USG NEWS:
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/bill-allows-liquor-sales-closer-to-college-campuse/nW6sQ/
Bill passes that would allow booze sales closer to colleges
By Laura Diamond
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia college students may find more stores selling beer and wine closer to campus under a bill lawmakers passed Thursday. House Bill 517 would let local governments decide the distance between college campuses and stores selling booze.
www.pcmag.com
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2417197,00.asp
NSA Backs CISPA-Like Information Sharing
By Chloe Albanesius
The NSA wants to help stop the next cyber attack on Wall Street, Facebook, or Twitter, and the agency’s director thinks information sharing between the feds and private companies is a good place to start. “Right now, the ability to share real-time information is complicated and there are legal barriers. We have to overcome that,” Gen Keith B. Alexander, director of the National Security Agency and commander of U.S. Cyber Command, said during a Thursday appearance at Georgia Tech’s Cyber Security Symposium. While people might be under the impression that the NSA sees and knows all, the agency really only sees “a small fraction of what’s going on” when it comes to cyber attacks, Alexander said.
www.marketplace.org
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/tech/spam-wars-clog-internet
Spam wars clog the Internet
Interview by David Brancaccio
If you found your Internet surfing coming up slow in recent days, it’s possibly because of one of the biggest cyberattacks experts have ever seen. A Dutch web hosting company called Cyberbunker allegedly launched a cyberattack against Spamhaus, a non-profit group that fights junk email. Spamhaus had blacklisted Cyberbunker for supposedly helping to spread spam – a claim Cyberbunker denies. …”Some of those ‘phone books’ are open for anybody to use,” says Paul Royal, a research scientist at the College of Computing at Georgia Tech. “Unfortunately that means that attackers can abuse those ‘phone books’ by asking a question in a way that generates a very large response and targets a victim of their choice.” Professor Royal says there are techniques to make the Internet more resilient, but rolling them out universally would be expensive.
www.11alive.com
http://www.11alive.com/news/article/285824/40/KSU-employee-charged-with-defrauding-the-state
KSU employee charged with defrauding the state
Don Buckindail
KENNESAW, Ga. — A former Kennesaw State University employee is charged with trying to “defraud the state.” Gerald Donaldson, former executive director of environmental health and safety at KSU, was arrested Thursday night. He’s charged in connection with an area crime ring that created “shell companies” to conduct fraud, including within a unit he managed.
Related article:
www.myfoxantlanta.com
Former KSU employee accused of defrauding state
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/story/21826563/former-ksu-employee-accused-of-defrauding-state
RESEARCH:
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/blog/a-healthy-conversation/2013/03/gru-surgical-menopause-may-increase.html
GRU: Surgical menopause may increase risk of brain stroke
Urvaksh Karkaria
Staff Writer-Atlanta Business Chronicle
Removing the ovaries before menopause, appears to leave more of the brain vulnerable to stroke and increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, Georgia Regents University researchers report. Low doses of estrogen started right after surgery appear to reduce this vulnerability in an area of the brain that typically is not super-sensitive to stress, said Dr. Darrell Brann, associate director of the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University.
www.examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/article/why-we-get-fat-depressed-and-stressed-out-elevated-cortisol-or-insulin
Why we get fat, depressed, and stressed out: Elevated cortisol or insulin?
BY: ANNE HART
We get fat because fat cells are out of balance and grabbing nutrients that belong to other tissues. The process is called ‘disregulation’. It happens when the body is out of balance, and it’s the reason why people become overweight. Fat cells and tumors behave in similar ways. Fat cells behavior in the same ways that tumor cells act: Those cells live for themselves. Fat cells like tumor cells aren’t living in balance with the rest of the body… Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology in that study have discovered an important step in cortisol production, finding that although the output of the hormone is continuous, the molecular production is cyclic in nature – involving a rhythmic binding and unbinding of a protein essential to its production. The research, which increases understanding of how the brain and the endocrine system work together to regulate health, appears in the February 2007 issue of the journal Molecular Endocrinology.
STATE NEEDS/ISSUES:
www.accessnorthga.com
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=259930
Ga. lawmakers take flurry of votes on final day
By The Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP) The Georgia General Assembly finished its work late Thursday night, on the final day of the 2013 session. Here’s a recap of action on significant issues.
www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/government/2013-03-28/ethics-bill-okd-gun-talks-fail-final-hours?v=1364517657
Ethics bill OK’d, gun talks fail in final hours
Associated Press
The Georgia General Assem¬bly went down to the wire Thurs¬day as the legislative session was set to expire at midnight. A look at what lawmakers did and didn’t accomplish:
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/ethics-reform-advances-with-push-from-deal/nW67n/
Ethics reform passes with push from Deal
BY STAFF REPORTS
Lobbying reform came in just under the wire Thursday, accompanied by threats and late-night negotiations and plenty of exemptions. With unanimous votes in both the House and Senate, lawmakers hailed the state’s first-ever limitations on gifts to public officials as meaningful change.
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/blog/capitol_vision/2013/03/georgia-lawmakers-cap-lobbyist-spending.html
Georgia lawmakers cap lobbyist spending
Dave Williams
Staff Writer-Atlanta Business Chronicle
The General Assembly unanimously passed historic ethics reform legislation late Thursday night, acting on one of the 2013 session’s key issues in its waning minutes. For the first time, the bill agreed on by a joint legislative conference committee would set a limit on gifts from lobbyists to public officials.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/campus-carry-has-gun-bill-stymied/nW6nH/
Campus carry has gun bill stymied
By Aaron Gould Sheinin and Kristina Torres
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
House and Senate negotiators are at loggerheads this afternoon over whether to allow firearms on college campuses, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has learned. Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, said the two sides had an apparent agreement on Wednesday but said the Senate moved the goal posts again this morning.
www.gpb.org
http://www.gpb.org/news/2013/03/29/gun-expansion-stalls
Gun Expansion Stalls
By Claire Simms
ATLANTA — Georgia lawmakers failed to pass a controversial gun bill by Thursday’s midnight deadline ending the 2013 legislative session. One lawmaker says he’s already planning to push for the issue next year. Minutes before the House declared the session’s adjournment, Representative Alan Powell of Hartwell addressed his fellow legislators.
Related article:
www.redandblack.com
Campus carry bill dropped in Senate
http://www.redandblack.com/ugalife/campus-carry-bill-dropped-in-senate/article_f5f11b92-9889-11e2-add7-0019bb30f31a.html
www.gpb.org
http://www.gpb.org/news/2013/03/28/lawmakers-settle-41-billion-budget
Lawmakers Settle $41 Billion Budget
By Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP) — House and Senate leaders have settled on a roughly $41 billion state operating budget comprised of state and federal money for the next fiscal year. The two chambers will formally adopt the proposal later today, sending the document to Gov. Nathan Deal on the session’s final day.
Related articles:
www.accessnorthga.com
Lawmakers agree on $41 billion spending plan
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=259900
www.independentmail.com
Lawmakers agree on $41 billion spending plan for Ga.
http://www.independentmail.com/news/2013/mar/28/lawmakers-agree-41-billion-spending-plan-ga/
www.macon.com
http://www.macon.com/2013/03/28/2416418/legislative-notebook-new-budget.html
Legislative Notebook: New budget includes Houston, Bibb projects
On the last day of their annual session, lawmakers in the state House and Senate agreed on a $41 billion budget that they will send to Gov. Nathan Deal for his approval. Lawmakers want to finance a $10 million bond to build and furnish a Military and Veterans Academic and Training Center in Warner Robins. Deal’s budget recommended the same. The campus will offer courses from both the Board of Regents and the Technical College System of Georgia.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/one-bill-benefiting-hope-passes-another-waits-for-/nW66h/
More changes coming to Georgia’s HOPE program
By Laura Diamond
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia’s HOPE scholarship would get more money and more recipients under two bills Georgia lawmakers passed Thursday. The measures represent the biggest changes to the program used by nearly 200,000 Georgians annually since lawmakers last overhauled it in 2011.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/video-gambling-bill-to-boost-hope-goes-to-governor/nW6hD/
Video gambling bill to boost HOPE goes to governor
By Aaron Gould Sheinin and Kristina Torres
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia’s HOPE college scholarship program could see a financial boost under a video gambling bill headed for Gov. Nathan Deal’s desk.
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2013/03/29/techoperators-aims-at-100m-venture-fund.html
TechOperators aims at $100M venture fund
Urvaksh Karkaria
Staff Writer-Atlanta Business Chronicle
Four years after raising a $30 million venture fund in the maw of the Great Recession, a quartet of Atlanta tech entrepreneurs is bellying up to the fundraising bar again. TechOperators is raising its second fund — a $100 million fund that will target three technology sectors that drive the Atlanta tech industry juggernaut. The group has raised about $25 million of Fund II and expects to raise the rest by year-end… TechOperators’ new fund helps plug a weakness that kneecaps Atlanta’s tech ecosystem. While Atlanta has the talent and research institutions to generate tech companies, the region lacks the growth capital the businesses need to scale. The result: The region loses many of its promising startups to better capitalized areas such as the Northeast. Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute estimates that 92 cents of every venture capital dollar invested in Georgia companies comes from out of state.
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2013/03/29/big-companies-tapping-into-technology.html
Big companies tapping into technology startups
Urvaksh Karkaria
Staff Writer-Atlanta Business Chronicle
As business gravitates to the digital world, Corporate America is cozying up to tech startups in search of talent and technologies. Several Atlanta Fortune 500 companies, including United Parcel Service Inc. and Turner Broadcasting System Inc., are turning to the city’s early-stage tech companies to get a leg up on disruptive technologies that could one day upend their business models… UPS is in talks with Flashpoint to investigate if the Georgia Tech startup engineering program’s techniques can be used inside UPS to spur innovation and develop products and services.
Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.cherokeetribune.com
http://www.cherokeetribune.com/view/full_story/22100847/article-The-Legislature-—-Gaming-bill-fixes-problems–helps-HOPE?instance=lead_story_left_column
The Legislature — Gaming bill fixes problems, helps HOPE
Georgia lawmakers should be applauded for doing something positive about a shady activity that is all too easily overlooked — video gaming machines in the back corners of some convenience stores that illegally pay off in dollars. Even better, they want to put these devices to good use to help fund the HOPE scholarship program.
www.blogs.ajc.com
http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2013/03/29/house-leader-blames-fourth-branch-of-government-the-board-of-regents-for-downing-campus-carry-bill/?cxntfid=blogs_get_schooled_blog
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
House leader blames “fourth branch of government,” the Board of Regents, for downing campus carry bill
A miffed Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell, took to the House well with 25 minutes left in the 2013 session Thursday to decry those who blocked the effort to allow guns on college campuses. He blamed the “fourth branch of government,” the Board of Regents, who, he said, declared the campus carry issue “taboo.”
www.blogs.ajc.com
http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-forward/2013/03/28/guns-on-campus/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_forward
Atlanta Forward
Guns on campus
Moderated by Tom Sabulis
The General Assembly was still debating a bill late Thursday that would allow guns on college campuses and in churches. But no matter what happens this session, it seems the debate will continue among residents. Today, two Georgia Tech students argue the issue.
Commenting is open below.
Give students chance to defend themselves
By Andrew Mullins
No matter which college campus you visit, the question of firearms carry is a hot-button issue. At urban schools like Georgia Tech and Georgia State, the debate revolving around campus carry is especially relevant, as students are vulnerable to crime in dangerous parts of downtown and Midtown Atlanta.
www.blogs.ajc.com
http://blogs.ajc.com/kyle-wingfield/2013/03/28/ethics-bill-isnt-perfect-but-it-is-progress/?cxntfid=blogs_kyle_wingfield
Kyle Wingfield
Ethics bill isn’t perfect, but it is progress
It appears we have an ethics bill. Speaker David Ralston just confirmed from the House side what the AJC had heard from senators earlier today. Namely, that the two sides, urged along by Gov. Nathan Deal, agreed in the wee hours of Thursday to a compromise between the two main* ethics bills they each passed earlier in the session.
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/opinion/2013-03-28/editors-desk-lobbying-reform-falls-far-short
The Editor’s Desk: Lobbying ‘reform’ falls far short
As this is being written, some hours before final adjournment of this year’s state legislative session, it appears as if Georgians will get some sort of lobbying reform measure out of their lawmakers this year. …And as far as I’m concerned, the deal on which lawmakers were expected to sign off sometime late Thursday still gives lobbyists more influence over the legislature than is healthy.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/bottomline/federal-budget-cuts-will-have-limited-impact-on-universities-moodys-says/
Federal Budget Cuts Will Have ‘Limited Impact’ on Universities, Moody’s Says
By Don Troop
As universities raise alarms about the potentially devastating effects of more than $1-billion in looming cuts in federal research spending, a leading credit-rating agency issued a report on Thursday that seemed to say: “Calm down. This will sting for just a moment.” The vast majority of American universities and nonprofit organizations will “face only minimal effects” from the budget cuts in the 2013 fiscal year, according to the report by Moody’s Investors Service. Just 1 percent of institutions—”primarily stand-alone research institutes”—are at risk of losing more than 3 percent of revenue during the first year of the across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration.
www.nytimes.com
The Ivy League Was Another Planet
By CLAIRE VAYE WATKINS
…A study released last week by researchers at Harvard and Stanford quantified what everyone in my hometown already knew: even the most talented rural poor kids don’t go to the nation’s best colleges. The vast majority, the study found, do not even try. For deans of admissions brainstorming what they can do to remedy this, might I suggest: anything.
Education News
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/52257/
New Report Emphasizes Accountability from Secondary Schools
by Jamaal Abdul-Alim
In order to bring about greater postsecondary opportunities and success for students from families of lesser economic means, more time and money should be directed toward high-achieving students who attend high-poverty schools. That is one of the key points made in a new report titled “A Level Playing Field: How College Readiness Standards Change the Accountability Game.”
www.ccnewsnow.com
http://www.ccnewsnow.com/colleges-may-see-funding-tied-to-student-success/
Colleges may see funding tied to student success
Source: My San Antonio News
Texas’ higher education institutions could see an escalating portion of their state funding determined by how well their students fare rather than simply how many enroll. On Wednesday, the House Higher Education committee heard testimony on House Bill 25, authored by committee chairman Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas, which could push the amount of funding based on student success criteria up to 25 percent. The committee left the bill pending.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Federal-Agency-Releases/138175/
Federal Agency Releases Database of Student-Loan Borrowers’ Complaints
By Allie Bidwell
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced on Thursday that it had expanded a public database of complaints it has received on financial products and services, to include federal and private student loans.
www.npr.org
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=175602927
Neither Party Has Cash For Student Loan Rate Fix
by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — Incoming college freshmen could end up paying $5,000 more for the same student loans their older siblings have if Congress doesn’t stop interest rates from doubling. Sound familiar? The same warnings came last year. But now the presidential election is over and mandatory budget cuts are taking place, making a deal to avert a doubling of interest rates much more elusive before a July 1 deadline.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/business/no-college-degree-job-search-may-suffer/nW6s6/
No college degree? Job search may suffer
By Christopher Seward
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Employers increasingly want smarter workers and are filling positions traditionally held by high school graduates with applicants who have college degrees, according to a new study. …State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said many companies that regrouped during the recent economic downturn emerged with more technologies that have improved processes. As a result, they require better trained workers.
www.orlandosentinel.com
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/education/os-smart-phones-tuition-increase-20130328,0,5124508.story
House Speaker uses Smart phones’ cost to justify Florida college tuition increase
Meanwhile, the Senate does not support raising tuition next year
By Denise-Marie Ordway, Orlando Sentinel
Saying Florida college students pay as much for their Smart phones in a year as their university tuition, Florida’s House Speaker told state education leaders this morning that he supports raising tuition for public universities.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/52264/
A Look at Nonresidents Who Pay In-State Tuition
by Associated Press
COLUMBIA S.C. — Bills proposed in the South Carolina Legislature would allow veterans and their dependents to pay in-state tuition rates without first living in the state for a year. It would add to the current exemption list.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/03/29/bill-bowens-new-book-moocs-and-online-education#ixzz2OvMaQnCg
Online Rx for ‘Cost Disease’
By Ry Rivard
Universities must slow the rising cost of higher education or risk losing the support of the American public, the president emeritus of Princeton University, William Bowen, argues in his new book.
To do that, college administrations should turn to online courses to combat the “cost disease,” a term explained several decades ago by Bowen, a labor economist.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/52249/
Group Discusses Solutions for Raising the Number of Hispanic Teachers
…The burgeoning Hispanic population has been a popular topic among demographers in recent years, playing a key role in the last two presidential elections and projected to account for nearly one in three U.S. residents by 2060. Hispanics are graduating from high school at higher rates than a decade ago, and the number with either an associate’s or a bachelor’s degree has reached record levels. But according to the most recent figures from the U.S. Department of Education, Hispanics represent about 4 percent of all faculty members at two- and four-year schools.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/52253/
Groups Launch Asian American, Pacific Islander Student Awareness Campaign
by Ronald Roach
In an effort to increase college access and completion among Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students, the Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF) and the National Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Research in Education (CARE) organizations have launched a national campaign to bring awareness to the challenges confronting AAPI students as well as to the solutions that will help them.
www.chornicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Brown-U-Program-Helps/138179/
Brown U. Program Helps Minority Science Ph.D.’s to Thrive
By Stacey Patton
Brown University has significantly increased the proportion of black and Hispanic students in its life-sciences Ph.D. programs in recent years, and helped those students improve their academic performance, through a program that identifies gaps in undergraduate preparation and provides intensive training to help students master key skills.
Related article:
www.jbhe.com
A Successful Program to Attract and Retain Minority Doctoral Students in the Life Sciences
A Successful Program to Attract and Retain Minority Doctoral Students in the Life Sciences
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/03/29/why-was-fau-student-suspended-jesus-case#ixzz2OvN3E91a
Why Was FAU Student Suspended?
By Scott Jaschik
Florida Atlantic University has maintained for a week now that no student was suspended for refusing to participate in an exercise in which students were told to write “Jesus” on a piece of paper and to stand on it. And for a week now, the lawyer for one student has been saying that the university suspended his client for objecting to the lesson. Florida’s governor and numerous other politicians have also joined the discussion, denouncing the lesson that was used, and demanding to know why the student was suspended.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/03/29/apa-forms-committee-tackle-sexual-harassment-philosophy-departments#ixzz2OvNCfikt
Handling the Harassers
By Carl Straumsheim
With men still outnumbering women in philosophy departments and reports of sexual harassment blemishing the field, the American Philosophical Association has announced it will assemble a committee to explore how to tackle and prevent gender discrimination in the workplace.
www.nytimes.com
Cyberattacks Seem Meant to Destroy, Not Just Disrupt
By NICOLE PERLROTH and DAVID E. SANGER
American Express customers trying to gain access to their online accounts Thursday were met with blank screens or an ominous ancient type face. The company confirmed that its Web site had come under attack. The assault, which took American Express offline for two hours, was the latest in an intensifying campaign of unusually powerful attacks on American financial institutions that began last September and have taken dozens of them offline intermittently, costing millions of dollars. …The culprits of these attacks, officials and experts say, appear intent on disabling financial transactions and operations.