University System News
Athens Banner-Herald
http://onlineathens.com/uga/2014-06-02/new-uga-research-engineers-microbes-direct-conversion-biomass-fuel
New UGA research engineers microbes for the direct conversion of biomass to fuel
The promise of affordable transportation fuels from biomass—a sustainable, carbon neutral route to American energy independence—has been left perpetually on hold by the economics of the conversion process. New research from the University of Georgia has overcome this hurdle allowing the direct conversion of switchgrass to fuel. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, documents the direct conversion of biomass to biofuel without pre-treatment, using the engineered bacterium Caldicellulosiruptor bescii.
Augusta Chronicle
http://chronicle.augusta.com/latest-news/2014-06-01/georgia-rivers-dwindling-professor-says?v=1401615544
Georgia rivers dwindling, professor says
By Lee Shearer
There’s not as much water in the Oconee River as there once was, and there’s going to be less in the future, according to a Georgia Tech professor’s study. The amount of water going down the Oconee River has declined about 20 percent in the past 50 years, according to Aris Georgakakos, director of the Georgia Water Resources Institute at Tech.
He’s recorded similar declines in the Chattahoochee-Flint and other Georgia river basins.
Green Building Advisor
http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/farmstead-future-georgia
A Farmstead of the Future in Georgia
By Scott Gibson
At the University of Georgia’s Tifton campus, work is well underway on a 3,400-square-foot house and adjoining carriage house that will combine a variety of energy-efficient features with advanced building materials and internet-based monitoring and control systems. The Future Farmstead has brought together student and faculty designers and builders, building professionals, and a number of donors to create a living laboratory and demonstration project. Its creators hope the project will attract as many as 15,000 visitors a year.
Editorials/Columns/Opinions
Bloomberg View
http://www.tricities.com/news/opinion_columns/article_d174c61c-e930-11e3-aa8e-001a4bcf6878.html
College still makes good sense (and dollars)
By Stephen Mihm
A study published by Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist David Autor found that even as high school graduates saw their inflation-adjusted income drop a cumulative 11 percent from 1980 to 2012, college graduates experienced a jump of 20 percent to 56 percent, depending on whether they went on to graduate school. That amounts to more than $500,000 in additional income over a college graduate’s lifetime. These findings have revived the debate over the cost and benefits of college. Entrepreneurs such as Peter Thiel have argued that college is a waste of time and money, saddling young people with enormous debt and giving them limited practical skills. Many of the world’s wealthiest people never went to college, he claims (never mind that Thiel himself attended Stanford University and Stanford Law School).
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/opinion/editorials/2014-06-02/graduates-be-your-best?v=1401746732
Graduates, be your best
By Augusta Chronicle Editorial Staff
Time was when Americans were told that the “only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Today, Americans are taught to fear their own shadow, particularly if it might offend someone else.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, for instance, announced that going forward, all its employees would receive the highest performance evaluation possible – so as to prevent any cases of perceived discrimination or, presumably, hurt feelings.
University Business
http://www.universitybusiness.com/news/college’s-inequality-disgrace-millionaire-presidents-indebted-students
College’s inequality disgrace: Millionaire presidents, indebted students
Submitted by Stefanie Botelho
In theory, the state college system is one of the most egalitarian and progressive-minded institutions in America. Its goal is to make sure that kids who cannot afford to enroll in expensive private universities and colleges are nevertheless able to get a great education and improve their chances of climbing the economic ladder and making real the implicit American promise of social mobility. Unfortunately, that’s not so much the case for many of today’s state schools, at least not according to a new study from the left-leaning Institute for Policy Studies (IPS). Titled “The One Percent at State U: How Public University Presidents Profit from Rising Student Debt and Low-Wage Faculty Labor,” IPS’s latest finds that the triplet developments of hyper-wealthy college administrators, like E. Gordon Gee, rising tuition costs and schools’ increased reliance on adjunct professors is not a coincidence. On the contrary, all three are related — and, together, they constitute a threat to the very idea of state-run higher education.
Education News
Savannah Morning News
http://savannahnow.com/column/2014-06-03/marjorie-wood-college-presidents-earn-more-college-students-get-less#.U44FURa1E8O
Marjorie Wood: College presidents earn more, college students get less
Each spring, as college graduates collect their diplomas and their first student loan payment slips, the Chronicle of Higher Education publishes its list of public university presidents collecting the biggest paychecks. Median salaries were up 5 percent for the 2013 fiscal year. Nine presidents took home more than $1 million. Why should students and faculty — and everyone who cares about them — pay close attention to the upward spiral of such salaries? Because according to our research, these highest-paid presidents are more likely to preside over public universities where student debt is growing fastest and the number of full-time faculty is shrinking.
Charlotte Post
http://www.thecharlottepost.com/news/2014/05/29/local/plan-close-elizabeth-city-state/
N.C. Senate proposal targets ‘unprofitable’ campus
by Herbert L. White
The N.C. Senate’s proposed $21 billion budget would have the University of North Carolina system shut down “small, unprofitable” Elizabeth City State University. ECSU, a historically black school in the northeast corner of the state, reports an enrollment of 2,421, including 2,155 full-time students. Among its students, 1,777 are black, 380 are white, according to the school’s website. North Carolina residents account for 2,163 students and the average SAT score is 889. Entering students have a 3.15 high school grade point average.