USG NEWS:
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2014-12-08/state-college-system-reaching-out-college-dropouts
State college system reaching out to college dropouts
By LEE SHEARER
More than one in five Georgians started college and never finished, but many are now returning to state colleges and technical colleges, University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby told state legislators Monday. About 10 percent of the University System of Georgia’s 314,000 students are people who dropped out of college but have returned, said Huckaby, keynote speaker Monday at the 2014 Biennial Institute for Georgia Legislators. The three-day meeting, held in election years, is staged by the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government, and is where rookie and returning legislators get briefings on economic development, higher education, transportation and other key issues facing the state and its elected leaders.
www.savannahnow.com
http://savannahnow.com/news/2014-12-09/economic-development-ports-highlighted-legislative-conference
Economic development, ports highlighted at legislative conference
By WALTER C. JONES
ATHENS — State leaders highlighted job-creation strategies through education, local assistance and port improvements Monday in a conference for legislators. Lawmakers, fresh off of the campaign trail where voters said jobs were their main concern, got an overview of the state’s efforts to expand employment during a conference at the University of Georgia. Wednesday, the Department of Economic Development will release the results of an employers’ survey that identified the jobs most in demand. But the legislators got a preview from Chris Carr, the department’s commissioner. “Many companies have an aging work force, and they anticipate they are going to have a large number of employees retiring,” he said. They identified 162 career and 96 skills needed most, including mechanical and electrical engineers, welders, computer technicians and nurses. The University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia have already begun targeting high-demand careers, crafting courses for them and even offering tuition-free education for seven occupations.
www.wsj.com
http://www.wsj.com/articles/colleges-clamp-down-on-bloated-student-schedules-1417823336
Colleges Clamp Down on Bloated Student Schedules
States Plan to Limit Credit Hours Required for Bachelor’s Degree
By MELISSA KORN
Colleges are trying to make sure students understand a basic math lesson: 120 credits equals a bachelor’s degree. As student-loan debt hovers near all-time highs and operational costs for colleges continue to rise, administrators are pushing to get students through their undergraduate educations more efficiently, particularly at public institutions. Full-time students complete four-year degrees with an average of 134 credit hours, according to Complete College America, a nonprofit focused on boosting college-graduation rates. That is well over the minimum of 120 hours—or about 15 credits per semester—required by most undergraduate degree programs. … At Georgia State University, a new tracking system to make sure students are taking the right classes helped cut the average number of credits to 138 from 141 in one year, saving students the equivalent of $4 million in tuition and fees, estimated Vice Provost Timothy Renick. Aundrea Nattiel, a Georgia State junior, is on her fifth declared major, sociology. When she decided her previous major, psychology, wasn’t for her, she told her adviser she wanted to switch to a business degree. But the adviser found that she could get a sociology degree with 20 fewer credit hours than she would need for business. Now, she is on track to graduate only one semester late, in fall 2016.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/gwinnett-real-estate-mogul-hurt-in-car-crash/njNgJ/
Gwinnett real estate mogul, ex-commission chair hurt in car crash
Steve Visser
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wayne Mason, the powerful real estate mogul whose name is synonymous with Gwinnett County politics and development, was in a weekend car crash, police said Monday. …Mason, 74, and Annett Mason, 75, were taken to Gwinnett Medical Center for evaluation of minor injuries, police told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. …Mason, a former county commission chairman in the 1970s, was one of the power brokers who most recently made Georgia Gwinnett College a reality. The group used its political connections to steer more than $100 million from the legislature to the upstart school, which has grown to more than 10,000 students in nine years.
www.onenewsnow.com
http://www.onenewsnow.com/education/2014/12/08/professor-will-fight-charges-of-proselytizing#.VIYNuyivIeU
Professor will fight charges of ‘proselytizing’
Bob Kellogg
Professor Emerson McMullen of Georgia Southern University has an exemplary record of teaching. However, the Freedom from Religion Foundation and the Richard Dawkins Foundation are accusing him of preaching creationism. That’s an accusation McMullen denies. “I criticize some of the secular stories about how we got here,” he says. “I don’t preach creationism, but I think in their minds the very idea that I would criticize their position is good enough to prove that I must be on the other side.” One student contacted FFRF with the complaint that McMullen promoted his religious views in the classroom. After investigation, the atheist organization concluded that McMullen is proselytizing in his classroom and teaching creationism as a scientific fact. These conclusions were based on class materials such as essay questions and extra credit opportunities. McMullen says he’s been a professor for nearly a quarter of a century, teaching basically the same way he always has. …After FFRF sent a letter with allegations against McMullen to Georgia Southern University, the university responded that a through investigation would be made. While McMullen is in a position where he could retire if he wanted, he says he has no plans to do so. He says he is going to stay and defend himself through to the end of this investigation.
www.ajc.com
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/sexual-battery-suspect-sought-by-georgia-tech-poli/njN5Q/
Sexual battery suspect sought by Georgia Tech police
Jon Gargis
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Tech police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man who allegedly touched a woman on campus Monday. The woman, a student, told authorities that as she was walking behind Brittain Dining Hall near Williams Street NW around 5:45 p.m., the man approached her from behind, reached under her skirt and touched her. The man was last seen heading westbound on North Avenue in a red pickup truck, according to a safety alert sent by the college Monday night.
Related article:
www.accessnorthga.com
http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=282733
Georgia Tech police seek suspect in sexual assault case
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2014-12-08/uga-student-arrested-dui-hit-and-run-drug-and-firearm-charges
UGA student arrested for DUI hit-and-run, drug and firearm charges
By JOE JOHNSON
University of Georgia police arrested a student Saturday on drug and firearm charges following a DUI hit-and-run accident in a dormitory building parking lot. UGA police said 19-year-old Alexander David Essig struck a car in the lot at Oglethorpe House off South Lumpkin Street at about 3:20 a.m. Saturday, severely damaging the other car and pushing it into a third vehicle that suffered lesser damages. Witnesses told police that Essig backed up from the wrecked cars and sped away. …Police said that a search of his car found two or three types of pills, some marijuana and a 9mm semiautomatic handgun along with three loaded ammo magazines.Essig was additionally charged two counts of possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana, possession of a drug object, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, possession of open containers in a motor vehicle and underage consumption of alcohol, police said.
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/blotter/2014-12-08/pickpocket-steals-iphone-downtown-athens
UGA student robbed by pickpocket in downtown Athens
A University of Georgia student told Athens-Clarke County police on Sunday that a pickpocket stole her iPhone, valued at $200, early that morning as she made her way through several large groups in downtown Athens.
GOOD NEWS:
www.philadelphia.citybizlist.com
http://philadelphia.citybizlist.com/article/227928/u-of-pittsburgh-college-of-nj-among-50-smartest-public-colleges
U. of Pittsburgh, College of N.J. Among 50 ‘Smartest’ Public Colleges
By Sindhu Madhusudan
Georgia Institute of Technology, University of California-Berkeley and the College of William and Mary are the smartest public colleges in America, according to a Duke University study. The colleges’ average SAT scores were 1385, 1375 and 1365 respectively, Business Insider said in a report. …33 University of Georgia Athens, GA 1240
www.forbes.com
http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/12/08/americas-20-most-inspiring-companies/
America’s 20 Most Inspiring Companies
Susan Adams
What companies most inspire the consuming public? A little five-year-old consulting firm in Atlanta claims to have come up with a formula to answer that question. Terry Barber, CEO of the firm, which calls itself Performance Inspired, is touting a survey it released today called America’s Most Inspiring Companies. Barber says his firm uses the survey as a publicity tool and a benchmark to serve its clients. At the moment Performance Inspired has only six clients, including the Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Georgia State University’s executive education program and the southeast regional division of McDonald’s. It runs workshops for managers and executives aimed at drumming up employee enthusiasm.
RESEARCH:
www.politifact.com
http://www.politifact.com/georgia/statements/2014/dec/09/allen-peake/weeding-out-different-effects-cannabis-oil-and-mar/
Weeding out the different effects of cannabis oil and marijuana
By April Hunt
State lawmakers have a month before they get back to work in the 2015 legislative session and already the debate over medical marijuana has gotten into the, ahem, weeds. State Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon serves as co-chair of a joint legislative committee that has studied whether and how to legalize the drug for certain conditions, including seizures in children. Peake has revived a bill aimed at allowing cannabis oil made from marijuana plants for treatment of certain seizure disorders and other health problems. He is finalizing that proposal, pre-filed as House Bill 1 after a similar measure fell short last session. But another committee member, state Sen. Curt Thompson, D-Tucker, is proposing a competing bill that would allow vaporized, edible or smokable marijuana. Thompson also has filed a resolution, calling for a statewide referendum on whether to authorize recreational use of the drug. …A London drug company, GW Pharmaceuticals, has created a drug out of highly purified CBD that has shown in preclinical studies that it potentially reduce seizures. The firm is waiting on final approval from Georgia Regents University and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to begin clinical trials in Georgia with children who have severe seizure disorders.
www.prnewswire.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/students-learn-power-of-the-sun-with-new-emc-solar-curriculum-300006162.html
Students Learn Power Of The Sun With New EMC Solar Curriculum
TUCKER, Ga. — Green Power EMC, a renewable energy provider for Georgia’s EMCs, has announced a new curriculum and enhanced in-class learning laboratory featuring solar power for use by schools participating in its SunPower for Schools partnership program. The program provides solar arrays on school grounds and software for use in the classroom that together allow students to monitor real-time data on solar energy production. Currently, 35 middle and high schools in EMC service territories around Georgia are participating in the program. Recently, Green Power EMC upgraded hardware and software at participating schools and unveiled a new curriculum that complements and supports science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) standards. …The new curriculum was developed by the University of West Georgia in partnership with Green Power EMC and was reviewed this summer in a teacher’s workshop in Savannah to test and evaluate the program.
www.physical-therapy.advanceweb.com
http://physical-therapy.advanceweb.com/Features/Articles/Strengthening-Young-Bodies.aspx
Strengthening Young Bodies
Weight training can address a range of deficits in the pediatric and early intervention settings.
By Mary Jane Baniak, DPT
The effectiveness of early intervention is well documented in scientific literature. In fact, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) ensures that early intervention is available to all children who have a developmental delay or those who are at risk of a delay. As practitioners, we’ve long understood and appreciated that early intervention (EI) is key for our young patients who have developmental delays. In most cases, the sooner we can start working with a child, the greater the chance of success. …In 2013, researchers at Georgia State University found that adding ankle weights to children with Down syndrome significantly improved gait kinetics. This study was performed with children of an average of 9 years of age, but indicates that a very small weight added during functional activities can improve gait kinetics.
www.science20.com
http://www.science20.com/news_articles/government_employees_have_a_higher_intrinsic_need_to_serve_the_public-150738
Government Employees Have A “Higher Intrinsic Need To Serve The Public”
By News Staff
Government and non-profit employees have higher public service motivations than corporate managers, according to surveys of government and non-profit employees in Georgia.
They don’t simply do the minimum when it comes to eco-friendly initiatives, they also engage in discretionary programs. They just care more than other people, which is a nice bonus, since it is well-known that government workers have higher salaries than the private sector in the United States. It is why if they leave government service, they often take years to get back to their government salary levels. The results in the American Review of Public Administration are based on a survey of hundreds of public servants about their environmental and organizational behaviors. “Some people are born with a higher intrinsic need to serve the public,” said paper co-author Robert K. Christensen, an associate professor in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia. “They have a desire to help others and serve society. Government and nonprofit managers, for example, typically have higher levels of public service motivation than business managers.”
www.healthcanal.com
http://www.healthcanal.com/mental-health-behavior/58160-religion-or-spirituality-has-positive-impact-on-romantic-marital-relationships-child-development-research-shows.html
Religion or Spirituality Has Positive Impact on Romantic/Marital Relationships, Child Development, Research Shows
Neighborhood Disorder, Spiritual Well-Being, and Parenting Stress in African American Women (3rd article down)
by Dorian A. Lamis, PhD, and Christina K. Wilson, PhD, Emory University School of Medicine; Nicholas Tarantino, MA, Georgia State University;
Low-income African-American women who were primary caregivers of children between 8 and 12 and lived in disorderly neighborhoods experienced lower levels of parenting stress if they exhibited existential and/or religious well-being, according to this study.
STATE ISSUES/NEEDS:
www.bizjournals.com
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/blog/capitol_vision/2014/12/transportation-funding-key-topic-at-legislative.html
Transportation funding key topic at legislative conference
Dave Williams
Staff Writer- Atlanta Business Chronicle
Don’t expect any specific proposals on transportation funding to come out of this week’s biennial conference for newly elected state legislators at The University of Georgia.
Recommendations from a legislative study committee that held eight hearings on the issue across Georgia this fall won’t be released until later this month, state Rep. Jay Roberts, one of the committee’s co-chairmen, said Monday afternoon during a discussion panel on transportation funding.
www.onlineathens.com
http://onlineathens.com/general-assembly/2014-12-08/caterpillar-exec-tells-lawmakers-need-teach-teens-about-manufacturing
Caterpillar exec tells lawmakers of need to teach teens about manufacturing jobs
By WALTER C. JONESMORRIS NEWS SERVICE
The manager of one of Georgia’s newest, large manufacturers told state lawmakers on Monday that there is a need to convince students that factory jobs are attractive. Todd Henry, operations manager for the Athens-based plant of Caterpillar Inc., also praised the state’s job-training program, Quick Start, as helping prepare unskilled workers. Henry was the breakfast speaker at a three-day conference for lawmakers sponsored by the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government dealing with the major issues of the coming legislative session. “We’ve got to partner with the high schools,” he said. “… You have to show there are good jobs in manufacturing because, let’s face it, not every kid is going to go to college.” …With Quick Start handled by the Technical College System of Georgia, the company can hire unskilled workers and know they’ll be adequately trained, he said. That allows employers to focus on job candidates who have strong “soft skills” like punctuality, honesty and dependability, rather than just screening for prior experience.
Related article:
www.chronicle.augusta.com
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/business/2014-12-09/benefits-ga-factory-jobs-touted
Benefits of Ga. factory jobs touted
Education News
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/68311/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=45ab09bbc5b44fcbafe2c47cb81e0991&elqCampaignId=415
Universities Find Building ‘Home’ on Campus Conducive to Native Americans’ Success
by Autumn A. Arnett
Educators say that the ability to build a sense of community on campus is most critical for attracting and retaining Native American students.
For many universities, achieving true diversity on campus — not just meeting a quota of students of different races, but truly fostering an environment that feels like home for a large group of students — is a near impossible task. And as difficult as the task is when discussing African-American, Hispanic and Asian American populations, whose numbers in the general population are on the rise, when considering Native American students, the challenge is exponentially more difficult.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/68305/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=45ab09bbc5b44fcbafe2c47cb81e0991&elqCampaignId=415
Groups Urge University of Virginia to Reinstate Fraternity Activities
by Associated Press
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. ― The University of Virginia should lift its suspension of fraternity and sorority activities now that Rolling Stone has acknowledged mistakes in its reporting of an alleged gang rape on campus, three organizations said in a statement. The Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee, the National Panhellenic Conference and the North-American Interfraternity Conference also said the university should apologize for a “rush to judgment” that damaged the reputation of Greek organizations and students. …“We believe universities must demonstrate more respect for the fundamental rights to due process and freedom of association for students and student organizations when allegations of misconduct are lodged,” they said. “A rush to judgment on campus all too often turns out to be wrong, especially when applied at the organizational level.” University spokesmen did not immediately return telephone and email messages to The Associated Press on Monday.w
www.news-journalonline.com
http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20141208/APN/312089793
Florida schools’ biggest sports donors? Students
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Students at most of Florida’s public universities pay high fees to support their school’s sports teams, even though the vast majority of students don’t play and many never even attend a game. A records analysis by The Associated Press shows eight public universities in Florida with NCAA-sanctioned teams get between 36 percent and 75 percent of their athletic funding from student athletic fees. Those fees are among the highest in the nation.
www.ccnewsnow.com
http://www.ccnewsnow.com/white-house-lauds-tns-free-community-college-plan/?utm_campaign=120914ccnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=c9dc4a9330e54627a0b8dc69c985bab7&elqCampaignId=467
White House lauds TN’s free community college plan
WASHINGTON – Tennessee’s decision to eliminate tuition at state two-year colleges was lauded Thursday by officials at the White House, where Gov. Bill Haslam promoted Tennessee Promise as an innovative way to make college more accessible. Haslam was one of several Tennesseans in Washington for President Barack Obama’s second College Opportunity Summit. The event showcased hundreds of educational institutions around the country that have set new goals to increase college participation and graduation rates. Tennessee Promise, which covers tuition at two-year colleges not already covered by other scholarship or aid programs, was the first program recognized at Thursday’s summit when Cecilia Muñoz, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, asked Haslam about it.
www.diverseeducation.com
http://diverseeducation.com/article/68316/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elq=45ab09bbc5b44fcbafe2c47cb81e0991&elqCampaignId=415
Despite Governor’s Doubts, Move to Fund S.C. State Goes Forward
by Seanna Adcox, Associated Press
COLUMBIA, S.C. ― The state’s financial oversight board agreed Monday to dip into reserves and give South Carolina State University $12 million over three years, though questions remain about how the money will be doled out and whether the school must repay any of it. The Budget and Control Board voted 3-1 to get the money from tax collections that came in above advisers’ expectations. Gov. Nikki Haley, the board’s chairwoman, did not vote, calling the decision completely irresponsible to both the university and taxpayers.
— Office of Communications Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia 270 Washington Street, SW Atlanta, GA 30334 Tel: (404) 962-3050 Fax: (404) 962-3045 communications[/owa/communications@usg.edu/medpub@usg.edu]@usg.edu “Creating A More Educated Georgia”