USG NEWS:
www.newstimes.augusta.com
http://newstimes.augusta.com/latest-news/2013-05-15/georgia-chancellor-calls-azziz-change-agent
Georgia chancellor calls Azziz ‘change agent’
By Barry L. Paschal
If you want to see where Georgia Regents University is headed, look to the west. Georgia Board of Regents Chancellor Hank Huckaby told a Columbia County Chamber of Commerce breakfast audience Wednesday morning that the University of Alabama-Birmingham provides a model for growing Augusta’s consolidated universities into an “honest-to-goodness research facility” with statewide reach. “This is a great place in a great part of the state, and it’s going to be even greater with the things we’re going to do,” Huckaby said – but he acknowledged the challenge of trying to greatly increase the number of college graduates statewide to the level that future economic development will demand.

Related article:
www.chronicle.augusta.com
Chancellor defends Azziz as ‘change agent’
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/education/2013-05-15/chancellor-defends-azziz-change-agent?v=1368655513

www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/53340/
Education Leaders Convene for The Atlantic’s Technologies in Education Forum
by Jamaal Abdul-Alim
WASHINGTON — An Obama administration official stressed on Wednesday during The Atlantic’s “Technology in Education Forum” that as educators move to infuse technology into the classroom, they should do it to transform how learning takes place and not to simply “digitize” conventional methods. …Assistant Vice President for Education Leadership at AT&T Charles Herget announced a new collaboration between AT&T, online education provider Udacity and the Georgia Institute of Technology College of Computing that will offer what was described as the first online master of science degree in computer science, or an OMS CS, that can be earned completely through a new Massive Open Online Course, or MOOC.

www.thebrunswicknews.com
http://www.thebrunswicknews.com/open_access/local_news/YARDARM-051613-hr#
College flagpole emphasizes Naval service
By SARAH LUNDGREN The Brunswick News
The newest construction on College of Coastal Georgia’s campus – a yardarm flagpole in the center of Alaimo Plaza – will be dedicated to a man who has been a strong supporter of College of Coastal Georgia. The yardarm will be dedicated during a ceremony Friday in honor of state Rep. Joe Wilkinson, R-Sandy Springs, a part-time resident of Glynn County who has been a major supporter of the college, said college president Valerie Hepburn.

GOOD NEWS:
www.unionrecorder.com
http://unionrecorder.com/local/x319986859/Georgia-College-partners-with-Taiwan-China-universities
Georgia College partners with Taiwan, China universities
GCSU Communications
MILLEDGEVILLE — Georgia College recently formed educational partnerships with several universities in China and Taiwan. Dr. Matthew Liao-Troth, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs and Dr. Dwight Call, assistant vice president for international education, visited East Asia during April, working to set up agreements with the universities to increase student recruitment and develop partnerships for faculty and students exchange. They helped establish memorandums of exchange between Georgia College and three universities: Taipei Municipal University of Education (TMUE); Shih Hsin University (SHU); and Xihua University (XHU).

www.13wmaz.com
http://www.13wmaz.com/news/topstories/article/232824/175/Middle-Georgia-State-College-Tests-Drones-in-Eastman
Drones Flying Over Eastman with $1M NASA Grant
by Tom George, 13WMAZ.com
STORY HIGHLIGHTS:
– Using a $1 million-plus dollar grant from NASA, Middle Georgia State College is test flying drones over Eastman.
– The college’s aviation department is partnering with Areai, a Kennesaw-based company.
– Two more drones — called PTERA — are planned to be built by the end of the year.
If you saw something flying over Eastman, it was a drone being used to test airplanes as a part of the project through Kennesaw-based Areai and a grant from NASA.

www.forest-blade.com
http://www.forest-blade.com/news/community/article_051f8dfc-bd64-11e2-8635-0019bb2963f4.html
EGSC Bobcat basketball team named OurTown Hero
Swainsboro City Hall saw a full house at the May 6, 2013 meeting of the Swainsboro City Council as members from the 2012-2013 East Georgia State College Bobcats Men’s Basketball Team attended the gathering to receive the City of Swainsboro’s Our Town Hero award. ,In presenting the award, Mayor Charles Schwabe acknowledged the individual players and coaches whose hard work has brought great recognition not only to themselves and East Georgia State College, but also to the community.

RESEARCH:
www.beta.effinghamherald.net
http://beta.effinghamherald.net/section/6/article/21418/
GSU starts effort to preserve POW camp relics
Staff report
Georgia Southern University archaeologists will begin a major conservation project to identify and conserve 150-year-old metal artifacts found at Camp Lawton, a Confederate prisoner of war camp located at what is now Magnolia Springs State Park in Millen. The project is the next step in preparation for the opening of a planned history center at the park. As part of the project, Georgia Southern archaeologists will X-ray recovered artifacts to determine if solid metal remains inside visible corrosion. In a unique partnership, the team will be working with veterinarian Gary Edwards and the staff at Gateway Animal Hospital of Statesboro who are graciously donating their time and equipment to X-ray the artifacts before conservation is attempted.

www.crn.com
http://www.crn.com/news/security/240154963/malware-behind-oldest-most-active-spam-botnet-gets-refresh.htm
Malware Behind Oldest, Most Active Spam Botnet Gets Refresh
By Robert Westervelt
One of the largest and most notorious spam botnets, known for sending out millions of spam messages every day, has gotten a new communications mechanism that makes it more resilient to take downs, according to security researchers’ analysis. A team of security experts from Dell (NSDQ:Dell) SecureWorks, Damballa Labs and the Georgia Institute of Technology have discovered a new domain name generation algorithm that is part of the Pushdo malware’s back-up command-and-control mechanism.

Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/3-reasons-2-million-bargain-att
3 Reasons $2 Million Is a Bargain for AT&T
By Joshua Kim
The Georgia Tech / Udacity $7,000 online master’s in computer science program is big news for any number of reasons.

www.slate.com
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/05/15/mooc_disruption_new_clients_and_new_needs.html
MOOCs Let Universities Serve New Clients and Different Kinds of Educational Needs
By Matthew Yglesias
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a piece about how people need to stop throwing the term “disruption” around willy-nilly as part of all-purpose hype. And I want to invoke that principle today because there are a few good stories out that illustrate the disruptive potential of online higher education offerings (“MOOCs”) but I don’t want people who are understandably turned off by excessive MOOC hype to just close their ears. But here’s a piece about Georgia Tech’s plans for a $7,000 online master’s degree in computer science:

www.forbes.com
http://www.forbes.com/sites/troyonink/2013/05/15/georgia-tech-udacity-shock-higher-ed-with-7000-degree/
Georgia Tech, Udacity Shock Higher Ed With $7,000 Degree
Troy Onink, Contributor
Georgia Institute of Technology has announced a partnership with Udacity to offer an online Masters Degree in Computer Science for $7,000, down 80% from the existing cost of $40,000 for the on-campus, instructor led program. Suddenly, masters programs around the country will have to compete with Georgia Tech‘s $7,000 program, and that won’t be easy or fast in coming.

www.zdnet.com
http://www.zdnet.com/now-a-masters-level-computer-science-degree-delivered-via-moocs-7000015463/
A master’s-level computer science degree, delivered via MOOCs
Summary: Massive open online courses will soon deliver an advanced comp-sci degree at a very, very low price, courtesy of Georgia Tech, Udacity and AT&T.
By Joe McKendrick for Service Oriented
The disruption of the economics of higher education is providing new opportunities to refresh and expand IT skills at little or no cost. It couldn’t come at a better time for professionals worried about falling behind, or for organizations scrambling to find skills for a deeper move into the digital realm. The Georgia Institute of Technology, College of Computing, has said that it will be offering the first Online Master of Science degree in computer science (OMS CS) that can be earned completely through the massive open online course (MOOC) format. The degree will be provided via the Udacity MOOC platform, with support from AT&T.

www.m.theatlantic.com
http://m.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/05/why-schools-should-think-of-computer-programming-like-algebra/275893/
Why High Schools Should Treat Computer Programming Like Algebra
JORDAN WEISSMANN
…The MOOC revolution is heading to grad school
Last night, Georgia Tech announced that it was partnering with Silicon Valley startup Udacity to create a new, online master’s degree program in computer science. In higher ed land, this is very big news. Udacity is one of the leading pioneers of massive online open courses (known to many as MOOCs), college classes that are generally free to the public and can enroll thousands upon thousands of students at a time. Recently, Udacity partnered with San Jose State University to create experimental for-credit courses. But the Georgia Tech effort appears to be the first full-on degree program created in conjunction with a MOOC provider.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/stratedgy/both-sides
Both Sides
By Margaret Andrews
In this corner: MOOC enthusiasts, envisioning how these large, online courses will increase access to higher education, reduce costs, and reinvigorate teaching and learning. In the other corner: MOOC critics, anticipating how MOOCs will eliminate meaningful interaction between faculty and students, reduce the quality of learning, and decimate the professorship.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/yale-joins-the-mooc-club-coursera-looks-to-translate-existing-courses/43849?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Yale Joins the MOOC Club; Coursera Looks to Translate Existing Courses
By Steve Kolowich
For all the star power harnessed by massive-open-online-course providers, Yale University has been a notable absence. While many of its elite peers scrambled to get out ahead of the MOOC wave, Yale bided its time. That’s about to change. Yale announced on Wednesday that it would soon offer MOOCs through Coursera, the Silicon Valley-based company. Yale plans to offer four courses beginning in January, focusing on constitutional law, financial markets, morality, and Roman architecture.

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/how-counselors-can-shape-the-college-plans-of-first-generation-students/35057?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
How Counselors Can Shape the College Plans of First-Generation Students
By Beckie Supiano
High-school counselors can influence whether ninth-graders whose parents do not have bachelor’s degrees plan to attend college, suggests a report released on Thursday by the National Association for College Admission Counseling. The report, “Preparing Students for College: What High Schools Are Doing and How Their Actions Influence Ninth Graders’ College Attitudes, Aspirations, and Plans,” is based on an analysis of new, nationally representative data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/world-view/who-owns-future-those-who-invest-it
Who owns the future? Those who invest in it!
By Liz Reisberg
A while back, the NY Times reported that China’s government is making an investment of $250 billion/year in the development of human capital. The Times likens this to the GI Bill in the US in the 1940s that contributed to the longest period of sustained economic growth in the US during the last century. There is a wealth of additional information in the article. Definitely worth reading. Since reading the article I have continued to observe many other countries making extremely large investments in higher education. I am just home from Saudi Arabia where massive investments in higher education are being made as well. There has been much written about Brazil’s investment in higher education. There are many countries participating in this trend. That is, except my own country.

www.thealmatimes.com
http://www.thealmatimes.com/articles/2013/05/14/opinion/doc5192579fcfdc0051431373.txt
Georgia has new ethics law, with room for improvement
Tom Crawford
Until last week, Georgia had been one of only three remaining states that put absolutely no limits on how much money lobbyists could spend to influence the passage or defeat of legislation in a General Assembly session. Gov. Nathan Deal removed Georgia from that list when he signed the ethics revision bill into law. It’s easy to criticize legislators for their reluctance to derail this lobbyist gravy train that so many of them have ridden over the years, but in fairness, there are some commendable aspects to the new law. For the first time, there will be a limit on what lobbyists can spend when they entertain a lawmaker:

Education News
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/05/16/senate-leaders-introduce-student-loan-interest-rate-bill
Senate Leaders Introduce Student Loan Interest Rate Bill
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats introduced a bill Wednesday that would keep the interest rate on subsidized student loans at 3.4 percent for another two years at a cost to the government of $8.6 billion — a measure that underscored the distance between Congressional Democrats and the White House on interest rates. The interest rate for subsidized Stafford loans, need-based loans that don’t accumulate interest while students are enrolled in college, will double to 6.8 percent on July 1 if Congress does not act.

www.csmonitor.com
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2013/0515/Education-reform-s-next-big-thing-Common-Core-standards-ramp-up?nav=87-frontpage-entryInsideMonitor
Education reform’s next big thing: Common Core standards ramp up
Common Core standards are aimed at building students’ critical thinking skills, and 46 states have adopted them. But critics say the methods are unproven and the education reform is moving too fast.
By Amanda Paulson, Staff writer
LOVELAND, COLO.
In an Algebra I class at Mountain View High School, a freshman girl is struggling with a new assignment: The students are working in small groups to try to find the number of different-shaped tiles needed to cover a certain size tabletop – and then how to find a pattern and extrapolate on that answer for other sizes. “Is this supposed to be hard or easy?” she asks her teacher in frustration. “It’s supposed to make you think,” replies Kristina Smith, the teacher, as she patiently circles through the room, responding to each student’s questions not with an answer but with additional questions that encourage them to push themselves to the next step. What’s going on at this school in Loveland, Colo., as well as across the United States, is a key step in a long-running shift to national standards. These Common Core standards, which have been adopted by 45 states, have the potential to drastically change curriculum in elementary, middle, and high schools around the country.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/05/16/ged-faces-competition-states-weigh-two-new-entrants
Testy Battle Over Tests
By Paul Fain
The GED no longer has a lock on the market for tests that serve as the equivalent of a high school degree. Three states have switched to new competitors from Educational Testing Service (ETS) and McGraw-Hill — and many more are mulling a change. …The council first began offering the five-subject examinations, originally dubbed the General Education Development tests, as a high-school equivalency in 1942. Since then more than 18 million people who lack a high school diploma have passed the GED. Many of them have used that credential to enroll in college.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/05/16/nacac-study-says-counseling-can-affect-students-college-aspirations
Reaching Students Early
By Zack Budryk
College-going rates could go up significantly if students in high school received counseling as freshmen, and not just when they are juniors and seniors, a new study from the National Association for College Admission Counseling says. The impact may be greatest on those in groups less likely than others to go to college. Among high school freshmen whose parents did not hold a bachelor’s degree, the study found positive correlations between:

www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Florida-Atlantic-U-Chief/139279/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Florida Atlantic U. Chief Cites Crushing Media Scrutiny in Resignation
By Jack Stripling
Mary Jane Saunders, who announced her resignation as Florida Atlantic University’s president on Wednesday, said she was not ready for the intense media scrutiny that came with the job and fears other public-university presidents are similarly unprepared. Ms. Saunders was named president of the Boca Raton institution in 2010, and she spent much of the last several months in damage-control mode.

Related article:
www.insidehighered.com
Controversy-Scarred Florida Atlantic President Says She’ll Resign
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/05/16/controversy-scarred-florida-atlantic-president-says-shell-resign

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2013/05/16/us-fines-yale-165000-misreporting-sexual-offenses
U.S. Fines Yale $165,000 for Misreporting Sexual Offenses
The U.S. Education Department has notified Yale University that it intends to fine the institution $165,000 for failing to report several sex offenses nearly a decade ago, the New Haven Register reported. In a letter to Yale President Richard Levin, a department official said that it planned to impose the maximum fine of $27,500 for each of the forcible sex offenses that Yale failed to report in 2001 and 2002, as well as additional fines for several other omissions of information from its reports under the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/05/16/report-urges-california-policy-makers-revamp-online-education
Trying to ‘Reset’ Online Fight
By Ry Rivard
Seeking to “reset” a contentious debate about the role of technology in California public higher education, the authors of a new report argue that California policy makers need a statewide approach to end what they call years of isolated, segmented and ineffective online offerings.

www.nbcbayarea.com
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Stanford-Academics-Turning-Research-Into-Results-207494871.html
Stanford Academics Turning Research Into Results
Research done by Stanford’s Rural Education Action Program has gotten the attention of the Chinese government. With that attention has come billions of dollars to help children in rural China.
Stanford University is the kind of place where the people are smart, and the names are long. Take, for example, Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies’ Rural Education Action Program. Of all the words in that name, however, one is more important than the rest. Action. When REAP, as it is called, was founded in 2006, the goal was to do more than just investigate the plight of poor children in rural China: they wanted to do something about. They certainly have. In just a few years REAP’s research has caught the attention, and the pursestrings, at the highest levels of the Chinese government. To see just what REAP is doing to help millions of poor children, watch Garvin Thomas’ story above.

www.nytimes.com

Cloning Is Used to Create Embryonic Stem Cells
By ANDREW POLLACK
Scientists have finally succeeded in using cloning to create human embryonic stem cells, a step toward developing replacement tissue to treat diseases but one that might also hasten the day when it will be possible to create cloned babies. The researchers, at Oregon Health and Science University, took skin cells from a baby with a genetic disease and fused them with donated human eggs to create human embryos that were genetically identical to the 8-month-old. They then extracted stem cells from those embryos.

Related article:
www.online.wsj.com
Experiment Brings Human Cloning One Step Closer
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324082604578485064174222502.html?mod=ITP_pageone_1

www.online.wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323398204578485702829934608.html
Google Joins Supercomputing Project
By DON CLARK
Google Inc. GOOG -0.88% plans to help create a new laboratory to study quantum computing, a high-profile endorsement of the esoteric technology—and a Canadian company that has been pursuing it since 1999. An unusual supercooled machine built by D-Wave Systems Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, will be installed at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Ames Research Center, near Google’s campus in Mountain View, Calif. It will be operated by the nonprofit Universities Space Research Association.