University System News
USG NEWS:
www.onlineathens.com
UGA restricts travel to Ebola countries
By LEE SHEARER
The University of Georgia won’t approve school-related travel to three West African countries gripped by an Ebola virus epidemic. The new rule is in keeping with guidance issued by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said UGA spokesman Tom Jackson. According to the CDC advice, education-related travel to Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone should be postponed “until further notice.”
GOOD NEWS:
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/67513/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=677ecded41334ddf9c8118075529dc69&elqCampaignId=415
Professor to Use Grant to Bring Computer Science to Elementary Schools
by Associated Press
Georgia State University officials say a professor will use a grant to develop curriculum to bring computer science to urban elementary school classrooms. Officials say associate professor in the GSU college of education Caitlin McMunn Dooley has been awarded a three-year, $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
www.kxxv.com
http://www.kxxv.com/story/26829882/graduateprogramscom-announces-fall-graduate-program-rankings
Graduateprograms.com Announces Fall Graduate Program Rankings
SOURCE Graduateprograms.com
–The Fall 2014 Graduate Program Rankings is a comprehensive list of the best graduate programs in the country–
ENGLEWOOD, N.J., Oct. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — East coast or west coast? Public or private? The complex decision of where to attend graduate school also includes things like cost, quality of the network, diversity, and where students can find a healthy social life. Graduate Programs is pleased to provide answers to these questions with the annual Fall Graduate Program Rankings. This is a comprehensive list of the best graduate programs in the country, based solely on student ratings and reviews posted on graduateprograms.com. …Overall Education: Secondary Education: University of Georgia (9.53) …Public Affairs: …Public Administration: University of Georgia (8.73)
RESEARCH:
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/business/were-no-1-in-blueberries/nhn5Q/
We’re No. 1 — in blueberries
By Dan Chapman
Georgia leads the nation in blueberry production, surpassing long-time berry boss Michigan. The Peach State produced 96 million pounds of blueberries this year, according to the North American Blueberry Council. Michigan grew 91.5 million pounds. …University of Georgia blueberry breeder Scott NeSmith developed 15 blueberry varieties over the last decade, including top performers Rebel, Vernon and Ochlockonee.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Brain-Training-Companies-Get/149555/
Brain-Training Companies Get Advice From Some Academics, Criticism From Others
By Rebecca Koenig
. . .brain-game companies entice people to buy subscriptions to their online training programs, many of which promise to increase customers’ “neuroplasticity,” “fluid intelligence,” and working memory capacity. . . .Randall W. Engle, a psychology professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has conducted several studies debunking brain-training claims. “It gives me the concern, when I read their papers: Is this the consultant for Lumosity talking, or is this the objective scientist talking?” .” . There’s a conflict of interest there,” . . .said Engle, who has conducted several studies debunking brain-training claims. “It gives me the concern, when I read their papers: Is this the consultant for Lumosity talking, or is this the objective scientist talking?”
www.georgiagtrend.com
http://www.georgiatrend.com/October-2014/Biotech-Boom/
BIOTECH BOOM
Georgia is attracting attention for its thriving biotech scene. Could we be the next hub?
Randy Southerland
James Ross was still a Georgia Tech grad student when he began work on what would one day become Axion Biosystems. He and a couple of fellow students were developing an instrument to measure the nerve activities of brain and heart tissues in the body. It soon became clear this advanced microelectrode array technology, as it was called, would have wideapplication for pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Using the tool would give researchers the bility to screen complex human functions and disease states in the lab.
www.space-travel.com
http://www.space-travel.com/reports/New_Commercial_Rocket_Descent_Data_May_Help_NASA_with_Future_Mars_Landings_999.html
Descent Data May Help With Future Mars Landings
by Staff Writers
NASA successfully captured thermal images of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on its descent after it launched in September from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The data from these thermal images may provide critical engineering information for future missions to the surface of Mars. “Because the technologies required to land large payloads on Mars are significantly different than those used here on Earth, investment in these technologies is critical,” said Robert Braun, principal investigator for NASA’s Propulsive Descent Technologies (PDT) project and professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.
www.myajc.com
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/will-driverless-cars-get-off-the-starting-line-in-/nhmTd/#53aae855.3566685.735528
Will driverless cars get off the starting line in Georgia?
By Andria Simmons – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Driverless vehicles are a Pandora’s box of possibilities, capable of altering the routines of daily life in astounding and unpredictable ways. But should Georgia open the box? And if so, under what conditions? . . . Georgia Institute of Technology developed an autonomous vehicle known as “Sting Racer” for the 2007 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency s (DARPA) Urban Challenge. Sting Racing Team members include Henrik Christensen, Tucker Balch, Vince Camp and Tom Collins. . . .Georgia Tech, which developed a driverless vehicle in 2007 using a Porsche Cayenne SUV, may also be interested in using the county (Fayette) for research grounds, he said.
www.farmfutures.com
http://farmfutures.com/story-new-imaging-technology-gives-researchers-better-look-crop-roots-0-119298
New Imaging Technology Gives Researchers Better Look at Crop Roots
Root imaging allows geneticists to search for plant genes with the best characteristics
New imaging tools are taking plant root research out of the laboratory and into the field, a new study in the October issue of the journal Plant Physiology explains. Plant scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Penn State University have developed an automated imaging technique taking exact measurements and analysis of the root systems of mature plants.
www.mdjonline.com
http://www.mdjonline.com/printer_friendly/25986091
Development Authority stirs debate with Cobb Board of Education
by Hilary Butschek
The Development Authority of Cobb County approved two tax abatements on developments worth a total of $135 million in the Cumberland area Tuesday that could reignite a legal battle with the Cobb Board of Education. . . .The development would bring an economic benefit of $2.1 million to the school board and $1.1 million to the county by 2027, according to the cost-benefit analysis on the project done by the Georgia Institute of Technology
Editorials/Columns/Opinions
www.saportareport.com
http://saportareport.com/blog/2014/10/dreams-of-jobs-training-hit-realty-atlanta-vows-it-wont-surrender/
SaportReport
Dreams of jobs training hit realty; Atlanta vows it won’t surrender
David Pendered
Less than 10 percent of those who applied for a job-training program initiated by Falcons team owner Arthur Blank passed the drug test required for acceptance to the program. . .In a related development, a new report suggests the reemergence of redlining in some of the very Atlanta neighborhoods that struggle with low household income and higher rates of unemployment. Georgia Tech Professor Dan Immergluck’s report predicts some of these areas will take a “very long time” to recover value lost during the great recession.
Education News
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/67502/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=677ecded41334ddf9c8118075529dc69&elqCampaignId=415
Colleges Find Success With New Approaches to Developmental Education
by Kenneth J. Cooper
With the recent national focus on increasing how many students complete academic programs at all levels of higher education, community colleges have been rethinking remedial education and trying new approaches. “There are all kinds of new ways developmental education is being administered or presented to students across the country,” says Dr. Evelyn Waiwaiole, director of the Center for Community College Student Engagement at the University of Texas Austin. One approach, called co-enrollment or co-requisite, scraps tradition by allowing students to enroll in a developmental math or English course at the same time they take a first-year college course in that subject. While they are catching up, those students build college credit.
www.usnews.com
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/10/20/ap-science-history-courses-slated-for-major-overhaul
AP Science, History Courses Slated for Major Overhaul
Will the new emphasis on critical thinking fuel the Common Core controversy?
By The Hechinger Report
Despite the recent fallout over new guidelines for Advanced Placement U.S. History, the College Board is making similar changes to most science and history AP courses in an effort to emphasize critical thinking. The College Board is in the process of retooling many of its 36 courses to more align with what it sees as meeting the needs of today’s rigorous college instruction. The new courses – from Art History to Physics — will cover fewer topics and aim to address charges that the old courses prized rote memorization over imaginative thinking.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/67511/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=677ecded41334ddf9c8118075529dc69&elqCampaignId=415
Virginia Joins Higher Education Distance Learning Agreement
by Associated Press
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia higher education officials are making it easier for students to take online classes and for universities to offer them. The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia announced the joining of a multi-state reciprocity agreement on Monday that deals with authorization and payment for distance learning courses.
www.washingtonpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/free-online-ap-courses-debut-on-edx-web-site/2014/10/20/6b16c204-5883-11e4-b812-38518ae74c67_story.html
Free online AP courses debut on edX Web site
By Nick Anderson
Rice University launched a free Advanced Placement biology course Monday on a Web site overseen by two other elite schools, a potentially significant milestone for a movement that aims to bring college-level courses to high school students. The site, edX, was created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University in 2012 as a nonprofit platform for those universities and selected others to offer massive open online courses, or MOOCs , to the world.
www.redandblack.com
http://www.redandblack.com/uganews/linkedin-outcome-based-university-rankings-receive-questionable-grade/article_34d6050e-5871-11e4-a645-0017a43b2370.html
LinkedIn outcome-based university rankings receive questionable grade
Mollie Simon
The process of choosing a university can involve filtering through the advice of parents and mentors, the price tags, the enticing campus tours and the endless lists of rankings. For this year’s high school seniors, the professional networking site LinkedIn may have just made that last category even more confusing. At the beginning of October, LinkedIn, which was founded in 2003, released its new University Outcome Rankings, listing 25 “top” schools in eight different professions ranging from designers to investment bankers. “By analyzing employment patterns of over 300 million LinkedIn members from around the world, we figured out what the desirable jobs are within several professions and which graduates get those desirable jobs,” the company said on their blog. “As a result, we are able to rank schools based on the career outcomes of their graduates.” While University of Georgia did not make any of LinkedIn’s lists, Tom Jackson, vice president for public affairs, said it is necessary to look at rankings critically and cautiously.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/Many-Athletes-Receive-Little/149545/?cid=pm&utm_source=pm&utm_medium=en
Many Athletes Receive Little Education on Concussion
By Brad Wolverton
Nearly a quarter of respondents to a new survey of NCAA colleges said their institutions do not have a formal process for educating athletes about the danger of head injuries. The findings, published on Tuesday in The American Journal of Sports Medicine, suggest that dozens of institutions may not be in compliance with the concussion policy set forth by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
www.chronicle.com
http://chronicle.com/article/For-Colleges-Student-Privacy/149553/?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en
For Colleges, Student-Privacy Law Can Be an Obligation and a Shield
By Eric Kelderman
When Treon Harris, the starting quarterback for the University of Florida’s football team, was accused of sexual assault this month, the university did something unusual: It announced the accusation publicly the very next day. Colleges are not known for being open to sharing information about sexual assaults or anything else involving the bad behavior of students. Such matters, they often say, are cloaked by a federal law—the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, which prohibits educational institutions from releasing “education records” that reveal the identity of an individual student. The university may have felt that it had few other options at the time: