USG TUITION:
www.rockdalenews.com
http://www.rockdalenews.com/section/155/article/15038/
Tuition hike for Georgia college students next year
Students enrolled in Georgia’s public colleges and universities face a tuition hike ranging from $32 to $270 per semester, starting this fall. The system-wide tuition hike was part of a budget plan approved yesterday by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents, which has cut $1.4 billion state-wide over the last five years, according to an article by the Associated Press. For 27 schools in the University System of Georgia, students face a 2.5 percent tuition increase, or about $32 to $83 more per semester.
Related article:
www.cbsatlanta.com
Regents again raise Ga. tuition 2.5 to 7%
http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/21993881/regents-again-raise-ga-tuition-25-to-7
www.romenews-tribune.com
http://romenews-tribune.com/view/full_story/22271736/article-Regents-hike-tuition-again-at-state-colleges—Georgia-Highlands-students-will-pay–32-more-per-semester-?instance=home_news_lead_story
Regents hike tuition again at state colleges – Georgia Highlands students will pay $32 more per semester
by Staff, AP reports
Undergraduate students at Georgia’s public colleges and universities will be paying more per semester next fall. The Board of Regents approved tuition and fee increases Tuesday during a meeting in Savannah. Laura Mussel¬white, interim vice president of academic and student affairs at Georgia Highlands College in Rome, said while the Board of Regents sets tuition rates — not the college itself — GHC still has some of the lowest tuition rates around.
www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/education/2013-04-17/gru-students-hit-wallet-tuition-increase
GRU students hit in wallet by tuition increase
By Tracey McManus
Staff Writer
Georgia Regents University sophomore Reggie Redd knows it could be worse. When state officials announced a 3.5 percent tuition increase for GRU next year, the bump translated to $79 more a semester. His peers at Georgia Tech will see a 7 percent increase, or $270 more a semester, while University of Georgia undergraduates will pay an additional $191.
www.vsuspectator.com
http://www.vsuspectator.com/2013/04/18/bor-georgia-tuition-to-rise-for-2014/
BOR: Georgia tuition to rise for 2014
By Will Lewis
VSU students will soon experience a 2.5 percent increase in tuition next year. The rise is set to approximately match the current inflation rate and follows a statement issued by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents. “In determining tuition rates for the upcoming academic year, affordability was the regents’ primary concern,” John Brown, vice chancellor for Fiscal Affairs, said in Tuesday’s press release. “Our ability to maintain a low percentage increase reflects a serious commitment by the Board to minimize the financial impact on our students.”
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/news/2013/apr/17/regents-vote-to-increase-tuition/
Regents vote to increase tuition
By Frank Reddy
LAWRENCEVILLE — Following a decision Tuesday by the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents, college tuition at 27 colleges and universities for in-state undergraduate students will increase by 2.5 percent, effective this fall. Among those affected: Georgia Gwinnett College students. At the local college, it means a difference of $2.80 more per credit hour or $42 per semester for up to 15 hours using the regular tuition model.
USG NEWS:
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2013-04-17/search-college-coastal-ga-president-narrows
Search for College of Coastal GA president narrows
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA — Three finalists have been named for the next president of the College of Coastal Georgia. A national search was launched to replace current President Valerie Hepburn who will be stepping down in June.
www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/ugalife/rare-films-uncovered-in-uga-media-archives/article_c06d5e56-a705-11e2-bc78-001a4bcf6878.html
Rare films uncovered in UGA media archives
by EMILY SCHOONE
Silent films never said so much about Georgia history. Rare home movies dating back to around 1919 were uncovered in the University of Georgia Libraries’ Walter J. Brown Media Archives, the only institution in the state that is dedicated to preserving such media.
GOOD NEWS:
www.connectsavannah.com
http://www.connectsavannah.com/NewsFeed/archives/2013/04/17/uga-to-get-15-acres-at-wormsloe
UGA to get 15 acres at Wormsloe
Posted by Jim Morekis
The University System of Georgia Board of Regents voted today to accept a gift of 15.45 acres of the Wormsloe property to the University of Georgia. The trustees of the Wormsloe Foundation are donating the property, 10 miles southeast of Savannah, for use by the UGA College of Environment and Design and other UGA colleges and units. The property “will be used for interdisciplinary research by faculty and graduate students working in ecology, environmental history and archeology.
Related article:
www.savannahnow.com
Wormsloe Foundation donates land to UGA
http://savannahnow.com/news/2013-04-18/wormsloe-foundation-donates-land-uga#.UXANN3CTpGN
www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/ugalife/department-of-energy-gives-uga-million-for-bioenergy-research/article_27a3a0be-a7c7-11e2-97dd-0019bb30f31a.html
Department of Energy gives UGA $3 million for bioenergy research
by JEANETTE KAZMIERCZAK
While many researchers are concerned about the future of funding in the face of national financial difficulties, the federal government has allayed some biofuel researchers’ worries by granting $25 million a year for five years in the hopes of making biofuel more economically efficient. Alan Darvill, the principal investigator for the BioEnergy Science Center at the University of Georgia, said out of the $25 million a year, UGA will receive around $3 million — the most given to any of the universities in the consortium.
www.cbsnews.com
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505145_162-57578749/25-state-universities-with-the-happiest-freshmen/
25 state universities with the happiest freshmen
If you want to attend universities where students are happy, try looking for schools where students stick around after their freshmen year. The state universities where freshmen retention rates are high tend to be flagship institutions that enjoy more resources and attract smart, affluent students. (14. Georgia Institute of Technology 94.3%) …UGA is listed at #15 with a 94.1% freshman retention rate
USG VALUE:
www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/variety/new-student-veterans-resource-center-is-home-away-from-war/article_7361cc66-a5ff-11e2-b2ff-0019bb30f31a.html
New Student Veterans Resource Center is home away from war
Caroline Brown | 0 comments
The University of Georgia has established a stronger home base on campus for veterans. Services that were hard to find and often went unused are now more noticeable. On April 17, the Student Veterans Resource Center opened on the first floor of the Tate Student Center. The SVRC provides veterans a place to network with other student veterans, as well as learn about different opportunities to get involved on campus.
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2013-04-17/trail-builder-professor-and-garden-team-win-environmental-awards
Trail builder, professor and garden team win environmental awards
By LEE SHEARER
A man who builds hiking trails, a University of Georgia professor who fosters community gardening and a church gardening team a homeless man helped start are this year’s winners of the Alec Little Environmental Award, a prize that honors people and organizations for environmental responsibility. …The third winner, UGA horticulture professor David Berle, built on a previous job as a North Carolina cooperative extension agent after coming to work at UGA in 1999. Berle has made service learning an important part of his approach to teaching, and he and his students have built 15 community gardens, including one at the Athens Area Council on Aging. He also helped the Athens Land Trust get a grant that provides seeds, tools, plants and instruction for community gardeners and helped start a community gardening project with the Clarke County School District. Berle also helped clear out privet and other undergrowth from Athens’ historic Gospel Pilgrim Cemetery.
RESEARCH:
www.startribune.com
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/203454241.html
Hater: A new app for sharing what you don’t ‘like’
Article by: KATIE HUMPHREY , Star Tribune
A new app called Hater panders to the pessimist in all of us. The anti-“like” app was launched in March, a solution for those who have bemoaned Facebook’s lack of a “dislike” button. . . . So what are people hating? The usual: Mondays, Facebook, cancer, celebrities, sports teams and, of course, cats. The seemingly random, too: Lays Chicken & Waffles chips, matching socks, even moms. But it hasn’t exactly taken off. Even the most popular posts earlier this week had only three or four “hates” each. That seems to align with recent research out of the Georgia Institute of Technology showing that people on Twitter seek the positive online, and avoid the negative.
www.news.discovery.com
http://news.discovery.com/tech/biotechnology/brain-in-a-dish-controls-power-grid-130417.htm
Brain in a Dish Controls Power Grid
BY ALYSSA DANIGELIS
Controlling the nation’s electrical power grid promises to grow insanely complex. Renewable energy sources are being added, more electric vehicles are plugging in, aging technology is being upgraded and tons of new data will flow. To deal with all that and increase efficiency, engineers are tapping directly into brain cells. . . . He got help from Georgia Institute of Technology neuroengineer Steve Potter, who developed a method for growing neurons in a dish containing electrodes to better understand how the brain responds to information. Venayagamoorthy came up with a power grid computer simulation and together the scientists connected it to living neurons from rodents. This system allowed the scientists to stimulate and record activity from the cells.
www.watch.discoverychannel.ca
http://watch.discoverychannel.ca/#clip901624
Georgia Tech ant raft research explores animals working together (video).
www3.cfo.com
http://www3.cfo.com/Print/PrintArticle?pageId=5b1eb59d-ea2b-4ff5-8906-f485ca86770d
Tax Rates: the Haves and Have Nots
Comparing corporate tax rates can be hard, given all the tax terminology that’s out there. But a new study reveals what real rates companies are paying.
Kathleen Hoffelder
While all U.S.-based corporations start out at a federal tax rate of 35 percent (the highest federal corporate tax rate in the industrialized world), the rate each one actually pays based on taxable income–the so-called “effective tax rate”–can be decidedly unique, a new study shows. Why the discrepancies? Large multinational companies, for instance, routinely garner benefits from having foreign operations in jurisdictions where the tax rates are lower than the United States. On the other hand, some companies also take advantage of state and local income taxes, tax credits and other items to lower their bill to Uncle Sam. A new study by Charles Mulford, director of the Georgia Tech Financial Reporting & Analysis Lab, reveals some vast differences in what levels U.S.-based companies, such as those 30 companies that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), have been paying in effective rates from 2009 to 2011.
www.newsobserver.com
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/04/18/2832817/outdoors-notebook-biologists-seek.html
Outdoors Notebook: Biologists seek help from turkey hunters
By Teri Boggess — Correspondent
Wildlife biologists are asking North Carolina wild turkey hunters for a hand – well, actually a leg, and just part of one at that. Biologists need marrow-containing turkey leg bones to test for lymphoproliferative disease virus, or LPDV, that recently has been found in wild turkeys in the state. …University of Georgia researchers with the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study will test the marrow, which is where the virus would reside, Batts said.
STATE NEEDS/ISSUES:
www.romenews-tribune.com
http://romenews-tribune.com/view/full_story/22283540/article-Economist–Tech-changes-slow-recovery-?instance=home_news_lead_story
Economist: Tech changes slow recovery
by Doug Walker, Associate Editor
While recovery from the economic recession has not been as fast as anyone would have liked, Georgia’s economy is better off than it was two or three years ago, according to Donald Sabbarese, director of the Coles College of Business Econometric Center at Kennesaw State University. …Recovery from the recent recession is taking place at a much slower pace than any of the past four recessions, he said. Those four recessions go as far back as 1981, Sabbarese added.
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2013-04-17/state-campaigning-lure-bioscience-firms
State campaigning to lure bioscience firms
By WALTER C. JONESMORRIS NEWS SERVICE
ATLANTA — State industry recruiters announced Tuesday they plan to capitalize on Georgia’s existing strengths in the pharmaceutical and medical industry by launching a $1 million campaign to woo similar firms here.
The state already has more than 400 bioscience companies plus 40 health organizations like the headquarters of the American Cancer Society and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Add eight research universities and 200 hospitals, and the list of assets makes a compelling argument for locating a factory or laboratory here, according to Carol Henderson, director of life science recruitment at the Georgia Department of Economic Development.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/business/georgias-jobless-rate-falls-to-84-percent-in-march/nXP4S/
Georgia’s jobless rate falls to 8.4 percent in March
By Henry Unger
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia’s unemployment rate fell to 8.4 percent in March from 8.6 percent in February — the lowest level since December 2008 — as employers increased hiring and laid off fewer workers, the state labor department said Thursday. “Georgia employers created 23,700 jobs last month, which is one of the best job growth numbers we’ve had in March for almost a decade,” state Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said in a statement. “The growth was in several industries, led by leisure and hospitality, and professional and business services.”
Related article:
www.accessnorthga.com
Georgia’s unemployment rate declines to 8.4 percent in March
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=260618
Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2013/apr/18/college-yes-youre-admiitted-not-until-january/
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
College acceptances: Yes, you’re admitted but not until January
By Maureen Downey
The first time I encountered delayed admission to college was a few years ago when a friend’s daughter was admitted to a prestigious college with a proviso: She could not start until the second semester.
The school had a crush of applicants and diverted a few of them to the spring semester when spots were expected to open as a result of students leaving, transferring, graduating early or taking a break.
The teen decided against the college as she was unhappy with the prospect of watching her friends move into dorms and start classes six months before her.
www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/views/our-take-halt-the-hikes/article_5760013e-a7a0-11e2-8d43-0019bb30f31a.html
Our Take: Halt the hikes
by NICHOLAS FOURIEZOS
The Board of Regents’s Tuesday decision to increase tuition by 5 percent at the University of Georgia is, to be frank, questionable. In-state tuition for the 2014 fall semester was increased to $4,014 from $3,823, and mandatory student fees were increased to $1,117 from $1,098. However, students at 27 other University System of Georgia schools received only a 2.5 percent bump in tuition.
www.savannahnow.com
http://savannahnow.com/exchange/2013-04-17/changing-guard-athens#.UXAblHCTpGN
The changing of the guard in Athens
By Russ Wigh
Russ Wigh is a professor of business
When Michael Adams arrived on the campus of the University of Georgia as its president, I was suspicious. Shortly after he moved in, he took on the self-appointed Lord of the Kingdom, Vince Dooley, and deftly canned him. Adams was to be in charge, not Dooley. My suspicion turned quickly to admiration. He did not disappoint. The ensuing years have been good ones for our flagship state university, and with the appointment of his successor, Jere Morehead, I expect more of the same.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/04/18/liberal-education-and-civic-education-need-not-go-together-essay
Socrates at the Center
By Jonathan Marks
Socrates, the patron saint of liberal education, is not a patron saint of civic engagement. Although he claims to benefit Athens, he also admits to neglecting the duties — from taking care of his family to concerning himself with politics — that Athenians took to be conditions of good citizenship. Nonetheless, colleges have long pursued both liberal education and civic engagement missions.
www.thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com
College Is a Journey, Not a Destination
By MARTHA O’CONNELL
Martha O’Connell is the executive director of Colleges That Change Lives, a nonprofit organization that focuses on a student-centered college search process.
If I made a bumper sticker for the college search process, it would read, “College: It’s About the Journey, Not the Destination.” Too often, students will race through their secondary school years, compiling tallies of courses and A.P. credits completed, joining activities to lengthen their resume, taking and retaking SAT and ACT exams and always keeping one eye on the prize of the college destination. These same students arrive at college only to repeat this process with a goal of admission to graduate and professional schools or to land that perfect first job.
Education News
www.times-georgian.com
http://times-georgian.com/view/full_story/22228127/article-Education-activists-taking-aim-at-Common-Core?instance=news_special_coverage_right_column
Education activists taking aim at Common Core
by Colton Campbell/Times-Georgian
The Villa Rica couple who campaigned for the charter school amendment last November have found a new crusade, this time against a nationwide education initiative that has already been adopted. The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a U.S. education initiative that seeks to bring diverse state curricula into alignment with each other by following the principles of standards-based education reform.
www.gbj.com
http://gbj.com/2013/04/18/easier-path-to-four-year-degree/
Easier path to four-year degree
Gwinnett Technical College graduates who want to continue their education at a four-year college now have an easier pathway into Georgia private colleges. The Georgia Independent College Association (GICA) and the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) have signed the Transfer Articulation Agreement, easing the way for technical college graduates to enter many four-year private colleges in Georgia with transfer of credit hours.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/04/18/arne-duncan-and-senators-agree-compromise-possible-student-loan-interest-rates
A Rare Washington Compromise?
By Libby A. Nelson
WASHINGTON — If Congress doesn’t act, the interest rate on federally subsidized Stafford student loans will double in just over 10 weeks, on July 1. At a hearing Wednesday, lawmakers from both parties and Education Secretary Arne Duncan appeared optimistic about achieving something rare here these days: a compromise on a long-term solution before time runs out.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/52759/#
2014 Budget Debate Begins in U.S. Senate
by Charles Dervarics
A proposed new $1 billion federal investment in higher education would help states dealing with budget cuts while promoting college completion, as well as access, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Wednesday. Duncan told the Senate education appropriations subcommittee that the $1 billion Race to the Top college competition would support innovation while stressing the need to go beyond the goal of simply getting students to enroll at a college or university. “It’s not just about access. It’s about completion,” he told the panel.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/04/18/survey-finds-continued-gap-between-high-schools-and-colleges
Survey Finds Continued Gap Between High Schools and Colleges
A new survey from ACT shows the continued gap between those who teach in high school and those who teach in college when it comes to their perceptions of the college preparation of today’s students. Nearly 90 percent of high school teachers told ACT that their students are either “well” or “very well” prepared for college-level work in their subject area after leaving their courses.
www.msgr.com
http://www.msgr.com/news/community/article_ebbbf0a0-a78b-11e2-8805-001a4bcf887a.html
‘Dreaming’ of foreign languages
Lynn Hobbs
Maureen Warner has an unusual dream. “My dream is that every middle school student would take one quarter (nine weeks) of foreign language each year before coming to high school. That’s my dream,” she said. “We want our school system to be very competitive so people will want to move here, right?” …While the Georgia Board of Regents requires two units of credit in the same foreign language for students planning to enter a University System of Georgia institution, the same is not required for a high school diploma. To earn a high school diploma, students may choose to fulfill a three-credit requirement from a broader field of courses, according to the Georgia Department of Education.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/04/18/immigration-bill-includes-dream-act-visa-expansion
Immigration Bill Includes DREAM Act, Visa Expansion
WASHINGTON — An immigration bill unveiled early Wednesday morning by a bipartisan Senate group would provide an expedited pathway to citizenship for young immigrants in the U.S. illegally and expand visas for highly educated workers. The bill — a compromise among eight Republican and Democratic Senators — still faces a tough road in Congress, but the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities praised it as an important step.
www.thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com
Brown University Creates Online Course for High School Students
By MICHAEL A. WILNER
When Yaser S. Abu-Mostafa, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the California Institute of Technology, began promoting his online course on machine learning, one person he turned to was Caltech’s dean of admissions. Dr. Abu-Mostafa believed that prospective Caltech students would benefit from learning what it actually takes to be an engineer — something that high schools, on the whole, fail to teach adequately.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/04/18/fossil-fuel-divestment-movement-picking-steam-and-unlikely-go-away
It’s Only Getting Hotter
By Kevin Kiley
If college and university administrators feel like someone’s turning up the heat, they’re probably right. After winning over administrators at a few private colleges with small endowments and receiving some national press, the movement to get colleges and universities to divest their endowments from fossil fuel companies is starting to ramp up pressure on wealthy universities. Groups recently generated headlines at institutions such as Cornell University and Brown University, which had endowments of $4.9 billion and $2.4 billion, respectively, as of June 2012.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/04/18/groups-retract-paper-criticized-faculty-workloads
Groups Retract Paper That Criticized Faculty Workloads
Education Sector and the American Council of Trustees and Alumni announced Wednesday that they are withdrawing a report issued in March claiming that faculty teaching loads had gone down substantially, contributing to the rising cost of higher education. That report, “Selling Students Short,” said that “from 1987-1988 to 2003-2004, the average number of courses tenured and tenure-track faculty taught per term … declined 25 percent.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/04/18/study-students-previous-misbehavior-doesnt-predict-campus-violence
No Crime in Asking
By Doug Lederman
Roughly two-thirds of colleges elicit information about the criminal pasts of prospective students, either through questions on their application forms or, increasingly, through the use of background checks. But the inquiries do little to keep their campuses safer, a new study suggests.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/04/18/concerns-about-international-student-safety-come-fore
Foreign Student Safety in Spotlight
By Elizabeth Redden
Professionals in international education have long had to counter stereotypical depictions of the U.S. as a crime-ridden, pistol-packing kind of place, but this week issues surrounding perceptions of international student safety have been especially prominent: not only was Secretary of State John Kerry quoted as saying that prospective Japanese students are deterred by fears of gun violence, but one international student died, and at least three others were injured, as a result of the Boston Marathon bombings.
www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/04/18/k-12-schools-colleges-tightening-security-around-country/
The Answer Sheet
By Valerie Strauss
Virginia Tech, other colleges tightening security
Colleges and universities are tightening security around the country for big weekend sporting and other events in the wake of Monday’s deadly bombings at the Boston Marathon. The precautions are part of broader efforts being made in cities around the country to tighten security at places where people congregate.
www.kansascity.com
http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/17/4187617/kansas-governor-signs-concealed.html
With concealed carry now a Kansas law, regents are likely to re-examine ban
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — The chairman of the Kansas Board of Regents said Wednesday that he expects the board to re-examine its ban on concealed weapons on state university campuses because of a new law signed by Gov. Sam Brownback.
Starting in July, the legislation will allow Kansas public schools, universities and colleges to arm employees with concealed guns. The law will continue to permit universities, community colleges and technical colleges to prohibit concealed guns in their buildings for another four years, but regents chairman Tim Emert said he expects the board to adjust its policy well before 2017.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/04/18/data-how-colleges-use-social-media-fund-raising
Data on How Colleges Use Social Media in Fund-Raising
Facebook continues to be the most popular social media platform used by colleges to maintain relations with current and potential donors, according to a new survey by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
www.edweek.org
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/04/18/29social.h32.html?tkn=UTOFLahBgvwHjOk9QuVykB6mLXBkv5rV8nh%2B&cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS1
‘Real World’ Social Media Helps Students Bond, Say Researchers
By Sarah D. Sparks
As technology becomes ever more ubiquitous in children’s social lives, new research suggests fundamental skills still apply, particularly in environments that mirror real life. Children’s online social lives were a big topic at the annual Society for Research in Child Development conference in Seattle on Thursday. Several new studies presented there suggest that while socializing virtually can make it harder for students to make deep connections with one another, situations that more closely mimic the real world—such as video-chat or avatar environments—can lead to more natural engagement.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/04/18/bill-create-new-university-california-dies
Bill to Create ‘New University of California’ Dies
A bill is dead to create a fourth college system in California to award credit and degrees to students but offer no courses, according to the head of the state Assembly’s higher education committee. The bill would have created the “New University of California,” which would have issued credit and degrees to anyone capable of passing certain exams.
www.nature.com
http://www.nature.com/news/a-back-seat-for-basic-science-1.12803
A back seat for basic science
Translational research wins in Obama’s budget, but its economic value remains uncertain.
Eric Hand, Beth Mole, Lauren Morello, Jeff Tollefson, Meredith Wadman& Alexandra Witze
The magnolia trees behind the White House were decked in blossoms as US President Barack Obama announced his 2014 budget proposal on 10 April. They emphasized the lateness of the proposal, which is usually unveiled in early February. The short-lived flowers could also have symbolized a fragile optimism about the US economy. But with unemployment at a worrisome 7.6% and Congress insistent on deficit reduction, Obama’s budget is cautious. The US$3.8-trillion proposal would undo the across-the-board cuts known as sequestration, but includes just $143 billion for research and development, a mere 1% rise from 2012. The budget reflects not only caution, but also the Obama administration’s emerging attitude towards research: that science needs to be good for something, namely jobs and cures.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Florida-Lawmakers-Seek-to-Give/138571/
Florida Lawmakers Seek to Give Top Universities a Multimillion-Dollar Boost
By Eric Kelderman
Florida’s two best-known public universities are poised to benefit from legislation meant to improve their prestige as well as their bottom lines. The state’s Legislature has passed a bill that would designate Florida State University and the University of Florida as “pre-eminent” universities and would give each institution an extra $15-million per year for five years to hire prominent faculty members and increase spending on research.