USGNEWS:
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2013/06/07/techs-mccamish-pavilion-a-50-million.html
Tech’s McCamish Pavilion a $50 million update
Martin Sinderman, Contributing Writer
Designed by the architectural firm Populous and built by Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., the Henry F. McCamish Jr. Pavilion is the result of a $50 million renovation of Alexander Memorial Coliseum at Georgia Tech.
Opened in 1956, Alexander Memorial Coliseum has long been hallowed ground for Georgia Tech basketball fans. The facility also served as the boxing venue for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games and was home to the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA for a number of seasons. Designed by architect Richard Aeck, it was readily identifiable by its curved supporting beams and domed roof.
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2013/06/07/hinman-renovation-functionalism.html
Hinman renovation: Functionalism + innovation
Martin Sinderman, Contributing Writer
In a $9.5 million project completed in 2011, a team composed of Lord, Aeck & Sargent Inc.’s Historic Preservation Studio, architects Office dA, and construction manager The Beck Group completed the restoration, rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of Georgia Tech’s historic Hinman Research Building by the university’s College of Architecture. The first modern building on the Georgia Tech campus, the 35,000-square-foot structure was originally designed in 1939 by P.M. Heffernan, an architect and later director of the Tech School of Architecture. Characterized by its mid-century design and materials, as well as a 50-foot high-bay laboratory, the Hinman Building originally housed the Georgia Tech Engineering Experiment Station, the predecessor to today’s Georgia Tech Research Institute.
GOOD NEWS:
www.mdjonline.com
http://www.mdjonline.com/view/full_story/22810353/article-Southern-Poly-to-add-two-bachelor’s-programs?instance=special%20_coverage_right_column
Southern Poly to add two bachelor’s programs
by Rachel Miller
MARIETTA — Southern Polytechnic State University will offer two new Bachelor of Science degrees next fall, with one in environmental engineering technology, a first for Georgia, and one in environmental science, a first for the Atlanta region. Environmental engineering has been a concentration of SPSU’s civil engineering school since the university began, said Zvi Szafran, vice president for academic affairs. The subject was placed into a standalone program to meet a rising interest in the environmental science field.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/georgia-colleges-partner-to-offer-program-for-vert/nYDRc/
Georgia colleges partner to offer program for veterans
By Laura Diamond
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Three Georgia colleges are working together to create physician assistant education programs that will target veterans interested in the field, school officials announced Thursday. The partnership involves Albany State University, Georgia Regents University and Morehouse School of Medicine.
www.savannahnow.com
http://savannahnow.com/news/2013-06-07/administrators-jiujiang-university-return-savannah#.UbHe4eCTpGN
Administrators from Jiujiang University return to Savannah
By Savannah Morning News
Administrators and faculty from Jiujiang University in China returned to Savannah to discuss partnerships with Armstrong Atlantic State University and Savannah State this week. The university is located in Jiujiang City, which has an established relationship with the city of Savannah and which has led to the higher education partnerships.
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2013/06/07/audit-public-private-vc-has-good-record.html
Audit: Public-Private VC has good record
Maria Saporta, Contributing Writer
After launching its venture capital effort — VentureLab — a decade ago, the Georgia Research Alliance and the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts have concluded that the track record is quite good. About 71 percent of the companies that have participated in GRA’s VentureLab since 2002 are still doing business in Georgia, while 29 percent are inactive. The survival rate of 133 VentureLab companies compares favorably to the survival rate of startup companies nationally, according to the Georgia Department of Audits. As of September 2012, 87 percent of VentureLab companies survived to a second year compared with 67 percent nationally; and 76 percent survived to a fourth year compared with 44 percent nationally… GRA is a public-private partnership aimed at promoting cutting-edge research at Georgia’s six research universities — Georgia Tech, Emory University, The University of Georgia, Georgia State University, Georgia Regents University and Clark Atlanta University. In addition to the presidents of each of those institutions, GRA’s board includes top business leaders from around the state.
RESEARCH:
www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/health/2013-06-06/stem-cell-transplant-program-celebrates-500th-case?v=1370568975
Stem cell transplant program celebrates 500th case
By Tom Corwin
Staff Writer
Wanda Attaway can still remember the taste of her stem cell transplant 16 years ago. “It tastes like tomatoes, canned tomatoes,” she said of having the cells added back to her body during the transplant. Attaway was the first patient at Georgia Regents University Cancer Center to get the transplant as part of her treatment for breast cancer in 1997. On Saturday, the center will celebrate its 500th transplant earlier this year.
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/blog/a-healthy-conversation/2013/06/uga-does-brain-disease-research.html
UGA does brain disease research
Urvaksh Karkaria
Staff Writer- Atlanta Business Chronicle
From the neurons that enable thought to the keratinocytes that make toenails grow–a complex canopy of sugar molecules, commonly known as glycans, envelop every living cell in the human body. These complex carbohydrate chains perform a host of vital functions, providing the necessary machinery for cells to communicate, replicate and survive. Researchers at the University of Georgia are learning how changes in normal glycan behavior are related to a rare but fatal lysosomal disease known as Niemann-Pick type C (NPC), a genetic disorder that prevents the body from metabolizing cholesterol properly.
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/business/tech-to-study-use-of-drones-for-monitoring-highway/nYDmK/?icmp=ajc_internallink_textlink_apr2013_ajcstubtomyajc_launch
Tech to study use of drones for monitoring highway traffic
BY KELLY YAMANOUCHI – THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
In Afghanistan, drones can deliver death from the skies. In Atlanta, their civilian cousins could deliver traffic conditions on the highways. While the use of weaponized drones for lethal military strikes is generating controversy, researchers at Georgia Tech are studying the potential for more peaceful uses of unmanned aerial vehicles. That includes the potential use of drones to monitor I-285 and other congested highways for backups or help with accident investigations to clear roads faster.
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/business/tech-trio-takes-bite-out-of-apple-security/nYDrQ/
Tech trio takes bite out of Apple security
BY CHRISTOPHER SEWARD – THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
Three computer security researchers at Georgia Tech are rattling Apple’s cage, reporting that they have figured out how to hack into mobile devices such as iPhones and iPads through a USB charger. Chengyu Song and Yeongjin Jang, both doctoral students, and Billy Lau, a staff researcher at Tech’s College of Computing, said they were able to bypass Apple software security and install “arbitrary software.” The three plan to discuss their work – which Tech says was done in the name of enhancing security – at next month’s Black Hat computer security conference in Las Vegas. A Tech spokesman on Thursday said the trio won’t be commenting until then.
www.forbes.com
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2013/06/06/tidal-energy-could-be-next-big-wave/
Tidal Energy Could Be Next Big Wave
Ken Silverstein, Contributor
The U.S. Department of Energy has just unveiled a floating off-shore wind platform that it thinks could make a big splash. But it has already been working hard to commercialize “tidal energy” that uses underwater turbines to create electricity, which must then be wired into the grid. Smaller tidal facilities are being tested. One such project has begun off the shores of Oregon, where underwater turbines using 10 buoys will generate 1.5 megawatts of power. Impediments to further growth are wide ranging and cover such issues as the preservation of aquatic resources, water quality and the maintenance of marine life. In the end, regulators — who are trying to diversify the nation’s energy mix with green fuels — have concluded that wave energy is a valued part of the plan and that it is more predictable than wind or solar… Such sustainable energy, along with tidal energy, are the next big wave. A joint analysis done by the Energy Department and Georgia Tech say that the West Coast, which includes Alaska and Hawaii, are excellent prospects.
www.science.nbcnews.com
http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/06/18807025-tropical-cave-helps-fill-gap-in-climate-record?lite
Tropical cave helps fill gap in climate record
By Becky Oskin
LiveScience
Slick towers in a tropical island cave provide a 100,000-year climate record rivaling Greenland’s pristine ice cores, scientists say. The rare view into past rainfall patterns in the tropics fills a gap in global climate history during a crucial period. Ice cores in Greenland and Antarctica have revealed rapid swings in Earth’s climate in the last 100,000 years in the high latitudes. By studying stalagmites in Borneo, in the western Pacific Ocean, researchers at Georgia Tech now know how the tropics responded to the sudden climate shifts. The team discovered some of the abrupt changes did not affect the region, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science Express.
Related article:
www.motherjones.com
Slicing Open Stalagmites to Reveal Climate Secrets
http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2013/06/stalagmites-are-new-tree-rings
STATE NEEDS/ISSUES:
www.ledger-enquirer.com
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2013/06/05/2531683/ga-earns-federal-funds-for-workforce.html
Ga. earns federal funds for workforce development
The Associated Press
ATLANTA — Georgia is set to receive $717,000 in federal grants for workforce and training programs after the state exceeded its goals for helping unemployed residents find jobs. The Governor’s Office of Workforce Development announced the grants Tuesday, saying Georgia was one of 15 states to receive the funds.
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2013/06/07/nuesoft-plans-200-job-expansion.html?page=all
Nuesoft plans 200-job expansion
Urvaksh Karkaria
Staff Writer-Atlanta Business Chronicle
An Atlanta medical software provider is raising $20 million for an expansion that will create up to 200 high-paying jobs over the next few years. In 1999, Marietta-based Nuesoft Technologies Inc. developed a cloud-based medical practice management software that automates the back-office operations for small to midsized physician groups, allowing the health-care providers to focus on delivering care… Nuesoft launched in 1993 at the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) at Georgia Tech. The company, which had revenue of more than $10 million last year, has been growing at a 20 percent rate.
Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www/gizmodo.com
http://gizmodo.com/is-the-world-ready-for-online-masters-degrees-to-be-tak-511726294
Is the World Ready for Online Masters Degrees to Be Taken Seriously?
Kyle Wagner
It’s sort of a utopian nerd dream, using the internet to be educated by the best universities in the world. We have online universities now, but they’ve become more targets of mean jokes than legitimate means to further education. But increasingly, that’s beginning to change. Georgia Tech announced the very first online master’s degree in computer science last month. It’s notable because it is a full degree in a field begging for new blood, but even more so because it’s available at a quarter of the cost of an on-campus degree. There’s naturally a lot of trepidation about online offerings, from faculty who see the beginnings of being replaced by cheaper online resources, and by traditional students who see their online counterparts pass at a higher rate while incurring a less expense. Online education eventually, pr even precipitously, taking precedence over traditional college education would be a bum deal for them, sure.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/mooc-students-who-got-offline-help-scored-higher-study-finds/44111
MOOC Students Who Got Offline Help Scored Higher, Study Finds
By Steve Kolowich
One of the first things researchers have learned about student success in massive open online courses is that in-person, one-on-one teaching still matters. For online learners who took the first session of “Circuits & Electronics,” the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s hallmark MOOC, those who worked on course material offline with a classmate or “someone who teaches or has expertise” in the subject did better than those who did not, according to a new paper by researchers at MIT and Harvard University. The research, published this week by the journal Research & Practice in Assessment, is one of the first peer-reviewed academic studies based on data from a MOOC.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/conversation/2013/06/06/the-dark-side-of-dual-enrollment/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
The Dark Side of Dual Enrollment
By Ken Smith and Diana Nixon
Different students learn in different ways—we know that. Students know that too. A precalculus student I talked to on a recent afternoon failed the class last fall and was on her way to failing it again this spring. Sadly, she will probably fail the class in the fall, too. Despite all the class aids (and there were many), she had not reacted to her consistently low exam scores until I spoke to her after class. Her science major requires that she complete Calculus 1 and possibly Calculus 2. Her mathematics SAT score was 380. We talked a little bit about the class, her performance, and where she should go next. The student explained that my class is not compatible with her “learning method.” She said that she prefers “that multiplying method, you know, where there are letters, A, B, C.”
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2013/06/07/twitter-skeptic-experiments-and-buys-essay#ixzz2VWxrrRGa
Tweets from the Ivory Tower
By Jack Schneider
Earlier this semester I received an e-mail from a colleague. Enclosed was a Twitter login, a brief set of instructions for using it, and a simple message: “Welcome to the Twitterverse.” The “Mission: Impossible”-style coaxing worked. An hour later I composed my first Tweet.
I was reluctant to join Twitter, despite years of admonishment from colleagues active on social media, because I didn’t see what value it could possibly add to my work. The platform, and its 140-character space limit, felt silly — better-suited for one-liners than for the dissemination of scholarship. …Colleges and universities have everything to gain from this, including a more visible presence in public life and stronger evidence that research has a place in higher education alongside teaching — something that has come under fire in recent years as the cost of college has steadily risen.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/technology-and-learning/30-million-instructure
$30 Million for Instructure
By Joshua Kim
We should join in congratulating Instructure’s leadership team for securing $30 million in additional venture capital funding. This is good news for higher ed, good news for edtech, and also good news for the competition. The investors at Bessemer Venture Partners clearly see the potential for growth in higher ed, and I think that they will end up doing extremely well when Instructure eventually goes public. Look for other large investments in edtech startups (particularly media management and mobile education platforms) in the coming months.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/political-insider/2013/jun/06/your-daily-jolt-gsu-prof-proves-1970-clean-air-act/
Political Insider with Jim Galloway
Your daily jolt: GSU prof proves 1970 Clean Air Act made Atlanta a wetter place
By Jim Galloway
So now we have a link between metro Atlanta’s two greatest problems – transportation and access to water. From the press release: A Georgia State University researcher is the first to show that the Clean Air Act of 1970 caused a rebound in rainfall for a U.S. city. Jeremy Diem, an associate professor in the Department of Geosciences, analyzed summer rainfall data from nine weather stations in the Atlanta metropolitan area from 1948 to 2009. He discovered that precipitation increased markedly in the late 1970s as pollution decreased following passage of the Clean Air Act of 1970. Diem also noted that pollution in the 1950s and 1960s caused rainfall to drop in the Atlanta area.
Education News
www.emory.edu
http://news.emory.edu/stories/2013/06/er_NIH_director_visit/campus.html
NIH Director Collins visits Emory, calls Georgia a ‘hotbed of great science’
By Mary Loftus | Emory Report
…Applied research, such as this 2011 hand transplant for 21-year-old Georgia college student Linda Lu, is a priority of NIH funding, and Emory had the rare opportunity to showcase some of the University’s most groundbreaking discoveries when Collins and Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) visited Emory May 29-30. As director of NIH, Collins oversees the work of the largest supporter of biomedical research in the world. Georgia is a “hotbed of great science and wonderful interactive research from basic to clinical,” he said. “There are remarkable achievements made here every day, and at NIH, we’re counting on that.”
ww.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/06/07/minerva-pushing-proposal-create-new-accreditation-system#ixzz2VWx06rkw
Accreditation Fast Track?
By Libby A. Nelson
WASHINGTON — A proposal is circulating quietly on Capitol Hill to ask accreditors to create a new, more flexible form of approval for new and nontraditional providers of higher education. The measure, a slight 37 words, contains few details about the new system it envisions. Its odds are long; so far, no lawmakers have volunteered to sponsor it. And its backers are few, albeit potentially influential: Bob Kerrey, the former New School president and Nebraska senator and governor, and Ben Nelson, the founder of the Minerva Project, the for-profit, startup online university with Ivy League-level ambitions. (Kerrey is executive chairman of the Minerva Institute for Research and Scholarship, a fledgling nonprofit established by the Minerva Project.) Still, the proposal represents a shot across the bow at the traditional system of higher education accreditation, which has been under increasing pressure since the second half of the Bush administration.
www.mdjonline.com
http://mdjonline.com/view/full_story/22825851/article-‘Countering-the-Common-Core’-coming-to-Cobb?instance=home_top_bullets
‘Countering the Common Core’ coming to Cobb
by Leo Hohmann
MARIETTA — The grassroots pushback against the controversial Common Core education standards adopted by Georgia and 44 other states is showing no signs of letting up — and Cobb County continues to be at the forefront of the fight. State Sen. William Ligon (R-Brunswick) will be coming to Marietta June 22 to speak at a Common Core panelist discussion organized by Concerned Women for America of Georgia and the American Principles Project. The event, dubbed “Countering Common Core: You’ve heard the spin — now get the truth,” will include Ligon and several other speakers with expertise on the subject, organizers said.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/53786/
Senate Defeats Democratic, Republican Student Loan Plans
by Philip Elliott, Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Interest rates on new student loans are likely headed higher after senators failed Thursday to advance proposals to keep them from doubling July 1. Dueling measures in the Senate would have kept interest rates on some student loans from moving from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent, although separate Republican and Democratic proposals each failed to win 60 votes needed on procedural votes. The failure means that, unless lawmakers can find a rare bipartisan agreement, students are likely to face higher rates on new subsidized Stafford student loans this fall but enjoy greater certainty on the interest they will be expected to pay during the life of their loans.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/06/07/textbook-prices-more-transparent-still-high#ixzz2VWxItlQW
Textbook Transparency and Pricing
By Lauren Ingeno
Students have greater access to textbook pricing information thanks to recent federal requirements, a new study shows. But it’s not clear yet what if any effect the changes mandated by the Higher Education Opportunity Act are having on textbook prices, which have continued to rise at an average of 6 percent per year, based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The study released Thursday by the Government Accountability Office offers evidence that textbook publishers, campus bookstores and university faculty members — as required by provisions within the Higher Education Opportunity Act that went into effect in 2010 — are all making efforts to enhance students’ choice and knowledge of the books they’re buying.
www.ccnewsnow.com
http://www.ccnewsnow.com/community-college-students-often-fail-to-achieve-bachelors-degree-study/
Community College Students Often Fail To Achieve Bachelor’s Degree: Study
Source: Huffington Post
A majority of students who head to community colleges after high school say they plan to eventually get a four-year degree, but a new report from the Century Foundation finds very few actually complete this goal. With 11 million students, community colleges are home to 45 percent of the collegiate population in the United States. The report found 81.4 percent of students who enter community colleges for the first time planned to obtain a bachelor’s degree in the future, but just 11.6 percent achieved that goal. Brian C. Mitchell, CEO of the Edvance Foundation, said a lot of it is related to understaffed advising offices at community colleges. At Edvance, Mitchell focuses on how to help community college students transition to four-year universities.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Harvard-Mounts-Campaign-to/139687/
Harvard Mounts Campaign to Bolster Undergraduate Humanities
By Dan Berrett
Maybe, just maybe, majoring in the humanities isn’t such a terrible idea. That is one of the messages contained in a set of reports released on Thursday by Harvard University’s Arts and Humanities Division. The reports outline the decades-long slide in the percentage of undergraduate humanities majors, both at Harvard and nationally, and describe coming changes in the curriculum, new internships, and improved advising, among other remedies.
www.ccnewsnow.com
http://www.ccnewsnow.com/community-colleges-key-to-latino-student-success-and-economic-future/
Community colleges – key to Latino student success and economic future
It’s no secret that Latino students face numerous hurdles regarding attaining a higher education, even at community colleges. Data released last year shows 21.3 percent of Latino adults have earned an associate’s degree or higher compared to 40.1 percent of all adults. It’s for this reason that Excelencia in Education teamed up with the innovative Single Stop USA to create a national strategy to increase educational achievement of Latinos at community colleges. The result is the two non-profits’ recently released study Supporting Latino Community College Students: An Investment in Our Economic Future. Its target is the non-traditional student.
www.ccnewsnow.com
http://www.ccnewsnow.com/new-report-highlights-innovative-ways-community-colleges-can-help-latino-students-succeed/
New report highlights innovative ways community colleges can help Latino students succeed
It is said that by 2025 63 percent of all jobs are going to need some ‘post-secondary’ education. In simple terms, a high school diploma is not going to cut it in the future for a job that pays a living wage and keeps a family from using food stamps or shopping from donation bins. Many Latino students have gotten the message. A recent Pew report revealed that a record number of Latino high school students had enrolled in college in 2012 — surpassing the rate of white students by two percentage points. Yet, disturbing studies by educational nonprofits show that instead of college being the start of achieving the new American Dream, for too many students it’s the beginning of the end. Too many Latino students start college already not fitting the traditional profile of a college student — they need academic prep or remediation, they live off-campus with their parents or own families; and they attend part-time while working 30 hours or more a week.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/06/07/report-calls-end-grouping-asian-american-students-one-category#ixzz2VWxB065f
The Deceptive Data on Asians
By Scott Jaschik
When Harvard University issued a news release last month about the freshman class it had just admitted, the announcement included information about the racial and ethnic make-up of the newly admitted students. Asian-Americans, the release said, would make up 20.9 percent of the class. Native Hawaiians were grouped with Native Americans, and together those two groups would make up 2.3 percent. When the College Board released its most recent report on SAT scores, racial and ethnic breakdowns were provided. In one category — with impressive mean scores — were Asian, Asian-American and Pacific Islanders.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Interacting-With-International/139683/
Interacting With International Peers in College May Confer Lasting Benefits
By Karin Fischer
American students who interact more with their classmates from abroad don’t just gain greater cultural awareness but also develop skills that benefit them after graduation, according to a new study by researchers at Duke University. The study, which is described in an article published in the Journal of International Students, draws on data from comprehensive alumni surveys of some 5,675 former students from the 1985, 1995, and 2000 graduating classes of four highly selective private research universities.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/06/07/study-finds-plagiarism-among-students-all-across-europe#ixzz2VWxbiuqw
Plagiarizing Across Europe
By Elizabeth Gibney for Times Higher Education
Many students do not understand what plagiarism is, according to a Europe-wide study.
Asked about a situation where 40 percent of a submission is copied word for word without using quotations, citations or references, 91 percent of respondents accurately identify this as plagiarism. However, in the same situation where “some changes” have been made to the copied text, almost 40 percent say they do not think it is plagiarism or are unsure whether it is. Among British students the figure is 31 percent, compared with just 6 percent in the “word for word” scenario.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/06/07/mitch-daniels-chats-fellow-disruptees-profit-meeting#ixzz2VWxRTzo8
It’s the Results, Stupid
By Paul Fain
ORLANDO – Mitch Daniels is agnostic on the various delivery modes of higher education or the tax status of colleges offering them, as long as students are getting a quality education at an appropriate price.
“I’m only interested in results per dollar charged,” Daniels, president of Purdue University and the former Indiana governor, said in a speech to for-profit-college leaders here on Thursday. “That’s the value equation.”
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/53797/
Judge Tosses Lawsuit by Pa. Governor Against NCAA
by Mark Scolforo, Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A federal judge on Thursday threw out the governor’s lawsuit against the NCAA over sanctions against Penn State related to Jerry Sandusky, calling his argument “a Hail Mary pass” that easily warranted dismissal. U.S. Middle District Judge Yvette Kane’s decision puts an early end to the anti-trust lawsuit Gov. Tom Corbett filed in January in which he sought to overturn a $60 million fine, a four-year bowl ban, scholarship limits and other penalties.