USG NEWS:
www.valdostadailytimes.com
http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/local/x1760125064/Gov-Deal-visits-VSU
Gov. Deal visits VSU
Speaks to GHP students and meets with educators
Kristin Finney
The Valdosta Daily Times
VALDOSTA — For more than 30 years, Valdosta State University has hosted the annual Governor’s Honors Program. It has become tradition for the governor to visit the campus and address the students during the program. Tuesday morning, Gov. Nathan Deal continued the tradition by visiting the VSU campus. He not only addressed the students, he spoke with educators in a closed-door session.
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/breaking-news/2014-07-08/georgia-governor-pushes-trials-marijuana-derivative
Georgia governor pushes trials of marijuana derivative
By CHRISTINA A. CASSIDYTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUGUSTA | Georgia’s governor is pushing clinical trials for a marijuana-derived drug that proponents say could help treat severe seizure disorders among children, an unlikely election-year move for a Republican in a conservative part of the country that is just beginning to warm up to medical marijuana in narrow circumstances. …Deal said the science is not settled, which is why the clinical trials are so crucial. Under Georgia’s plan, the state through Georgia Regents University in Augusta will be partnering with London-based GW Pharmaceuticals for an expanded clinical trial. The company also has a research partnership with New York and is conducting trials in several states.
Deal said the Georgia clinical trial would hopefully be up and running by the end of the year or the first part of 2015.
Related article:
www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/latest-news/2014-07-08/gov-nathan-deal-pushes-marijuana-drug-trials-georgia-regents-university?v=1404885247
Gov. Nathan Deal pushes for marijuana drug trials at Georgia Regents University
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/news/2014/jul/08/misspelled-sign-points-to-education-center/?news
Misspelled sign points to Georgia ‘Gwinett’ College on new 316 exit
By Joshua Sharpe
LAWRENCEVILLE — Unbeknownst to school officials, one of Lawrenceville’s staples of higher education has undergone a small name change. “Georgia Gwinett College,” reads a sign pointing to the school, near the newly completed exit from Ga. Highway 316 to Collins Hill Road. The Georgia Department of Transportation couldn’t be reached to ask about the missing “n” on Tuesday afternoon. The department oversaw the project to build Collins Hill Road over Ga. 316 with a new bridge.
USG VALUE:
www.times-herald.com
http://www.times-herald.com/closeup/20140709University-of-West-Georgia-hosted-health-expo-at-Lynch-Park-pool
University Of West Georgia Hosts Health Expo
by LINDY OLLER
Staying hydrated and using sunscreen are some ways people can help fight off the summer heat. Nursing students from The University of West Georgia Tanner Health System School of Nursing participated in a health expo July 2 at Willie Lynch Park on Richard Allen drive. They spoke to children and teens about sun safety and hydration. Michelle Smith, a nursing student at UWG, said this is the first health expo the university has done at Willie Lynch Park.
GOOD NEWS:
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2014/07/08/peach-state-delegation-headed-to-china.html
Peach State delegation headed to China
Jacques Couret
Senior Online Editor and Social Engagement Manager- Atlanta Business Chronicle
The Georgia Department of Economic Development will head a trade mission to Qingdao, Beijing and Shanghai China July 10-17. The delegation will include Georgia officials and business leaders who will explore business, trade, education, agriculture and tourism opportunities.The mission is anchored around the 2014 Qingdao International Horticultural Exposition. Georgia is the only state invited to showcase a garden at the exposition featuring 35 separate garden exhibits with dozens of countries and regions participating. A group of students from The University of Georgia designed the garden featuring flowers and plants native to Georgia to reflect the state’s character.
www.blogs.usda.gov
http://blogs.usda.gov/2014/07/08/at-world-cup-in-brazil-usda-grasses-score-big/
At World Cup in Brazil, USDA Grasses Score Big
Posted by Dennis O’Brien, USDA Agricultural Research Service Information Staff
Here’s something to kick around: About half of the soccer matches at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil have been played on turfgrass bred jointly by USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the University of Georgia. Turfgrass is a billion-dollar industry, creating jobs at nurseries, sod farms, golf courses and a variety of stadiums and other athletic facilities. ARS has been breeding warm-season turfgrasses since the 1950s, and has worked closely with scientists at the University of Georgia for decades. It’s been a particularly productive partnership and is responsible for producing turfgrasses that are used on some of the world’s top golf courses and athletic fields.
RESEARCH:
www.wsav.com
http://www.wsav.com/story/25965967/educators-come-to-savannah-to-learn-more-about-alarming-pollution-trend
Educators Come to Savannah to Learn More About Alarming Pollution Trend
By WSAV Staff
SAVANNAH, GA – Coastal science teachers from five states are in Savannah to learn about the environmental threat on the oceans called microplastics. One of the leading researchers in this growing area of study, Dr. Jay Brandes, is based with the University of Georgia’s Skidaway Institute of Oceanography on Skidaway Island. 15 teachers are part of a weeklong workshop, that includes data collection on Tybee and Wassau Islands, to gather examples of the problem. The problem is the breakdown of materials like styrofoam, as well as micro plastics, the tiny beads used in cosmetics and toothpaste. Dr. Brandes says many forms of aquatic life swallow these plastics and it jams their digestive systems then starves them.
Related article:
www.wtoc.com
http://www.wtoc.com/story/25970285/scientists-and-teachers-gather-to-learn-about-environmental-effects-of-microbeads
Scientists and teachers gather to learn about environmental effects of microbeads
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2014-07-08/uga-host-national-political-science-conference
UGA to host national political science conference
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATHENS, Ga. — Political science professors and graduate students from across the U.S. will meet later this month for a conference at the University of Georgia. The political science department at the Athens campus will host the annual meeting of the Society for Political Methodology from July 24 to 26. The conference is expected to draw about 180 professors and grad students. John Maltese, UGA’s political science department head, says it’s a prestigious conference that will give the university “national exposure” among political scholars.
www.spectrum.ieee.org
http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/military-robots/esa-dropship-quadcopter-rover-mars
Can a ‘Dropship Quadcopter’ Deploy Rovers on Mars?
By Evan Ackerman
The most ludicrous way of getting a robot to the surface of Mars is maybe stuffing it inside a giant inflatable bouncy ball and dropping it from a parachute. And that is only slightly more ludicrous than attaching it to a rocket-powered hovercrane (a rocket-powered hovercrane!!!) and then lowering it to the ground with some sort of ridiculous cable contraption… This page from Georgia Tech provides more detail on how bad of an idea this is, and suggests flapping wings as a substitute (although I think it’s research from 2001-ish).
www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-us-military-facebook-and-twitter-data-2014-7
The US Military Clued Us In On Its Research About Facebook And Twitter
MARK SULLIVAN, VENTUREBEAT
The military sees threats everywhere. That’s its job. In the last few years the military has felt increasingly threatened by social media, and social networks in particular. New reports Tuesday reveal a large research project funded by the Defense Department’s military research department (AKA Darpa) that tested how people connect, and how ideas are spread, on social sites including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Kickstarter… The actual research was done by corporations like IBM, and universities like Georgia Tech and Indiana University.
www.wearabletechworld.com
http://www.wearabletechworld.com/topics/wearable-tech/articles/383136-mits-fingerreader-converts-text-speech-real-time.htm
MIT’s FingerReader Converts Text to Speech in Real Time
By Steve Anderson
Not long ago, we had a look at a device from the Georgia Institute of Technology (News – Alert) that could help teach a user Braille, the commonly-used printed text for the blind, in a matter of hours. Said device was built around a technology known as Piano Touch, commonly used for teaching piano. Perhaps seeking to not be outdone, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT (News – Alert)) are working on a device that may ultimately render Braille itself obsolete known as the FingerReader, a device that can convert regular text into spoken words.
www.atronomy.com
How the faintest galaxies illuminated the early universe
Simulations reveal that dwarf galaxies were so plentiful that they contributed a significant fraction of ultraviolet light in the reionization process.
By Royal Astronomical Society, United Kingdom
Astronomers investigating behavior of the universe shortly after the Big Bang have made a surprising discovery: The smallest galaxies determine the properties of the early universe. Shortly after the Big Bang, the universe was ionized: Ordinary matter consisted of hydrogen with its positively charged protons stripped of their negatively charged electrons… However, astronomers aren’t in agreement on which type of galaxies played the most important role in this process. Most have focused on large galaxies. The new study by researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the San Diego Supercomputer Center indicates scientists should also focus on the smallest ones.
Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2014/jul/08/georgia-professor-time-relegate-learning-styles-du/
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Georgia professor: ‘Time to relegate learning styles to the dust bin’
Josh Cuevas is an educational psychologist and assistant professor at the University of North Georgia. He sent me a note after I posted a piece on the mythology of learning styles, explaining he was a former teacher turned cognitive psychologist who now studies the efficacy of learning styles instruction. He offered to write an essay outlining the current research on the topic and previewing his own initial findings, which also refute the notion that children are visual learners or kinesthetic learners or auditory learners.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/65487/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=385a0c5e582e4b6da3e114aa0dbab3a1&elqCampaignId=173
Low-Income Students’ Success in College Starts in High School
by Whitney Soule and Jessica Pliska
In The New York Times Magazine cover story, Paul Tough addressed the obstacles facing disadvantaged students head on. “If you want to help low-income students succeed, it’s not enough to deal with their academic and financial obstacles. You also need to address their doubts and misconceptions and fears. To solve the problem of college completion, you first need to get inside the mind of a college student.” We would go one step further and say that, to increase diversity on campuses, you need to get inside the mind of a high school student. And that requires a partnership between colleges and organizations in the communities where students live.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/globalhighered/mooc-globalizing-higher-education-and-research#sthash.qlnAa2pD.dpbs
A MOOC on Globalizing Higher Education and Research
By Kris Olds
We’ve just done our first massive open online course (MOOC)! Not as a participant – we might add – but imagining, making and delivering it over a seven week period this spring to some 18,400 participants. And what a ride this has been. We, or perhaps we should say Kris, first broached the subject. What about doing a MOOC on globalising higher education? Our dive into the global/digital/public world had its genesis in 2008 and the GlobalHigherEd blog – now in its 6th year and notching up steadily toward 3Ž4 million hits, as well as an associated Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/GlobalHigherEd. For a specialist subject – we’ve been constantly impressed with the level of interest in global higher education developments. And it is a sufficiently fast moving scene – to keep us busy, if not dizzy, with what we think it is worth sharing with others.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/confessions-community-college-dean/buying-campus#sthash.NB6sFPD2.dpbs
Buying a Campus
By Matt Reed
Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that Corinthian starts selling off campuses, like its agreement with the Education Department says it will. Who would buy them? And what would they get? I don’t mean those questions as gotchas; I mean them at face value. A college has value in physical assets, human capital, and accreditation. Human capital can’t be sold. Employees may “come with” a campus, but they’re free to leave at any time. Students may be enrolled, but can also leave at any time. And since some overdue reforms were enacted a couple of years ago, my understanding is that regional accreditations can no longer be sold like taxi licenses. (Some fraction of Corinthian’s campuses hold regional accreditation.)
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Texas-Makes-an-Appalling-Mess/147561/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Texas Makes an Appalling Mess of Education ‘Reform’
By Hunter R. Rawlings III
Another year, another ham-handed attempt by a governing board to fire a successful public-university president. What has happened to responsible governance of our flagship research universities? First the University of Virginia, now the University of Texas at Austin, two superb institutions with notable stature and excellent leadership. …What is going on here? Several things at once: Major universities are larger and more important than ever in the economy and cultural life of their states; too many politicians and their board appointees want, therefore, to shape them as their ideology sees fit. This often means treating universities as businesses in which productivity and efficiency are the primary goals, and the academic and research principles that have been so important to our country’s leadership in talent and innovation are sacrificed to utilitarianism. “Accountability” is the watchword—everything that can be counted is counted, and everything that cannot be counted doesn’t count.
Education News
www.accessnorthga.com
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=276898
School-level CRCT results released
By Ken Stanford Staff
ATLANTA – The state Department of Education Tuesday released school-level CRCT results. This follows the roll-out in recent weeks of statewide results and by-district data. You can click on the link below for a look at how every public school in Georgia fared. You’ll also find the state and district results, as well.
www.macon.com
http://www.macon.com/2014/07/08/3187137/several-bibb-county-schools-fare.html?sp=/99/100/&ihp=1
School-level CRCT scores a mixed bag across the midstate
Some schools excel, others lose ground on latest test results
BY JENNA MINK AND MIKE STUCKA
Telegraph staff
Many of Houston County’s lowest-performing schools lost more ground on state tests, while Bibb County schools posted generally stagnant scores and most schools remained well below state averages, a Telegraph analysis shows. On Tuesday, the Georgia Department of Education released the long-awaited 2014 Criterion-Referenced Competency Test results for individual schools. Some of Bibb County’s lowest-performing schools also lost ground, The Telegraph’s analysis shows.
www.atlantadailyworld.com
Morehouse School of Medicine Appoints 1st Female President
By Terry Shropshire
In a move that many educators, prognosticators and medical practitioners saw coming for years, Georgia native Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice becomes the first woman president of Morehouse School of Medicine. The Macon, Ga. native succeeds outgoing president Dr. John E. Maupin Jr., who is retiring after a distinguished 30-year career in academic medicine, health care administration and public health… Rice earned an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Georgia Institute of Technology, a medical degree from Harvard Medical School, and completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Emory University Medical School. She then completed a fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Hutzel Hospital in Detroit.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/late-fafsa-filers-receive-less-student-aid-report-says/81373?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Late Fafsa Filers Receive Less Student Aid, Report Says
by Chronicle Staff
Report: “FAFSA Filing Among First-Year College Students: Who Files on Time, Who Doesn’t, and Why Does It Matter?” (The paper has been accepted for publication in Research in Higher Education and is available from the authors upon request.)
Summary: The researchers studied the behavior of first-year students filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid at community colleges, public four-year colleges, and private nonprofit four-year colleges using data from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study. They examined characteristics associated with late versus early filing of the application, known as the Fafsa, and made the following findings:
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/budget-pressures-persist-for-public-and-private-colleges-alike/81431?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Budget Pressures Persist for Public and Private Colleges Alike
by Chronicle Staff
Reports: “U.S. Public Colleges and Universities’ Fiscal 2013 Median Ratios” and “U.S. Not-for-Profit Private Universities’ Fiscal 2013 Median Ratios” (The reports are available for purchase, at $500 apiece, here and here, respectively.)
Organization: Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services
Summary: The 2013 fiscal year was financially volatile for higher education, with ratings downgrades exceeding upgrades for both public and private nonprofit colleges. Despite the challenges, key financial benchmarks for both sectors stabilized, thanks to improved endowment market values. Among public colleges:
www.businessinsavannah.com
http://businessinsavannah.com/bis/2014-07-09/students-not-state-grapple-higher-price-higher-education#.U71AXigRseU
Students, not state, grapple with higher price for higher education
By ERICA TECHO
Morris News Service
ATLANTA — Most people agree a college degree provides valuable benefits, even if not everyone can afford one, but experts say there are ways to make it attainable to more people.
“There is a clear, life-long value of getting a post-secondary (degree),” said Clair Suggs, senior education policy analyst for the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute, an Atlanta-based advocacy group. “Here in Georgia, we know it is estimated that by 2020, at least 60 percent of all jobs will require at least some post-secondary training.” According to a study from the Economic Policy Institute, a college graduate makes $7 more per hour than a non-college graduate.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/07/09/cornells-business-school-lets-students-apply-using-linkedin-profiles#sthash.HYhKNimV.dpbs
LinkedIn to M.B.A. Admissions
By Charlie Tyson
Since 2011, LinkedIn users have been able to apply for jobs with the click of a button, submitting their LinkedIn profiles to potential employers. A redesigned application for Cornell University’s Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management transports this system’s ethos to higher education. Applicants to Cornell’s M.B.A. programs can now pre-fill parts of their applications – such as their employment history and educational background — with information from their LinkedIn profiles. Cornell officials said the university is the first higher education institution to incorporate LinkedIn into its application.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/In-a-Fight-for-More-Funds/147497/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
In a Fight for More Funds, Professors Quantify Colleges’ Neglect of Instruction
By Peter Schmidt
The humble calculator has emerged as a powerful weapon for faculty members battling administrators over spending .When university leaders say they need to hold down instructional spending because of a budget crunch, the American Association of University Professors often seeks to debunk their claims by crunching numbers.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/With-President-s-Job-on-the/147563/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
With President’s Job on the Line, U. of Texas Faculty Steps Up Support
By Katherine Mangan
Austin, Tex.
Warning that a decision to fire the University of Texas at Austin’s president, William C. Powers Jr., would create “chaos” on the flagship campus, faculty members have scheduled an emergency meeting on Wednesday to vote on a resolution supporting the embattled leader. The meeting of the campus’s Faculty Council comes one day before the university system’s Board of Regents is expected to determine Mr. Powers’s fate.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/07/09/faculty-use-internet-based-technologies-create-global-learning-opportunities#sthash.eeRnB0sU.dpbs
Teaching With Tech Across Borders
By Elizabeth Redden
…As colleges look for cost-effective ways to internationalize the on-campus learning experience, globally connected courses such as Pallant’s may become more common. The use of technology to enable virtual exchanges and collaborative assignments between geographically distant classrooms is not brand-new – faculty, especially foreign language faculty, have been doing it in pockets for as long as there’s been email – but there seem to be an increasing number of efforts to scale up and institutionalize these kinds of activities.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/07/09/us-institutions-may-run-afoul-new-canadian-anti-spam-law#sthash.LXL7hJGq.dpbs
Permission to Spam
By Carl Straumsheim
Canada’s strict anti-spam law went into effect last Tuesday, forcing organizations — including colleges and universities — to obtain express consent to electronically contact people for commercial purposes or face millions of dollars in fines. The law’s far-reaching scope caused the American Bar Association to name it the “toughest anti-spam law in the world” earlier this year, and opponents have blasted it as a costly and draconian measure to deal with an online annoyance. …“The Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) can apply to a U.S. institution that sends a ‘commercial electronic message’ to a Canadian recipient,” a spokeswoman for the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada confirmed in an email. “Each U.S. institution will need to determine whether the messages it sends to Canadian recipients constitute ‘commercial electronic messages’ under the law.”
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/07/09/study-women-blacks-most-likely-leave-stem-careers#sthash.R9njiBwU.dpbs
Study: Women, Blacks Most Likely to Leave STEM Careers
One in five women and one in five black Ph.D. recipients in science, technology, engineering or math leave those fields for careers outside STEM, according to a new report from the American Institutes for Research. That’s compared to one in six STEM Ph.D.s over all who leave the sciences for other careers.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/07/09/survey-many-colleges-lack-training-dealing-sex-assaults#sthash.IWoQWf4e.dpbs
Survey: Many Colleges Lack Training on Dealing With Sex Assaults
Senator Claire McCaskill is set today to release her survey on campus practices related to sexual assault and she gave Bloomberg an early look at some data. The results show that one in five colleges do not provide faculty and staff members with training on how to respond to reports of sexual assault or issues faced by victims.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/65502/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=385a0c5e582e4b6da3e114aa0dbab3a1&elqCampaignId=173
Iowa State AIDS Research Team Loses $1.38M Grant
by Associated Press
An AIDS research team at Iowa State University will not get a final payment of $1.38 million it had been awarded from the National Institutes of Health after a team member admitted last year to faking research results. The NIH says the final payment of a five-year grant will not be made.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/07/09/house-republicans-propose-cut-humanities-funding#sthash.vpfKXhAq.dpbs
House Republicans Propose Cut to Humanities Funding
The U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee that oversees the budget for the National Endowment for the Humanities on Tuesday proposed legislation to reduce that agency’s funding by more than 5 percent in the coming fiscal year.
www.insidehighered.com
http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/07/09/new-england-mid-atlantic-accreditors-place-colleges-probation#sthash.rPFewiyX.dpbs
New England, Mid-Atlantic Accreditors Place Colleges on Probation
The regional accrediting commissions for New England and the Mid-Atlantic states placed several colleges on probation at their most recent meetings.