University System News

USG NEWS:
www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/education/2013-12-21/qa-james-hull-newest-member-university-system-georgia-board-regents
Q&A: James Hull, newest member of University System of Georgia Board of Regents
By Tracey McManus
Staff Writer
Gov. Nathan Deal appointed Augusta philanthropist and real estate developer James Hull to the University System of Georgia Board of Regents last month. Hull, a member manager of Hull Storey Gibson Companies LLC, became the first Augusta appointee to the 19-member board since 2007. Hull addressed his appointment in a question and answer session with The Augusta Chronicle. Q: Over the last few years, Gov. Nathan Deal has stressed the Complete College Georgia program and the need for a more qualified and educated workforce by 2020. How do you think we can achieve that goal?

www.dailyreportonline.com
http://www.dailyreportonline.com/PubArticleDRO.jsp?id=1202634369275&kw=Georgia%20Law%20Schools%20Buck%20Falling%20Enrollment%20Trend&et=editorial&bu=Daily%20Report&cn=20131223&src=EMC-Email&pt=Morning%20News&slreturn=20131123100047
Georgia Law Schools Buck Falling Enrollment Trend
Total enrollment rises by 10 percent at state’s five accredited law schools, even as national enrollment falls by 11 percent
By Meredith Hobbs
Two-thirds of the country’s 202 ABA-approved law schools reported declines in first-year enrollment from last year. This fall, 39,675 full-time and part-time students started law school in the United States. That is a decrease of 4,802 students from last fall—and a 24 percent decrease from fall 2010, which registered an all-time high of 52,488 1Ls. Overall, the size of the 2013 entering class dropped 11 percent, according to statistics released last week by the American Bar Association. Total enrollment at Georgia’s five accredited law schools increased this year even though law school enrollment continues to decline nationally. …There was a total of 10,562 applications to Georgia’s five law schools, down from 11,786 in 2012. Total enrollment was 1,043 for this fall’s first-year class, up from 947 in 2012. Three Georgia law schools increased enrollment: Mercer University, Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School and the University of Georgia. The first-year class size decreased slightly at Georgia State University and by a larger percentage at Emory University.

www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/health/2013-12-21/gru-dog-experiment-sound-researcher-says?v=1387655159
GRU dog experiment sound, researcher says
By Tom Corwin and Tracey McManus
Staff Writers
The head of research for Georgia Regents University’s dental school said he is not aware of any upcoming dental implant testing on dogs, but documents obtained by The Augusta Chronicle show the school sought and received approval in June to continue experiments for another three years. The Humane Society of the United States alleged in November that the experiments conducted on six dogs in March, witnessed by an undercover investigator, were frivolous and driven by profit. According to a research protocol obtained by The Chronicle, researchers were attempting to develop an antimicrobial coating that would prevent infection from colonizing dental implants, an issue that arises in about 10 percent of cases. Dr. Christopher Cutler, the chairman of the Department of Periodontics at GRU and interim associate dean for research at the dental school, said this is a pioneering approach to solving a serious medical issue and had to be tested in animals before human clinical trials could begin.

Related article:
Www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2013-12-22/gru-officials-defend-using-dogs-dental-program
GRU officials defend using dogs in dental program

www.rockdalecitizen.com
http://www.rockdalecitizen.com/news/2013/dec/22/georgia-public-library-service-may-change-state/
Georgia Public Library Service may change state funding formula
By Jessicah Peters
CONYERS — The Georgia Public Library Service (GPLS) could be changing its state funding formula to allocate more money for paid librarian positions. Deputy State Librarian Julie Walker said the new formula will be based on two factors: population and geography — the number of counties within a library system. Since Rockdale and Newton counties are a single-county systems, there will be one paid librarian for the county and one per 80,000 in population. Walker said those changes will go into effect July 2014, which is when the new fiscal year begins. The 63 libraries in Georgia receive funding from state and local governments. Under the current funding formula established by the GPLS and the Board of Regents, state funds are distributed three ways: for paid librarian positions, materials grants and system services grants.

CONSOLIDATION:
www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/health/2013-12-20/top-story-gru-looks-clear-course-ahead
GRU looks for ‘clear course’ ahead
By Tom Corwin
Staff Writer
After hitting a number of rough spots in its first year of consolidation, Georgia Regents University is looking for a smoother course in the coming year, Provost Gretchen Caughman said. Asked to provide a headline for year two, she said, “Continuing the course and picking up speed.” The University System of Georgia Board of Regents officially approved the consolidation in January of Georgia Health Sciences and Augusta State universities after a year of work to consolidate the two. The new university hit a snag soon after when it erased in brochures for prospective students the Augusta State logo from its championship golf team and other athletes. The furor over that forced President Ricardo Azziz to publicly apologize but that and lingering resentment of Augusta not being part of the new university’s official continued.

GOOD NEWS:
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/59651/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=e7fd7a745797488bb1ac932cfd8eb3a4&elqCampaignId=146#
Early Christmas Presents for Kids with Disabilities
by Lee Shearer, The Athens Banner-Herald
ATHENS, Ga. ― A half-dozen children got some special early Christmas presents from a University of Georgia class this month. For at least one of the children, the gift seemed to be a game changer. The toy recipients live with motor disabilities that make it difficult or impossible to do things that most take for granted, such as operating an on-off button to a dancing Mickey Mouse doll. Made by 16 UGA freshmen for a class in “assistive technology,” the toys specifically made for the children came with adapted controls bigger and easier to use than the original switches.

Related article:
www.accessnorthga.com
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=269169
UGA students, including Gainesville freshman, make toys for kids with disabilities

RESEARCH:
www.psychcentral.com
http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/12/22/impulsive-personality-linked-to-food-addiction/63650.html
Impulsive Personality Linked to Food Addiction
By TRACI PEDERSEN Associate News Editor
People with an impulsive personality may be more likely to have a food addiction, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Georgia. Furthermore, those with higher levels of food addiction are more likely to have a higher body mass index (BMI). The study found that people exhibiting impulsive behavior weren’t necessarily overweight, but impulsivity was linked to a compulsive relationship with food and, as a result, less healthy weight.

Related article:
www.blogs.scientificamerican.com
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/food-matters/2013/12/20/why-being-impulsive-might-put-you-at-risk-for-food-addiction/
Why being impulsive might put you at risk for food addiction

www.thealmagest.com
http://www.thealmagest.com/researcher-develops-new-medicine-attacks-hiv-integrates-human-dna/7762
Researcher develops new medicine that attacks HIV before it integrates with human DNA
By PressRelease
Thirty-four million people are living with human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, worldwide and each year some 2.5 million more are infected, according to the World Health Organization. New medicine developed at the University of Georgia attacks the virus before it integrates with human DNA, understood by researchers as the point of no return.

www.news.psu.edu
http://news.psu.edu/story/298976/2013/12/19/research/dna-study-gives-insight-evolution-food-crops-other-flowering-plants
DNA study gives insight into the evolution of food crops, other flowering plants
By Barbara K. Kennedy
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Publication of the newly sequenced genome of the Amborella plant has shed new light on a major event in the history of life on Earth — the origin of all major food crops and all other flowering plants. The research addresses the question of why flowers suddenly proliferated on Earth millions of years ago. A paper by the Amborella Genome Sequencing Project, which includes Penn State scientists and students, was published by the journal Science in the Dec. 20 issue. The paper is among three on different research areas related to the Amborella genome that appear in the issue, along with a “Perspective” commentary by the journal. …Amborella (Amborella trichopoda) is unique as the sole survivor of an ancient evolutionary lineage that traces back to the last common ancestor of all flowering plants. …An effort to decipher the Amborella genome — led by scientists at Penn State, the University at Buffalo, the University of Florida, the University of Georgia and the University of California-Riverside — is uncovering evidence for the evolutionary processes that paved the way for the amazing diversity of the more than 300,000 flowering plant species on Earth today.

www.phys.org
http://phys.org/news/2013-12-fish-passage.html
Researchers develop new model to assess fish passage
by Beth Gavrilles
Fishes, such as salmon, who must swim upstream to their birthplace to spawn are often impeded by obstacles like dams and roads that crisscross rivers and streams. A team of researchers from the University of Georgia and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center has developed a new model that could help environmental managers determine the most cost-effective way to improve the fishes’ chances of reaching spawning grounds. Their work was recently published in the journal Ecological Applications.

STATE NEEDS/ISSUES:
www.statesboroherald.com
http://www.statesboroherald.com/section/1/article/55902/
Hotel-motel tax system in question
State: Many counties not reporting revenues
By CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY
Associated Press
ATLANTA — Dozens of cities and counties across Georgia are authorized to collect money through a lodging tax on hotel and motel guests in their area, but state officials say they are unable to provide the total amount generated annually through the program or account for how every dollar has been spent due to incomplete reporting by local governments who can sometimes take years to file the reports. Communities as big as Atlanta and Savannah and as small as Alma and West Point are authorized to collect the tax, which can range from 3 to 8 percent depending on local rules. At the very least, tens of millions of dollars are collected across the state each year through the program with Atlanta planning to set aside roughly $200 million of its hotel tax revenue to help fund a new Falcons stadium downtown and Cobb County to use $940,000 annually for 30 years to help pay its portion of a new Braves stadium. …Built into the law is the possibility that a government could lose its ability to collect the tax for failing to report the information to the state, something that is required within 180 days of the end of its fiscal year.

Related article:
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2013-12-21/reporting-lags-gas-hotel-motel-tax-program
Reporting lags in Ga.’s hotel-motel tax program

Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/12/22/where-education-technology-will-and-wont-take-us-by-2024/?wpisrc=nl_cuzheads
The Answer Sheet By Valerie Strauss
Where education technology will — and won’t — take us by 2024
What’s the future of education technology? Venturing an educated guess is Larry Cuban, a high school social studies teacher for 14 years and a district superintendent (seven years in Arlington, VA), is professor emeritus of education at Stanford University, where he has taught for more than 20 years. His latest book is “Inside the Black Box of Classroom Practice: Change without Reform in American Education.” This post appeared on his blog about school reform and classroom practice.

www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/opinion/the-write-stuff/ncM9q/?icmp=ajc_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_ajcstub1
PERFECTING THAT COLLEGE ESSAY
The write stuff
BY MAGGIE ANDERSON
Bam! The door is about to slam shut on students applying to college for fall 2014. If you are one of the thousands of stressed-out high school seniors trying to write, re-write and perfect college essays before the January deadlines, no one is more aware of this than you. Nerve-wracked parents are not faring so well, either. While some families will enjoy the laughter and laziness of the holidays, others will be huddled anxiously, re-evaluating each word and phrase to construct the ultimate personal essay. Is it worth the worry? Rick Clark, admissions director at Georgia Tech, says the essay is important because Tech’s high number of applicants means they can’t conduct personal interviews. Most of their applicants are outstanding in many ways, and winnowing the pile is difficult, so counselors look to the essay for hints about which students would be the best fit for Tech.

www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/opinion/textbooks-too-pricey-for-college-students/ncNG3/?icmp=ajc_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_ajcstub1
Textbooks too pricey for college students
BY CHARNELLE ROGERS
As a college senior almost in my last semester, my parents and I have paid thousands of dollars per semester for tuition. We have also had to pay astronomical prices for textbooks.
Sometimes, the prices were so high, I had difficulty affording my books and had to go without them. From personal experience, I know students are not able to do as well without textbooks. …The College Board reported that on average, a student at a four-year college or university pays about $1,200 per year on textbooks. The price has jumped 812 percent since 1978.

www.macon.com
http://www.macon.com/2013/12/22/2844040/hutto-columbia-dont-judge-a-book.html
HUTTO: Columbia: Don’t judge a book by its cover
BY RICK HUTTO
Rick Hutto is an author and a Macon city councilman.
Three colleagues and I have just returned from an enlightening trip to Colombia. We visited seven colleges and universities to arrange international exchanges of students and faculty at Central Georgia Technical College. Before our departure, we all made the expected jokes about scoring a big drug deal while we were there and even exuded false bravado to our spouses about the likelihood of our being kidnapped and held for ransom. After all, that’s what Colombia is known for, right? Actually, this was one of those rare occasions when our expectations were completely shattered by reality. …More impressive than its natural beauty, though, is the fact that Colombia has achieved a youth literacy rate higher than that of the United States, empowering it to become the third-largest economy in South America. We saw firsthand that its residents revere education and sacrifice a great deal to pursue it.

Education News
www.walb.com
http://www.walb.com/story/24259679/college-students-beware-student-loan-debt-is-rising
College students: beware, student loan debt is rising
By Nicole Rosales
ALBANY, GA (WALB) – Graduation is a college student’s dream but the next day can be a nightmare if you’re facing student debt. “I have no idea what my payments are gonna be or anything like that,” Future Albany Tech student, Summer Roberts said. Roberts isn’t alone, a lot of students who take out loans aren’t sure how much they owe or when they owe it. For Kaleb Briscoe, Assistant Director of Financial Aid at Albany Tech feels the number one mistake students make is avoiding contact with lenders because they fear high payment plans.

www.kennesaw.patch.com
http://kennesaw.patch.com/groups/business-news/p/chatt-tech-to-help-infalfa-bring-jobs-to-acworth-kennesaw
College will help provide workforce support.
Posted by Ann Marie Quill (Editor)
Chattahoochee Tech signed an agreement this week with Inalfa Roofing Systems and Quick Start to provide training that will bring hundreds of jobs to the company’s Acworth location. Inalfa is investing $17.1 million in a new manufacturing facility in Cherokee County and is expected to create 300 jobs. The company is working with Quick Start and Chattahoochee Technical College to train its new workforce.

www.waltontribune.com
http://www.waltontribune.com/news/article_2715eb80-69b3-11e3-a7f6-0019bb2963f4.html
Hitachi, ATC, Quick Start teaming up for training
Hitachi Automotive Systems Americas Inc. announced in March it was expanding its operating in Monroe and now is set to expand its workforce training with the help of Georgia Quick Start and Athens Technical College. The company is investing $80 million and creating 250 jobs in the expansion of its facility and Quick Start and Athens Technical College are partnering with Hitachi to train the new workforce.

www.wfxg.com
http://www.wfxg.com/story/24275360/augusta-tech-named-finalist-for-state-award
Augusta Tech named finalist for state award
AUGUSTA, GA (WFXG) – Augusta Technical College was one of five finalists for the Technical College System of Georgia’s Perdue Award, given to the system’s Technical College of the Year. “We are honored to be named a finalist,” said Terry D. Elam, the president of Augusta Technical College. “Our staff always works hard to serve our students and to make sure they are getting the best educational experience.” Although Augusta Technical College was a finalist, Savannah Technical College received the award during the Technical College System State Board’s monthly meeting in Atlanta.

www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/12/21/email-job-candidates-renews-debate-about-conference-interviewing
Not Much Notice
By Scott Jaschik
For years, graduate students have been complaining about the practice of search committees that conduct interviews at disciplinary meetings telling them just two weeks before the gatherings whether they have an interview. For graduate students with limited funds (in other words, for most of them), they are forced to gamble on airfare, hotel and maybe an interview wardrobe without knowing if they will need to be at the meeting. And in the current job market, many won’t get a single interview.