Education

The 911 Services administrator for Stoddard County in southeast Missouri is calling attention to a growing problem of children playing with discarded cellphones and accidentally calling 911.

The Dexter Daily Statesman reports that Carol Moreland says parents are apparently unaware that dialing random numbers from a cellphone or landline phone will eventually reach the 911 dispatch center, causing a distraction for dispatchers and emergency personnel.

The Missouri Department of Conservation is holding several meetings to discuss regulations for blue catfish.

Anglers and conservation officials have been concerned about declining blue catfish catches from Truman Reservoir for two decades and more recently from the Lake of the Ozarks. Both lakes have at least adequate numbers of smaller blue catfish but heavy fishing for those 24 inches and larger is keeping sizes smaller. The two lakes are formed by separate dams on the Osage River.

The City of Columbia has been highlighted as a “city to watch” by a nonprofit group based in several northwestern states.

The University of Missouri hosted a week-long science summer camp for central Missouri middle schoolers last week.  The camp, called “Biophysics and Your Body,” aimed to teach students how the study of physics relates to the biological functioning of the body.  Assistant professor of Physics Gavin King collaborated with faculty from the physics, education, and biochemistry departments to create a curriculum for the camp. King says the goal was to create a curriculum that teachers across the state can use.

The backlash continues over the so-called “new model” for the University of Missouri Press. one of the Press’ authors wrote a letter to UM System President Tim Wolfe, who closed the old press as a cost-cutting measure.

Author Don Spivey notified Wolfe of his desire to remove his biography of baseball legend Satchel Paige from the University of Missouri Press. It was published in May, and Spivey’s worried about the future of his book.