University System News
USG VALUE:
AJC
http://www.myajc.com/news/business/att-opens-innovation-hub-at-georgia-tech/nZdr9/?icmp=ajc_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_ajcstubtomyajcpremium
AT&T opens innovation hub at Georgia Tech
By KRISTI E. SWARTZ
AT&T officially opened its high-tech innovation center at Georgia Tech on Tuesday, a collaboration that will put engineers and executives together to dream up and market new technology. This is AT&T’s fourth Foundry. The center, at Georgia Tech’s Technology Square campus in Midtown Atlanta, is the latest example of Atlanta’s growth as a hub for wireless and mobility operations. Atlanta’s Foundry will focus on consumer products and applications, he said. The goal is to “continue to build a mobile economy that is helping to shape our lives and hoping to change the way we live our lives,” Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson said to a packed room of state and local officials, Georgia Tech employees and AT&T management. AT&T has three of these centers already, in Israel, Texas and California. Staffers at the centers have worked with software developers and engineers from outside firms on more than 60 ideas for new programs, apps and devices.
(Subscription required*)
Technology Review
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/518716/researchers-grow-3-d-human-brain-tissues/
Researchers Grow 3-D Human Brain Tissues
By Susan Young
Scientists at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology in Vienna, Austria, have grown three-dimensional human brain tissues from stem cells. The tissues form discrete structures that are seen in the developing brain. The Vienna researchers found that immature brain cells derived from stem cells self-organize into brain-like tissues in the right culture conditions… A group at Georgia Institute of Technology has developed a three-dimensional neural culture to study brain injury, with the goal of identifying biomarkers that could be used to diagnose brain injury and potential drug targets for medications that can repair injured neurons.
Columbus Ledger
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2013/08/28/2658120/college-graduate-salary-survey.html#storylink=cpy
Which colleges’ graduates earn the highest salaries?
By MARK RICE
NerdScholar, a website that compiles information to help students and their parents make informed college choices, crunched the numbers to determine which schools and programs earn students the most money after graduation. The ranking is based on senior exit surveys from 100 colleges.
Information Week
http://www.informationweek.com/education/policy/disruptive-education-advocate-encouraged/240160547
Disruptive Education Advocate Encouraged By Obama Focus
By David F. Carr
When President Barack Obama came out with a series of proposals for rating higher education and tying those ratings to student financial aid, these were familiar themes for Michael Horn… Obama also talked up online college programs such as the Georgia Institute of Technology master’s degree in computer science, which will cost less than $7,000 thanks to a partnership with Udacity (one of the MOOC’s most celebrated advances). How that advocacy will translate into policy remains to be seen, Horn said. “What the president did really well is use the bully pulpit to shine light on new forms of education and give them some legitimacy.”
RESEARCH:
Today (NBC News)
http://www.today.com/tech/humans-tend-trust-robots-look-human-8C11020747
Humans tend to trust robots that look human
Most robots are so much more than a pretty face, but most humans don’t see them that way. We make snap decisions about a robot’s personality, friendliness and abilities — all from the way it looks, even if it’s just a projection on a display screen, new research shows. A new study, published in the Aug. 28 issue of PLOS ONE, adds to growing evidence that as robots become assistants and collaborators in all aspects of our lives, their appearance can deeply influence how well machines and humans interact.
The Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/die-off-of-bottlenose-dolphins-caused-by-virus-is-worst-in-25-years/2013/08/27/69c135cc-0f48-11e3-bdf6-e4fc677d94a1_story.html
By Lenny Bernstein
A widespread die-off of bottlenose dolphins off the Mid-Atlantic Coast — the worst of its kind in more than a quarter-century — almost certainly is the work of a virus that killed more than 740 dolphins in the same region in 1987 and 1988, marine scientists said Tuesday. Since the beginning of July, 357 dead or dying dolphins have washed ashore from New York to North Carolina — 186 of them in Virginia. Authorities have received numerous additional reports of carcasses floating in the ocean, said Teri Rowles, director of the marine mammal health and stranding response program for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries service. The actual number of deaths is certainly greater, she said.
Editorials/Columns/Opinions
Savannah Morning News
http://savannahnow.com/opinion/2013-08-28/savannah-athens-link-improving-hire-ed#.Uh9Ez-uvxY4
Savannah-Athens link: Improving ‘hire’ ed
THE main campus of the University of Georgia may be a four-hour drive from Savannah. But the educational connections between Athens and coastal Georgia are quite close — and pose excellent opportunities to benefit both communities and the entire state. On Monday, new University of Georgia President Jere Morehead delivered a clear, strong message in Savannah about where he stands on academics — students and their education come first. To sum it up, if someone pitches him an idea that clearly doesn’t advance this goal, then “I promise you that my response will be very clear,” he told members of Rotary Club of Savannah during a luncheon meeting.
Inside Higher Ed
http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/08/29/essay-unusual-approach-book-about-2012-election#ixzz2dMPo8k4R
Scholarship in Public
BY John Sides and Lynn Vavreck
Academic research confronts a perilous environment. Government funding has been cut. Members of Congress express skepticism of or hostility to entire disciplines, especially political science but also the social sciences generally. Scholarly publishing confronts important challenges. Traditional paywalls are increasingly controversial and, some argue, counterproductive. University presses face financial pressures. There are no easy solutions to these problems. Nevertheless, we think that a more public-facing academy is a necessary, if insufficient, response. Public engagement helps to demonstrate the value of research. It also helps to generate a larger audience for scholarly research and therefore potentially more revenue for publishers. We are not suggesting that research intended for a broader audience can or should supplant research targeted at the scholarly community. But we think there is room for more scholars to demonstrate that their expertise is important outside their subfield.
Education News
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/business/emory-university-to-pay-15-million-to-settle-false/nZfqp/?icmp=ajc_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_ajcstubtomyajcpremium
Emory University to pay $1.5 million to settle False Claims Act investigation
BY DAVID MARKIEWICZ
Emory University will pay $1.5 million to settle federal and state claims that it violated the False Claims Act by improperly billing Medicare and Medicaid for clinical trial services at its Winship Cancer Institute. The U.S. Justice Department and the Georgia attorney general’s office made the announcement Wednesday in the civil case, which resulted from a whistle-blower lawsuit filed by a former Emory employee, Elizabeth Elliott. Government officials alleged Emory billed Medicare and Medicaid for services that the sponsor of the clinical trial agreed to pay. In some cases, the sponsor did pay, the government said, so Emory was paid twice for the same service.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2013/08/28/emory-university-pays-15m-to-settle.html
Emory University pays $1.5M to settle False Claims Act case
BY Jacques Couret
Emory University will pay $1.5 million to settle claims it billed Medicare and Medicaid for cancer clinical trial services not allowed under Medicare and Medicaid rules. About $70,000 of the settlement will go to Georgia. The United States and Georgia alleged Emory billed Medicare and Medicaid for services the clinical trial sponsor agreed to pay and, in some cases actually did pay, resulting in Emory getting paid twice for the same service. The case came about from a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Elizabeth Elliot, a former research finance manager at Emory. She will get $322,500 of the settlement, plus $11,250 for wrongful termination claims.
Inside Higher Ed
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/08/28/san-jose-state-u-posts-improved-online-course-results-udacity-partnership-remains#ixzz2dMOuAsDq
Boost for Udacity Project
By Carl Straumsheim
Two months after San Jose State University announced it would put its partnership with the online course provider Udacity on “pause,” university officials on Wednesday touted results from the summer cohort as “significantly better” and said the project will not be disrupted by a hiatus lasting through the fall semester. The partnership, known as SJSU Plus, was unveiled with great fanfare in January, with many politicians — including California Governor Jerry Brown — saying it showed the way for providing inexpensive college education for a mass audience. The project then skidded to a halt in July as the first three for-credit courses — college algebra, elementary statistics and entry-level math — posted pass rates between 23.8 and 50.5 percent. The university announced it would spend the fall semester evaluating the project and its results, then reopen enrollment for the 2014 spring semester.
Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/28/cu-boulder-federal-complaint-sexual-assult_n_3826702.html
University Of Colorado-Boulder Faces New Claim Of Mishandling Sexual Assaults
By Tyler Kingkade
The University of Colorado at Boulder faces a new federal complaint alleging the state school does not accurately report crimes and failed to warn students when someone responsible for sexual assault was on campus. Sarah Gilchriese, one of two students who filed the Clery complaint against CU-Boulder on Tuesday, said her assailant was allowed to remain on campus for a month after he was found guilty of “nonconsensual sexual intercourse.” Even worse, Gilchriese said, is that he was able to continue to play for and travel with a university club sports team during that period, staying in hotels with students who were unaware of the assault he committed. “They’re supposed to prevent similar occurrences from happening, so people should’ve been able to know,” Gilchriese said. CU-Boulder spokesman Bronson R. Hilliard said he could not comment on specific cases, but insisted the university is committed to full compliance with the Clery Act
Other News
WABE 90.1 FM
http://wabe.org/post/perdue-says-he-still-supports-common-core-education-standards
Perdue Says He Still Supports Common Core Education Standards
By MARTHA DALTON
Republican Gov. Nathan Deal recently asked the state board of education to review a new set of education standards called the Common Core. The standards have recently become controversial within Deal’s own party. But the Common Core was championed a few years ago by another Republican, former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue.