University System News
USG NEWS:
www.accessnorthga.com
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=268544
Ga. immigrant students seeking in-state tuition
By The Associated Press
DECATUR, Ga. (AP) A hearing is set for a lawsuit filed by a group of young people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children and want the Georgia university system to grant them in-state tuition. The roughly three dozen young immigrants have been granted temporary permission to stay in the U.S. under an Obama administration policy introduced last year. The lawsuit filed in August asks a judge to instruct the university system’s Board of Regents to allow them to qualify for in-state tuition.
www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/uganews/campus/uga-initiates-program-to-close-black-male-enrollment-gap/article_7786d63c-5c80-11e3-b3c2-001a4bcf6878.html
UGA initiates program to close black male enrollment gap
Brad Mannion
Corey Devereux was “surprised” about the enrollment numbers of black males at the University of Georgia. “I see athletes around campus sometimes, but other than that, I don’t see a lot around campus,” the sophomore journalism major from Athens said. “I may have one other black guy in a class with me.” UGA is looking to change that. UGA received a $10,000 grant to implement the African American Male Initiative — a plan to help with the enrollment, retention and graduation of African-American males. This initiative was the result of the statewide plan created by the University System of Georgia in 2002.
www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/uganews/athens/downtown-athens-becomes-prime-location-for-new-student-housing/article_e7477b08-5ca7-11e3-9152-0019bb30f31a.html
Downtown Athens becomes prime location for new student housing
Jana French
The Standard at Athens, Eclipse on Broad, The Flats at Carr’s Hill — these are all new apartment complexes that consider themselves to be the cream of the crop when it comes to student housing. Apart from top-end amenities, such as granite countertops and state-of-the-art gyms, one of the main factors for why these luxury student housing complexes are showing up is location. …“We feel like there is a need for the type of housing that we can provide at the Standard,” he said. “And not only do we have the best location in Athens, but we are also offering the highest quality student housing in the Athens market.”
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/57898/#
Co-op Programs Becoming Popular for Real World Experience
By Kenneth J. Cooper
Since the recession started in 2008, many college graduates have struggled to find suitable jobs in their fields. Parents and students who have started to doubt a degree’s value may want to consider colleges that offer cooperative education, which allows students to rotate between classes and jobs. Through co-op education, students gain valuable experience that helps them land jobs after graduation. The dozens of schools that offer co-op education maintained their high rates of placing graduates during the 2008-2009 recession — and continue to do so… About 50 American colleges have participated in programs of the World Association for Cooperative Education, based at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Besides Northeastern and Cincinnati, schools that are into co-op in a big way include the Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Toledo, Rochester Institute of Technology and Drexel University.
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2013-12-04/uga-does-better-teaching-sustainability-practicing-it-interns-say
UGA does better at teaching sustainability than practicing it, interns say
By LEE SHEARER
The University of Georgia does a better job of teaching about and conducting research on sustainability than actually practicing it, according to student interns’ research in UGA’s Office of Sustainability. The university scored just high enough to get a “silver” rating on the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s checklist, said UGA student Elizabeth Crute.
www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/uganews/bond-set-for-former-uga-employee-charged-with-sexual-exploitation/article_c06960f8-5d0d-11e3-8faf-0019bb30f31a.html
Bond set for former UGA employee charged with sexual exploitation of a child
by HILARY BUTSCHEK
Former University of Georgia employee, Jeffrey Wall Delk’s bond was set at $25,000 on Wednesday morning after he was arrested Nov. 26 on 43 counts of sexual exploitation of a child. Delk resigned from his position as assistant director of development in UGA’s Office of Development following his arrest. He had been employed at UGA since 2000.
USG VALUE:
www.savannahnow.com
http://savannahnow.com/effingham-now/2013-12-04/4-hers-take-part-cotton-boll#.UqCPvCh5iCY
4-H’ers take part in Cotton Boll
By Effingham Now
4-H’ERS TAKE PART IN COTTON BOLL
Effingham 4-H’ers recently took part in the Cotton Boll and consumer judging competition in Statesboro, at Georgia Southern University. The annual competition is sponsored by the Georgia Cotton Commission and the University of Georgia Extension Office. Students learn skills in reasoning, concentration and decision making. They learn the importance of cotton as an agricultural commodity and how to be responsible consumers.
GOOD NEWS:
www.myfoxatlanta.com
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/story/24138552/dogs-help-georgia-tech-students-de-stress-during-finals#ixzz2mbW5jF8z
Dogs help Georgia Tech students de-stress during finals
By Paul Yates, FOX 5 reporter
ATLANTA – Some four-legged friends are providing some relief to Georgia Tech students stressed by finals. Dogs and handlers from the CAREing Paws volunteer organization are scheduled to be available on Wednesday and Thursday to help students stay calm. This is the second year for the stress relief program at Georgia Tech.
RESEARCH:
www.dvice.com
http://www.dvice.com/2013-12-3/drive-wheelchair-tongue-piercing
Drive a wheelchair with a tongue piercing
Robin Burks
For people with disabilities that don’t have control over their limbs, controlling wheelchairs can be challenging. However, scientists are working on solutions, at least as far as mobility goes. The latest system, developed by scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology, uses a tongue piercing, along with an iPod app, allowing those people to control their wheelchairs with just a flick of their tongue. Obviously, for this to work, the person in the wheelchair has to submit to a tongue piercing with a small titanium barbell. A headset with sensors is also required, which responds to a magnet inside the piercing.
www.fiercedrugdelivery.com
http://www.fiercedrugdelivery.com/story/study-worm-shaped-nanoparticles-best-infiltrating-breast-cancer/2013-12-04#ixzz2mbXHS25N
Study: ‘Worm-shaped’ nanoparticles best at infiltrating breast cancer
By Michael Gibney
Often when using nanoparticles to target and penetrate cancer cells, the shape of the tiny drug-carrying vehicles is crucial to their performance. And Australian researchers have found evidence that “worm-shaped” nanoparticles may be more effective than spheres at delivering cancer drugs to breast cancer. The scientists at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) published a study in the journal Polymer Chemistry that demonstrated cylindrical-shaped nanoparticles performing 7 times better than those of other shapes, including spherical micelle, cylindrical micelle and vesicles… t’s not the first study to investigate the best nanoparticle shape for drug delivery, though. In October, Georgia Tech researchers found that disc-shaped particles were best at gaining entry into human cells.
www.starnewsonline.com
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20131204/ARTICLES/131209890/1177?Title=Turtle-DNA-project-goal-to-learn-more-about-loggerhead-behavior
Turtle DNA project goal to learn more about loggerhead behavior
By Kate Elizabeth Queram
When sea turtle volunteers in North Carolina discover a freshly laid clutch of eggs, they do something seemingly counterintuitive to their conservation mission: Pluck an egg from the nest and crack it open. The contents are discarded, and the shell is quickly slipped into a tube of alcohol to preserve what they’re really after – mama turtle juice. …”Once you’ve popped the egg and put it in the solution, you’re good. It’ll keep for a while.” Long enough, at least, to be shipped to the University of Georgia, where researchers analyze the maternal DNA and generate a genetic profile of each nesting female loggerhead.
www.savannahnow.com
http://savannahnow.com/news/2013-12-04/tybee-turtle-hitches-ride-wild#.UqCe0yh5iCY
Tybee turtle hitches a ride to the wild
By Mary Landers
A straggler who couldn’t make her own way out of the nest, Delta the loggerhead sea turtle was plucked from the beach at Tybee in August 2012 and put on display at the Tybee Island Marine Science Center where close to 50,000 people visited her gallery. …On Monday, Delta graduated to a much larger stage, the warm waters of the Gulf Stream about 80 miles off the coast. Now a healthy 15 pounds and accompanied by her caretakers, the turtle piggybacked on a previously scheduled cruise of the UGA Skidaway Institute of Oceanography’s Research Vessel Savannah for the 10-hour journey.
Related article:
www.wsav.com
http://www.wsav.com/story/24124645/sea-turtle-released-back-in-to-the-ocean
Sea Turtle Released Back Into the Ocean
STATE NEEDS/ISSUES:
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/hope-bill-would-restore-funds-for-technical-colleg/ncBwt/
HOPE bill would restore funds for technical college students
By Janel Davis and James Salzer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Two state lawmakers are hoping to increase the HOPE grant award for technical college students so it pays their full tuition, as it did in the past. The bill’s sponsors, state Reps. Stacey Evans, D-Smyrna, and Earl Ehrhart, R-Powder Springs, say the legislation restores aid to technical college students that was cut two years ago. About 85,000 technical college students receive the HOPE grant, which currently covers about 74 percent of students’ tuition. Increasing the grant is likely to cost $30 million a year, according to the Georgia Student Finance Commission, which administers the lottery-funded HOPE program.
Related article;
www.tablet.olivessoftware.com
http://tablet.olivesoftware.com/Olive/Tablet/AtlantaJournalConstitution/SharedArticle.aspx?href=AJC/2013/12/05&id=Ar02101
HOPE bill would restore funds
Full tuition for technical college students was cut two years ago.
Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/higher-ed-beta/welcome-higher-ed-beta#ixzz2mbVcuEfe
Welcome to Higher Ed Beta
By Steven Mintz and Michael Patrick Rutter
The educational landscape is shifting under our feet. Georgia Tech’s decision to offer a name-brand master’s degree in computer science at a strikingly low price is only the most dramatic example of the host of innovations that are reshaping higher education. The next 24 to 36 months are likely to see dramatic shifts in the way that education is delivered and consumed. Many textbooks will be free and will be supplemented by high quality interactive digital content that will include animations, simulations, online laboratories, serious games, and immersive learning environments.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/political-insider/2013/dec/04/pocketknives-schools-and-georgias-zero-tolerance-b/
Political Insider with Jim Galloway
Pocketknives, schools, and Georgia’s ‘zero tolerance’ ban
Last month, just before the Thanksgiving break, an assistant principal at Allatoona High School in north Cobb County caught a member of the school’s football team skipping class.
Upon his return to campus, the young man was questioned and failed to provide satisfactory answers. “Since he lied to me, I realized he may have been doing something off-campus of an illegal nature,” the school official reported. The assistant principal conducted a search of the young man’s locked car and found two pocketknives in the glove box. One with a 2 1/2-inch blade, smaller than the ones that Cub Scouts use in their first whittling classes. The other, a butterfly-style knife, had a 4-inch blade. Either one was enough to charge the student with felony possession of a weapon on school grounds.
Education News
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-education/state-changes-system-of-grading-schools-and-distri/ncB4p/?icmp=ajc_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_ajcstub1
State changes system of grading schools and districts
BY WAYNE WASHINGTON – THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
Less than a year after Georgia implemented a new system for grading its schools and districts, the state is adjusting that formula on the eve of releasing this year’s scores. The College and Career Ready Performance Index was announced earlier this year to replace measures under the much-criticized federal No Child Left Behind Act that classified schools as either meeting, exceeding or failing to meet academic standards.
www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/report-finds-seven-of-10-students-graduate-from-college-with-loans-average-debt-on-the-rise/2013/12/04/a6101140-5d1a-11e3-95c2-13623eb2b0e1_story.html?wpisrc=nl_cuzheads
Report: Seven in 10 students graduate from college with loans; average debt on the rise
By Nick Anderson
More than 70 percent of college graduates in 2012 had student loans, and their average debt surpassed $29,000, according to an independent analysis of federal data made public Wednesday. Both figures were higher than what was found in a comparable profile of graduates four years earlier.
www.nytimes.com
Student Debt Load Found to Vary by College and State
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
Rising student debt has become a national concern, but the picture is far from uniform, with students at some colleges borrowing 10 times as much as their counterparts at other colleges, a report released Wednesday says. The Institute for College Access and Success, a research group, reported not only an enormous variation in student debt from college to college — from less than $5,000 per borrower at some to almost $50,000 at others — but also wide differences by region, with students in the East and Midwest borrowing far more than those in the West and South.
Related articles:
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/12/05/average-student-debt-borrowers-2012-climbed-over-29000#ixzz2mbbUfvpv
Average Student Debt Climbs, Again
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Borrowers-Average-Debt-at/143381/
Borrowers’ Average Debt at Graduation Climbs to $29,400
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Education-Dept-Seeks-Ideas/143385/
Education Dept. Seeks Ideas for Experiments in Cutting College Costs
By Andy Thomason
Washington
The U.S. Department of Education on Wednesday called on higher education to submit ideas for “experimental sites” that will test innovative ways of reducing the cost of college.
The sites, which were mentioned in the college-affordability plan President Obama introduced in August and will be outlined in a notice to be published in the Federal Register on Friday, present an opportunity to formally test the merits of a variety of ideas that have gained traction in higher education, such as competency-based learning.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/57903/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=245fde3646be4c9b8632af46963c8218&elqCampaignId=146#
Black Colleges Face Uphill Battle to Survive
By Sarah Carr, Hechinger Report
…Dozens of predominantly Black colleges are facing battles to stay alive — battles even their supporters agree that some will lose. “I do predict several HBCUs will close,” said Jarrett Carter, the editor of the online blog HBCUDigest.com, using the acronym for historically Black colleges and universities. “It’s not a question of if, but when.” These institutions are among the most vulnerable among universities and colleges of all types beset by financial woes. As a group they suffer disproportionately from small endowments, subpar facilities, and underprepared students. …Officials in North Carolina, Virginia and Georgia have proposed or hinted at merging historically Black colleges into nearby, predominantly White institutions.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/57898/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=245fde3646be4c9b8632af46963c8218&elqCampaignId=146#
Co-op Programs Becoming Popular for Real World Experience
By Kenneth J. Cooper
Since the recession started in 2008, many college graduates have struggled to find suitable jobs in their fields. Parents and students who have started to doubt a degree’s value may want to consider colleges that offer cooperative education, which allows students to rotate between classes and jobs. Through co-op education, students gain valuable experience that helps them land jobs after graduation. The dozens of schools that offer co-op education maintained their high rates of placing graduates during the 2008-2009 recession — and continue to do so.
www.nytimes.com
Professors in Deal to Design Online Lessons for A.P. Classes
By TAMAR LEWIN
To ease the way for students grappling with certain key concepts, professors at Davidson College in North Carolina will design online lessons for high school students in Advanced Placement courses in calculus, physics and macroeconomics and make them widely available through the College Board and edX, a nonprofit online education venture.
www.online.wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303722104579238153471481082?mod=ITP_marketplace_2
B-Schools Vie for Startup Crown
M.B.A. Programs Tout On-Campus Incubators, Successes Like Warby Parker—Which School Is Best?
By MELISSA KORN
So, you want to start a company. Which business school is best? …These days, business schools want to be known as the ultimate place to hatch a startup. As traditional M.B.A. industries like finance lose steam, schools are catering to candidates with entrepreneurial ambitions, loading up on business plan competitions, accelerators, incubators, classes and research centers devoted to entrepreneurship. But how can students really know which is best?
www.online.wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303722104579238172045425430?mod=ITP_marketplace_2
Veteran Goes From the Military to Business School
By MELISSA KORN
Battle-tested veterans are enlisting in a new challenge: business school. B-school administrators are stepping up outreach to military officers, saying veterans lend leadership experience and global perspective to classroom discussions. Former military leaders are also in demand on the job market. Thanks to the strong ties they forged in the service, those considering M.B.A. degrees tend to flock to institutions with robust veteran communities.
www.online.wsj.com
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303722104579237862928397316?mod=ITP_marketplace_0
‘Crowdfunding’ Gets State-Level Test Run
By RUTH SIMON and ANGUS LOTEN
Entrepreneur Adam Lee and his brother couldn’t get a bank loan. Then they learned that Georgia state officials had taken steps that might make it easier for their startup, Bohemian Guitars LLC, of Marietta, Ga., to raise the funds it needs. The pair, who make and sell oilcan guitars priced at $250 and up, are among a small but growing number of entrepreneurs taking part in a sort of test run for new federal rules: Officials in nearly a dozen states, including Georgia, Alabama, Kansas and Wisconsin, have enacted or proposed new laws—or tweaked existing policies—to make it possible for resident entrepreneurs to secure financing from everyday local investors, also known as “equity crowdfunding,” according to the North American Securities Administrators Association.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/12/05/council-american-studies-association-backs-boycott-israeli-universities#ixzz2mbbLPvR2
Big Win for Boycott Movement
By Scott Jaschik
The National Council of the American Studies Association announced Wednesday that it has unanimously endorsed a boycott of Israeli universities and other Israeli institutions — and urged its members to vote to make the boycott official policy of the association. The move by the council, even if awaiting approval by the membership, is seen as a major victory for the movement for an academic boycott of Israel.