USG NEWS:
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2014/10/10/board-of-regents-student-housing-measure-goes.html
Board of Regents’ student housing measure goes before voters on Nov. 4
Dave Williams
Staff Writer- Atlanta Business Chronicle
The University System of Georgia is looking to voters for the OK to pursue an initiative aimed at attracting private investment in some big-ticket campus building projects. Tucked toward the bottom of the Nov. 4 statewide ballot is a referendum authorizing a property tax exemption for developers interested in helping to finance and build student housing and parking facilities through public-private partnerships. “We are always looking for ways to keep costs down,” said Susan Ridley, associate vice chancellor for fiscal affairs for the university system. “The public-private partnership approach allows us to provide safe, quality, affordable housing for students who live on campus.”
www.connectstatesboro.com
http://www.connectstatesboro.com/news/article/5414/
Campus officials discuss Ebola response plan
Special to Connect
Members of the Georgia Southern University Pandemic Influenza and Emergency Infectious Disease Committee met today to discuss community and campus preparedness and response related to infectious diseases such as the Ebola virus and Influenza. University Health Services Medical Director and Staff Physician Brian DeLoach said the university has an updated response plan.
RESEARCH:
www.scripps.edu
http://www.scripps.edu/news/press/2014/20141013getzofftainer.html
Scripps Research Institute Scientists Link ALS Progression to Increased Protein Instability
LA JOLLA, CA—October 13, 2014—A new study by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and other institutions suggests a cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. …The ESR experiments were performed at the laboratories of Brian Crane and Jack H. Freed at Cornell University, and the ICP-MS experiments at the laboratory of Michael W.W. Adams at the University of Georgia.
www.flagpole.com
UGA Fights Obesity in Clarke County Public Schools
Health & Fitness Issue
By Carolyn Crist
Exercise helps you feel good and stay fit, and University of Georgia researchers are looking at a new way staying active can help in the classroom. Several UGA kinesiology professors have studied how after-school physical activity programs help students in Clarke County elementary schools. New this fall, they added a team of educational psychology and public health experts to figure out how increasing students’ heart rates helps with homework and comprehension.
www.latintimes.com
http://www.latintimes.com/alcohol-abuse-hispanic-immigrants-study-finds-teens-drink-more-due-bicultural-stress-268897
Alcohol Abuse In Hispanic Immigrants: Study Finds Teens Drink More Due To Bicultural Stress
By Susmita Baral
Moving domestically can be an anxiety-inducing experience, let alone moving internationally. While personal anecdotes and experiences can attest to that, researchers at University of Georgia (UGA) have found a surprising correlation between drinking and teenage Hispanic immigrants — they drink more. According to the researchers in the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences, who studied Hispanic teens living in Miami and Los Angeles, bicultural stress results in a greater likelihood of alcohol abuse.
www.farms.com
http://www.farms.com/news/uga-researchers-search-for-better-grass-for-grass-fed-beef-82814.aspx
UGA Researchers Search For Better Grass For Grass-Fed Beef
By Merritt Melancon, University of Georgia
Over the past decade the demand for grassfed beef has increased dramatically, and that is great news for Georgia’s cattle farmers. Because of the state’s long growing season, Georgia farmers are uniquely positioned to allow their cattle to graze all year round. University of Georgia forage and cattle experts are now looking for forages that will produce the best quality beef in Georgia’s climate, so that Georgia’s grassfed beef will be as tasty as possible.
www.newscientist.com
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26377-told-by-a-robot-fiction-by-storytelling-computers.html?full=true#.VD6RziivIeV
Told by a robot: Fiction by storytelling computers
by Douglas Heaven
Are you sitting comfortably? The latest story-generation systems (see “Automatic authors: Making machines that tell tales”) are learning to make things up by first figuring out how the human world works. Some canvas crowdsourcing platforms with questions about activities like first dates or bank jobs. Others mine online databases of concepts like ConceptNet to expand what they know about common objects and events before inverting them to invent fictions. Here are a few of the systems out there. Scheherazade, developed by Mark Riedl and colleagues at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, can tell stories set in any world it can learn about via the internet. Using crowdsourcing platforms like Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, the system requests sample actions that can happen in various scenarios, such as a bank robbery.
www.theblaze.com
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/10/14/the-unlikely-funding-source-thats-allowing-u-s-law-enforcement-to-acquire-spy-gear/
The Unlikely Funding Source That’s Allowing U.S. Law Enforcement to Acquire Spy Gear
Jon Street
Police departments in at least three of America’s largest cities used private charity dollars to buy gear they otherwise might never could have purchased, an investigation by ProPublica revealed. The Los Angeles Police Department used money from the Los Angeles Police Foundation to purchase equipment developed by Palantir, a startup venture capital project funded in part by the CIA. Palantir’s technology makes it possible to track individuals by using conventional sources such as crime reports as well as more modern techniques such as surveillance cameras, license plate readers and other data gathering technology…. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported officials are aiming to install surveillance cameras at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Department of Transportation, Atlanta Public Schools, federal buildings and Georgia Aquarium, among other places.
www.apa.org
http://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/10/mind-games.aspx
Mind games
Can brain-training games keep your mind young?
By Kirsten Weir
In our youth-obsessed culture, gray hair and crow’s feet command a lot of time, money and attention. But what good is a shiny racecar with a rusted-out engine under the hood? Staying mentally sharp is a top concern for our graying population — and it’s big business, too. “Brain health” companies such as Lumosity and Posit Science offer popular Web and mobile games that promise to act like a fountain of youth for your gray matter … Other researchers have also expressed doubts about working-memory training. Among them is Zachary Shipstead, PhD, a psychologist who studies working memory at Arizona State University. He and colleagues including Randall Engle, PhD, a psychologist at Georgia Institute of Technology, conducted a variety of experiments designed to improve working memory.
Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.gertschooled.blog.ajc.com
http://getschooled.blog.ajc.com/2014/10/14/race-for-governor-hope-skirmish-detracts-from-more-critical-education-differences-in-deal-carter/
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Race for governor: HOPE skirmish detracts from more critical education differences in Deal, Carter
Education is dominating the governor’s race where the latest skirmish between Nathan Deal and Jason Carter is over the HOPE Scholarship and its devolution to HOPE Lite. A GOP robo-call on behalf of Deal contends that Carter wants to wipe out HOPE for middle-class students based on a bill he proposed two years ago. In response to flagging lottery revenues, Carter called for an income cap on HOPE eligibility so the kids with the greatest need would still get full tuition.
www.times-herald.com
http://www.times-herald.com/opinion/20141015-Rants-and-Raves
Rants, Raves & Really?!?
A look back at last week’s highs, lows and whatevers:
RAVE: Bob and Millie Coggin lead by example, and recently made a substantial gift to the University of West Georgia’s Newnan campus, which is currently undergoing renovation.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/67387/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=e045b8e829bd4895aea57ffc2f2b2a68&elqCampaignId=415
Foreign Students and the U.S. Higher Education Admissions Market
by Brian C. Mitchell
…How then do American colleges and universities compete for growing foreign student markets as a way to infuse talent, diversity and often cash to meet the colleges’ strategic goals and add revenue to their bottom lines? The fact is that American colleges and universities, especially smaller ones known for personalized attention, good counseling and strong alumni networks, are doing a miserable job at recruiting students that they would welcome and who would add tremendous value to the campus community.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/conversation/2014/10/14/why-i-dont-want-guns-in-my-classroom/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Why I Don’t Want Guns in My Classroom
by Jeffrey Voccola
Every morning as I head to my office at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, I have to drive past two armored military vehicles aimed in my direction: an M60 tank and an M42 Duster anti-aircraft gun. The vehicles are on display in front of the National Guard Armory, which happens to sit beside my academic building, and the campus and the armory share an access road. While the armored vehicles may be an appropriate symbol for the armory, they create an unfortunate and unwelcoming entrance to campus. Each day students, faculty, and staff are greeted with an image of violence and aggression that is unsuitable for an academic setting. In the same regard, I worry about the presence of weapons on campus. Last year, out of concern for legal challenges, Kutztown University and four other universities in our state system relaxed their gun policies.
Education News
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/breaking-news/2014-10-14/hope-scholarship-becomes-flashpoint-georgia-governors-race
HOPE scholarship becomes flashpoint in Georgia governor’s race
By WALTER C. JONESMORRIS NEWS SERVICE
ATLANTA | The popularity of the HOPE Scholarship has made it a recent topic of heated accusations in the Georgia governor’s race. The campaigns of Democrat Jason Carter and incumbent Republican Nathan Deal have traded attacks all fall on a variety of issues, from leadership ability to economic development, but it’s only been in the final three weeks when a debate about the scholarship that emotions have seemed to boil over.
www.insidehighered.com
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/10/15/college-texas-told-nigerians-they-were-rejected-coming-country-ebola
Rejecting All Nigerians?
By Scott Jaschik
Nigerians and others are expressing outrage after letters surfaced from Navarro College, a community college in Texas, saying that all applicants from countries with confirmed Ebola cases were being rejected. The letters were sent to several applicants from Nigeria by Elizabeth Pillans, director of international programs at the college. The letters said: “Navarro College is not accepting international students from countries with confirmed Ebola cases.”
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/jp/yale-wont-seek-quarantine-of-students-returning-from-liberia?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
Yale Won’t Seek Quarantine of Students Returning From Liberia
by Andy Thomason
Yale University has concluded that two students who returned to the Connecticut campus from doing research on the Ebola outbreak in Liberia do not need to quarantine themselves.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/67393/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=e045b8e829bd4895aea57ffc2f2b2a68&elqCampaignId=415
Benefits of Redefining Full-time Enrollment to 15 Credits a Semester Examined
by Jamaal Abdul-Alim
…One recent survey found that more than two-thirds of college students did not have a schedule that would enable them to graduate on time even if they never switched majors, failed a course or took an unnecessary course. But now, a growing chorus of scholars and completion advocates are seeking to change that reality by raising the question: how can a student be enrolled full time and still not graduate on time?
www.timeshighereducation.co.uk
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/moocs-will-not-transform-education-says-futurelearn-chief/2016379.article
Moocs ‘will not transform education’, says FutureLearn chief
BY CHRIS PARR
Simon Nelson tells Times Higher Education podcast original claims were ‘overhyped and unrealistic’
Massive open online courses will not transform education or destroy the university system, and their potential to disrupt has been overhyped, according to the head of the UK Mooc platform FutureLearn. Simon Nelson, chief executive of the Open University-owned company, said that the early Mooc platforms – such as the US-based Coursera, Udacity and EdX – had overstated the case for what Moocs could be. He also revealed that he is “not a huge fan of the word Mooc”.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/67383/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=e045b8e829bd4895aea57ffc2f2b2a68&elqCampaignId=415
Plan to Have College Enrollment Reflect Population Growth a Texas-Sized Success
by María Eugenia Miranda
When the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board discovered through a study in 2000 that the state would lose tax revenue and see a drop in income because its colleges and universities weren’t keeping pace with population growth, it took action with the Closing the Gaps plan. The plan has a particular aim at educating more Hispanic students.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/A-College-System-Lets/149387/
A College System Lets Students’ Pay Determine Its Budget Requests
By Goldie Blumenstyk
The idea of judging colleges by how well their graduates do in getting jobs, or what those jobs pay, makes plenty of institutions nervous. Not the Texas State Technical College system.
The 12,000-student system likes the idea so much, in fact, that it now uses a simple formula weighing those factors to determine nearly all of the instructional money it requests from the state. The “returned value” formula is based on the number of students who land jobs and how much above the minimum wage students earn once they leave college.
www.ccnewsnow.com
http://www.ccnewsnow.com/can-focusing-on-workplace-skills-increase-college-completion-rates/?utm_campaign=101514ccnewsletterNew&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=76c886a701df4f6886f8072a89523bff&elqCampaignId=440
Can focusing on workplace skills increase college completion rates?
Source: Hechinger Report
When Cheryl Hyman, a former utilities executive, was tapped to become chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago, the system of seven community colleges had a graduation crisis: Only seven percent of students were finishing their educations in a timely manner. Hyman came in with an idea to fix the problem—the system needed to focus on teaching skills employers were demanding. Graduation rates doubled after Hyman put her policy in place. But it put her in the middle of a debate over the very purpose of higher education.
www.nytimes.com
Web-Era Trade Schools, Feeding a Need for Code
By TAMAR LEWIN
SAN FRANCISCO — A new educational institution, the coding boot camp, is quietly emerging as the vocational school for the digital age, devoted to creating software developers.
These boot camps reflect the start-up ethic: small for-profit enterprises that are fast (classes are two to four months), nimble (revising curriculum to meet industry needs) and unconcerned with SAT scores or diplomas. Most are expensive, but some accept a share of the graduates’ first-year earnings or a finder’s fee from employers as payment.
www.nytimes.com
Venture Capitalists Return to Backing Science Start-Ups
By HIROKO TABUCHI
Vestaron makes an eco-friendly pesticide derived from spider venom. Bagaveev uses 3-D printers to make rocket engines for nanosatellites. Transatomic Power is developing a next-generation reactor that runs on nuclear waste. They all have one thing in common: money from Silicon Valley venture capitalists. After years of shying away from science, engineering and clean-technology start-ups, investors are beginning to take an interest in them again, raising hopes among entrepreneurs in those areas that a long slump is finally over.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/national/university-president-gives-90k-salary-low-paid-wor/nhjnK/
University president gives 90K of salary to low paid worker
By Briana Altergott
Talk about a pay cut. The interim president of Kentucky State University made a pretty big sacrifice to benefit the school’s lowest-paid workers. Raymond Burse said this summer that he will take $90,000 less than he was originally offered so that 24 university workers earning minimum wage can have their earnings increased to $10.25 an hour.
www.insidehighered.com
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2014/10/15/harvard-law-professors-object-sex-harassment-rules
Harvard Law Professors Object to Sex Harassment Rules
Twenty-eight current and former law professors at Harvard University have published an op-ed in The Boston Globe calling on the university to withdraw its new rules to prevent sexual harassment. The piece argues that Harvard has tilted its process in ways that deny due process or fairness to those accused of assault or harassment.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/67390/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=e045b8e829bd4895aea57ffc2f2b2a68&elqCampaignId=415
South Carolina State Still Owes $6.5M on Unpaid Bills
by Seanna Adcox, Associated Press
COLUMBIA, S.C. ― South Carolina State University still owes $6.5 million on bills and needs more help from the state to move forward, President Thomas Elzey told the Budget and Control Board on Tuesday. The state’s only public historically Black university is seeking a $12 million loan to be disbursed over three years, with a first installment this fiscal year of $6 million, followed by $4 million next year. That request must first be approved by a legislative panel and could officially go before the state’s financial oversight board as early as December.