GOOD NEWS:
www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/health/2013-02-20/applications-way-mcg-gru?v=1361414570
Applications way up for MCG at GRU
Greater presence in state could be cause
By Tom Corwin
Staff Writer
Long before they were accepted to the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University, Caroline Lewis and Jared Dowdy had been touched by the school. The first-year medical students say they met and shadowed MCG alumni in southeast and southwest Georgia, respectively, who made them want to follow in their footsteps. They are among a flood of applications in the past two years to MCG that some attribute to the school’s increased statewide presence.
www.growinggeorgia.com
http://growinggeorgia.com/features/2013/02/abac-celebrates-restored-historic-campus/
ABAC Celebrates Restored Historic Campus
Allison Floyd
Few construction projects honor the past, present and future the way restoration of three historic buildings at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College does. The buildings – Tift, Lewis and Herring halls – were the original buildings that made up the Tifton, Ga. school, but have been closed for much of the past two decades as the college developed new programs and built new buildings.
USG NEWS:
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2013-02-20/more-state-budget-cuts-threat-uga-higher-ed-adams-says
More state budget cuts a threat to UGA, higher ed, Adams says
By LEE SHEARER
The University of Georgia can’t absorb many more of the annual budget cuts that state lawmakers have imposed for the past several years, UGA President Michael Adams said Wednesday.
USG VALUE:
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2013-02-20/uga-chemist-be-recognized-groundbreaking-career
UGA chemist to be recognized for groundbreaking career
A University of Georgia researcher noted for developing computer simulations that predict the shape and behavior of molecules will be honored by the American Institute of Chemists. Henry “Fritz” Schaefer, Graham Perdue Professor of Chemistry in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, will receive the Chemical Pioneer Award at the AIC’s annual meeting in April. The award recognizes researchers whose work has had a major influence on advances in chemistry.
RESEARCH:
www.science.time.com
Science Analyzes the Academy Awards Speech
By Jeffrey Kluger
It’s hard to say how many little Oscar speeches you’ve delivered in your head—and you sure ain’t telling—but it’s a cinch that there are at least a few… Something with that kind of history deserves a little scholarly attention and finally, Academy Award speeches are getting it, thanks to a study by Rebecca Rolfe, a Georgia Institute of Technology graduate student conducting a research project on human gratitude and how it’s expressed.
Related article:
www.news.yahoo.com
Actresses most likely to cry than actors at Oscars
http://news.yahoo.com/actresses-most-likely-cry-actors-oscars-100635502.html
www.mddionline.com
http://www.mddionline.com/article/wireless-test-plan-considerations
Wireless Test Plan Considerations
A limited set of standards to assist in wireless medical device testing.
By: Greg Crouch and Nick LaSorte
EMC: IEC 60601 defines the requirements for medical equipment and systems regarding the safety of patients. Medical equipment includes all electrical devices used for the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of patients, which could be the origin of electrical current flowing to a patient. … RFID: FDA and industry groups continue to study RFID’s potential effects on medical devices. Specifically, FDA is investigating RFID’s effects on critical care medical equipment such as AEDs, ventilators, and implantable neurostimulator devices. FDA is working with manufacturers to test their products for any adverse effects from RFID and requests suppliers consider RFID interference in new product design. Georgia Tech has published research on potential RFID interference.
www.inventorspot.com
http://inventorspot.com/articles/patient_robot_why_heck_are_you_touching_me
Touched By A Robot, But Just What Are Its Intentions?
by T Goodman
In Georgia Tech’s study, researchers watched how people responded to Cody, a robotic nurse, when it touched them. They found that subjects responded positively or negatively to Cody, depending on how Cody’s intentions were interpreted; either as a ‘comforting’ touch or a touch intended to clean their arms.
www.green.autoblog.com
http://green.autoblog.com/2013/02/20/rapid-charge-li-ion-battery-project-crowdfunding/
Rapid-charge li-ion battery project seeking crowdfunding, promises 100% charge in 16 minutes
By Jon LeSage
Inventor Elliott Small and the Georgia Institute of Technology have discovered how to rapid charge lithium ion batteries without overheating them. Using the new technology, off-the-shelf li-ion batteries used in cell phones, laptop computers and electric vehicles could have their charging time reduced from hours to minutes without burning out.
Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.huffingtonpost.com
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/meimei-fox/show-up-speak-up-stand-up_b_2653973.html
Show Up, Speak Up, Stand Up: A 2013 Rhodes Scholar’s Formula for Changing the World
MeiMei Fox
New York Times bestselling author, speaker, life coach
Joy Buolamwini exploded into my orbit like a solar flare: an exuberant, shining ball of positive energy and delight. When we met at Summit Series last winter, Joy was about to graduate from Georgia Tech with highest honors in computer science. Now, less than a year later, she has been named an elite 2013 Rhodes Scholar.
www.rossmoornews.com
http://www.rossmoornews.com/articles/2013/02/20/news/letters_and_columns/at%20wits%20end.txt
At Wit’s End
By Tom Mader
Deep Thinking: Unions and Robots: Labor unions have a serious problem, and I am here to save them, if that is at all possible. The New York Times recently noted that the number of workers in unions is 11.3 percent, the lowest percentage in 97 years. In 2012 organized labor fell by 400,000. In Wisconsin union membership fell by 13 percent and in Indiana by 18 percent. One economist notes that unions are fast becoming “irrelevant,” despite the fact that in 2012 the median weekly earnings of union members was $943 (an annual salary of about $49,000) compared to $742 (about $38,000 annually) for nonunion workers. So what’s the problem?… What we have to worry about is the enormous number of people who will no longer be needed in factories or white-collar offices. …For one thing, humans will be needed to do robotic programming. There are colleges that presently offer a bachelor’s degree in robotics, such as the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, Arizona.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Private-Money-Public-Good/137289/
Private Money, Public Good
By Andrew P. Kelly and Michael Q. McShane
It’s no secret that states and the federal government have found themselves in a financial pinch when it comes to higher education. After years of recession and sluggish recovery, states have slashed per-pupil public spending on higher education by 14.6 percent since 2008. At the federal level, though money for Pell Grants has more than doubled since 2008, the program faces a shortfall of about $6-billion for 2014.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/02/21/essay-questioning-way-politicians-are-framing-issue-college-value
Affordability and Value
By Alison Byerly
President Obama’s call for a renewed emphasis on “affordability and value” in assessing colleges and universities pairs those two terms in a way that simultaneously highlights their difference and the degree to which they have become interchangeable in much of the current discourse about higher education. There is a growing consensus within the higher ed community that we need to do a better job of “defining the value proposition” of liberal arts education. There is less agreement, however, about what is meant by “value.”
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/02/21/essay-urges-liberal-arts-colleges-create-measure-civic-engagement
A New Measure of Value
By Ellen McCulloch-Lovell
After this winter’s National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities meeting, the challenge voiced by a panel of Congressional staff members still rings in my ears. They asked: What is the return on investment for the $150 billion in federal grants, loans, and tax credits to higher education?
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/confessions-community-college-dean/taking-plunge
Taking the Plunge
By Matt Reed
I like this story a lot, even though it’s a little pessimistic. Apparently, Klamath Community College, in Oregon, has decided to make a series of changes to improve student success rates. Some of the changes are relatively straightforward, such as requiring academic advising and new student orientation. But it has gone farther than that, and eliminated late registration.
www.cacm.acm.org
http://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm/161153-research-questions-about-moocs/fulltext
Research Questions about MOOCs
By Mark Guzdial
“Will MOOCs destroy academia?” asked Moshe Vardi last November in CACM. The next month, CACM published an article about how MOOCs were disrupting education. Moody’s Investor Services predicts that small institutions could be “damaged” by MOOCs. Thomas Friedman suggests that MOOCs are a “revolution” that will change higher education. I call the threat of MOOCs destroying the university the “MOOCopalypse.”
Education News
www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/government/2013-02-19/bill-would-remove-georgia-national-curriculum-agreement
Bill would remove Georgia from national curriculum agreement
By Walter C. Jones
Morris News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia would break its ties to an agreement to abide by national standards for schools under legislation that got its first reading Tuesday. Education groups oppose it. Senate Bill 167 seeks to restore the state’s independence in designing goals for what schools should be teaching young people, and it would end all connections to the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, the multistate organization that drafted what’s known as the Common Core State Standards.
www.albanyherald.com
http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2013/feb/20/state-now-12th-ap-exams/
State now 12th on AP exams
Staff Reports
ATLANTA — Georgia has moved up to rank 12th in the nation in the percentage of seniors scoring a 3 or higher — a passing score — on Advanced Placement (AP) exams, according to The College Board’s AP Report to the Nation. …Georgia is a national leader when it comes to public school students enrolling in AP courses and taking the exams.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/02/21/annual-ap-report-reveals-both-student-participation-and-scores-rose-2012
AP Gains
By Zack Budryk
The College Board on Wednesday presented its annual report on the state of the Advanced Placement program, the findings of which were similar to recent years. While mean scores and overall participation in the AP exam both grew, inequity in the availability of the exams and programs persists across socioeconomic and racial backgrounds, despite some improvements.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/02/21/warning-about-report-cards-state-education-policy
Warning About ‘Report Cards’ on State Education Policy
Be careful about putting too much weight in the “report cards” various organizations issue about state education policies. A new analysis from the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder has found that the grades are fairly predictable, based on the ideology of the group doing the evaluations.
www.lagrangenews.com
http://www.lagrangenews.com/view/full_story/21756262/article-Early-education-opportunities-the-key-to-future-success?
Early education opportunities the key to future success
by Carl Von Epps
Contributing columnist
On Feb. 14, President Barack Obama visited Atlanta to praise Georgia’s pre-kindergarten program and promote further investment in early education opportunities across the nation. Also last week, the Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students released data on early education to help shape policies made during the current session of the Georgia General Assembly.
www.online.wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323864304578316121951816976.html
Capital: Obama, Rubio Put Higher Education on Notice
By DAVID WESSEL
President Barack Obama and Sen. Marco Rubio, the Florida Republican, don’t agree on much. But both want to change the way Washington decides which colleges are eligible for the $175 billion a year the federal government spends on grants, loans and tax breaks for students.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/51442/#
APLU Report Tackles Most Common Questions in Higher Education
by Cherise Lesesne
President Obama’s administration certainly doesn’t stand alone in regard to uncertainty surrounding the issues in higher education. Aware of the trending concerns, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU) answered the nation’s most common questions in a 12-page report.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/02/21/emory-president-censured
Emory President Censured
Faculty members in Emory University’s College of Arts and Sciences voted Wednesday to censure President James Wagner for his remarks seeming to endorse the Constitution’s three-fifths compromise as a model for dealing with disagreements.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/02/21/new-data-diversity-medical-schools
New Data on Diversity in Medical Schools
New data from the Association of American Medical Colleges show that while there has been diversification of the medical school student body, not all groups are showing the same kinds of gains.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/02/21/new-book-explains-why-women-outpace-men-education
‘The Rise of Women’
By Allie Grasgreen
The facts of women being more likely than men to go to college, perform better academically, and major in fields other than science, technology, engineering and mathematics are mostly attributable to factors affecting students before – in some cases, long before – they enter the halls of academe. But that doesn’t mean colleges can’t do anything to mitigate the consequences.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/02/21/ets-releases-data-gre-averages-country
World’s Would-Be Grad Students
By Scott Jaschik
Non-U.S. citizens outperform U.S. citizens on the quantitative reasoning section of the GRE, according to data released today by the Educational Testing Service. The non-U.S. quantitative mean is 155.6, compared to 149.5 for U.S. citizens.
Related article:
www.chornicle.com
ETS Shares Data on First Crop of Students Who Took Revised GRE Test
http://chronicle.com/article/ETS-Shares-Data-on-First-Crop/137435/
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/02/21/international-higher-education-administrators-discuss-future-field
The Internationalization Agenda
By Elizabeth Redden
NEW ORLEANS – This year’s Association of International Education Administrators Annual Conference took as its theme “Re-imagining Higher Education in a Global Context” and sessions have focused on many of the phenomena that are propelling change, including the increasing interest in branch campuses and dual and joint degree programs, the potential of online learning, the consolidation of English as the lingua franca in academe, and the growth of private sector investment in international student recruitment and programming.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/02/21/coursera-and-edx-add-universities-and-hope-expand-global-reach
Twice as Many MOOCs
By Ry Rivard
Two providers of massive open online courses are expanding their course catalogs to try to find a larger global audience. Coursera and edX both announced this week they are doubling the number of universities offering classes through their sites, which already reach a few million people across the world.
www.nytimes.com
Universities Abroad Join Partnerships on the Web
By TAMAR LEWIN
Over the last year, elite American universities have raced to stake out a place in the new world of free online courses — and now, universities around the globe are following suit. This week, the two largest ventures providing what are known as MOOCs — massive open online courses — are announcing new partnerships with leading universities in Canada, Mexico, Europe, China, Singapore, Japan and Australia, and signing additional American universities.
Related articles:
www2.wjbf.com
More elite universities offer free online courses
http://www2.wjbf.com/news/2013/feb/21/more-elite-universities-offer-free-online-courses-ar-5643266/
www.chronicle.com
Competing MOOC Providers Expand Into New Territory—and Each Other’s
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/competing-mooc-providers-expand-into-new-territory-and-each-others/42463
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/How-EdX-Plans-to-Earn-and/137433/
How EdX Plans to Earn, and Share, Revenue From Its Free Online Courses
By Steve Kolowich
How can a nonprofit organization that gives away courses bring in enough revenue to at least cover its costs? That’s the dilemma facing edX, a project led by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that is bringing in a growing number of high-profile university partners to offer massive open online courses, or MOOCs.
www.online.wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324906004578292361415395332.html
Web Classes Grapple With Stopping Cheats
As Massive Open Online Courses Surge in Popularity, Colleges Look to Build Credibility; Honor Codes and Palm Scans
By DOUGLAS BELKIN
Traditional colleges and a new breed of online-education providers, trying to figure out how to profit from the rising popularity of massive open online courses, are pouring resources into efforts to solve a problem that has bedeviled teachers for centuries: How can students be stopped from cheating?