University System News
USG NEWS:
www.savannahnow.com
http://savannahnow.com/exchange/2014-06-19/georgia-prepared-be-player-when-drone-industry-takes#.U6QuEygRseU
Georgia is prepared to be a player when the drone industry takes off
By WALTER C. JONES
ATLANTA — Georgia universities and companies are revving their engines and prepared to soar the moment the Federal Aviation Administration approves the commercial use of unmanned aerial vehicles although other practical hurdles could be as significant. That was the message from experts meeting this week in an international conference of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics meeting in Atlanta. …Even though commercial drone operation isn’t legal, there are already firms here flying the planes legally for research purposes. Area-I is a 6-year-old company in Kennesaw that partners with Middle Georgia State College and uses its academic exemption to test composite materials and airframe designs for NASA and the Department of Defense.
GOOD NEWS:
www.jbhe.com
Fort Valley State University Signs Partnership Agreement With Georgia Military College
Fort Valley State University Signs Partnership Agreement With Georgia Military College
Fort Valley State University is a historically Black educational institution in Georgia that enrolls about 3,600 students. The university has entered into a partnership agreement with Georgia Military College that will allow students who have completed an associate’s degree at Georgia Military College to transfer all of their credits to apply towards a bachelor’s degree at Fort Valley State. African Americans make up more than 40 percent of the student body at Georgia Military College.
RESEARCH:
www.news.discovery.com
http://news.discovery.com/space/astronauts-will-mine-moon-water-at-night-140618.htm
Astronauts Will Mine Moon Water at Night
BY JASON MAJOR
Make a note: if you ever find yourself exploring the moon one day and you want to try some lunar skinny-dipping, you’ll have to do it at night. All right, so there’s no water-filled lakes on the moon (and you’d be strongly advised to keep your suit on). But there is surface water, both in the form of ice inside polar craters and as scattered molecules within lunar soil and rocks. Except when the sun hits them — that is, ultraviolet radiation in the sun’s light — water molecules on the moon’s surface are set free and potentially even broken apart, as described in recent findings by researchers from Georgia Tech. “If a lot of sunlight is hitting me, the probability of me getting sunburned is pretty high,” describes Thomas Orlando, professor and associate director of the Center for Space Technology and Research at Georgia Tech.
www.wabe.org
http://wabe.org/post/bee-study-georgia-tech
Bee Study at Georgia Tech
By DAN RABY
If you’re near the center of Georgia Tech’s campus on a quiet day, you may hear the sound of thousands of bees. They’re found at the home of the Georgia Tech Urban Honey Bee project. Researchers are trying to figure out how bees are able to live in cities. And as urban gardens continue to pop up around Atlanta, Georgia Tech students want to learn if these city gardens are just as good for bees as gardens found in the country. Reporter Elly Yu has this story.
www.fiercewireless.com
http://www.fiercewireless.com/tech/story/atts-nanodegree-gets-workers-ready-sdn-nfv-future/2014-06-18
AT&T’s ‘nanodegree’ gets workers ready for SDN, NFV future
Subscribe at FierceWirelessTech
By Tammy Parker
Since unveiling Domain 2.0 and its vision for a user-defined network cloud, AT&T (NYSE: T) has made the point that it needs employees with comprehensive software skills that can take the company into a world based on IP and mobile. To help fill those roles, the telco has partnered with Udacity to launch an online “nanodegree” program this fall that will develop a new crop of software experts… AT&T’s investment in the nanodegree is part of the AT&T Aspire to develop a well-educated workforce. AT&T and Udacity last year joined with Georgia Tech and Udacity to launch the Online Master of Science in Computer Science, the first accredited Master of Science in Computer Science earned exclusively through the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) format that Udacity helped pioneer.
www.manufacturing.net
http://www.manufacturing.net/videos/2014/06/the-iot-uplink-14-trillion-…-and-growing
The IoT Uplink: $14 Trillion … And Growing
by Eric Sorensen
Welcome to the premiere episode of The IoT Uplink– where we examine all the factors driving, influencing and adding to the complexity of the Internet of Things movement in the manufacturing and product development marketplaces. In this episode, we have a live chat with Alain Louchez, the managing director of the Center for the Development and Application of the Internet of Things Technologies or CDAIT, at Georgia Tech University in Atlanta, GA.
Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.forbes.com
http://www.forbes.com/sites/gilpress/2014/06/18/a-very-short-history-of-the-internet-of-things/
A Very Short History Of The Internet Of Things
Gil Press
Contributor
There have been visions of smart, communicating objects even before the global computer network was launched forty-five years ago. As the Internet has grown to link all signs of intelligence (i.e., software) around the world, a number of other terms associated with the idea and practice of connecting everything to everything have made their appearance, including machine-to-machine (M2M), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), context-aware computing, wearables, ubiquitous computing, and the Web of Things. Here are a few milestones in the evolution of the mashing of the physical with the digital… October 13-14, 1997: Carnegie-Mellon, MIT, and Georgia Tech co-host the first IEEE International Symposium on Wearable Computers, in Cambridge, MA.
www.jbhe.com
Healing Our Historically Black Colleges and Universities
A JBHE commentary by Stan Ashemore
President and founder of the HBCU Preservation Foundation in Greenville, South Carolina
Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) over the past few years have received lots of negative publicity and attention concerning their economic woes. I’m perplexed by the amount of negative comments overall and especially by folks who have attended a HBCU. It’s not that their thoughts and comments, based on their experiences, aren’t warranted. It’s just hard to imagine that we’ve forgotten that every one of us have benefited in some way from the HBCU legacy. With this in mind why is it so hard to see the opportunity within this crisis? It’s an undeniable fact that Black colleges and universities define the motto “each one teach one.” So why are we not there for them now as they were for us so many years ago?
www.thehill.com
A look at the competitiveness of higher education
By David W. Leebron, contributor
I am sometimes asked whether there is something about higher education that I wish regulators, legislators and the general public better understood. My answer is always the same: I wish they understood the competitive and dynamic environment we operate in. In many respects, higher education is one of the most competitive industries in the United States. Yet there is virtually no acknowledgment of that reality in the rapidly escalating demands for greater regulation. Higher education is a complex enterprise with an extraordinarily diverse array of institutions — from community colleges to globally renowned research universities.
www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/views/our-take-starbucks-offers-to-help-students/article_b9d7cc92-f755-11e3-8785-001a4bcf6878.html
Our Take: Starbucks offers to help students
Starbucks has made national news with the tuition reimbursement plan it will begin offering its workers for attendance at Arizona State University. With the rising cost of tuition in the US, praises have been sung in the company’s name. There have also been others pointing to the fine print of the deal—the part that says employees will be reimbursed for every 21 credit hours after completing the course. That approximates to $10,000, the Chronicle cites. Another point of contention comes with the fact that only juniors and seniors will be fully reimbursed, freshmen and sophomores receive roughly half and an employee must be working 20 hours per week to qualify. On the first day the news broke, the populace rejoiced and patted the company on the back. The days following, we’ve quickly began to point at all the company isn’t doing, or the fine print, rather than what it’s offering its employees.
Education News
www.members.jacksonville.com
http://members.jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2014-06-19/story/georgia-outpaces-nation-tech-jobs-growth
Georgia outpaces nation in tech jobs growth
By Walter C. Jones
ATLANTA | High-technology jobs are growing in Georgia at a faster rate than the U.S. average, according to a report released Thursday by the Technology Association of Georgia.
And average pay for those jobs has increased for the third consecutive year to $83,000, topping the pre-recession peak by 2.4 percent. “The increase solidifies technology as the state’s highest paying sector ahead of utilities, professional services and finance,” the report said. …In a survey of Georgia technology executives, 80 percent said having access to skilled labor was the No. 1 key to growing the sector further, ranking above access to capital, the state’s research universities, tax incentives and affordable real estate.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Fixing-the-Fafsa-a-Popular/147281/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Fixing the Fafsa, a Popular Idea, Makes Its Way to Congress
By Dan Bauman
Washington
A two-question application for federal student aid—that’s the premise behind proposed legislation from two U.S. senators who hope a streamlined form will encourage more students, especially those from lower-income backgrounds, to apply for student aid. In a news conference on Thursday, Sen. Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, and Sen. Michael F. Bennet, Democrat of Colorado, outlined their bill to reduce the current, 108-question Free Application for Federal Student Aid to just two inquiries that would fit on a postcard.
www.edition.cnn.com
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/19/business/high-tech-cheating/
From smartwatch and smartpen… to smartcheat?
By Saskya Vandoorne, CNN
New York (CNN) — It used to be as simple as folding a piece of paper up your sleeve or writing on the inside of your wrist. But now, as students across the world ready themselves for exam season, cheating is going high tech. With smartwatches, smartpens and Google glasses now on the market, the modern pupil has an array of gadgets to trick the sharpest pair of eyes. Educators now need to spot — not just keep up with — the latest tech inventions.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/proposed-federal-rules-increase-oversight-of-campus-sexual-assault/80183?cid=pm&utm_source=pm&utm_medium=en
Proposed Federal Rules Would Raise Oversight of Campus Sexual Assault
by Sara Lipka
In the latest federal move regarding campus sexual assault, the Department of Education released on Thursday a set of proposed rules that would require colleges to provide prevention programs to students and employees, covering not only sexual assault but also dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking, incidents of which campuses would now have to track. The proposed regulations—under the Violence Against Women Act, which was renewed by Congress last year—would amend the campus-crime-reporting law known as the Clery Act.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/65078/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=146d3a8c81004e7a84acf9d327dc160f&elqCampaignId=173
NCAA President: Paying Athletes Could Destroy College Sports
by Tim Dahlberg, Associated Press
OAKLAND, Calif. — NCAA President Mark Emmert stuck to his contention that amateurism is the core of college athletics, saying any effort to pay players would destroy a framework that has been in place for more than a century and cause many schools to either abandon sports or refuse to play other schools that do pay. Emmert said college athletes themselves wouldn’t want to play against other athletes who were getting paid.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/At-Midpoint-of-O-Bannon/147279/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
At Midpoint of O’Bannon Trial, NCAA Struggles to Make Its Case
By Brad Wolverton
Midway through a federal antitrust trial that could reshape the future of college sports, two questions are on the minds of many observers: Is the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s amateur model in jeopardy? And how might the association’s remaining witnesses help bolster its case?