability to hold several leads.

Fans of the Missouri Tigers who subscribe to Sirius Satellite Radio can get their fix on a new program.

The commercial-free satellite radio company has joined with College Sports Television to offer live play-by-play coverage of 23 universities, including games from the 2004 Tigers’ football season.