USG Institutions:
www.getschooled.blog.ajc.com
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
GSU president: All our students share grit, drive of basketball team
http://getschooled.blog.ajc.com/2015/03/26/gsu-president-all-our-students-share-grit-drive-of-basketball-team/
In the wake of the extraordinary performance of the Georgia State University basketball team this month, GSU President Mark P. Becker deserves an extended metaphor or two.
By Mark P. Becker
Down 10 points with a little over three minutes to play in their first-round NCAA basketball tournament game against Baylor, the Georgia State Panthers were pretty much done. At least that is what most people thought. Not me, I knew we were going to win and let others around me know it, too. I know the entire Georgia State family took great pride in the grit and determination the Panthers showed in that game. They used those qualities to earn the most dramatic victory in this season’s tournament, and one of the most improbable of all comebacks in the history of the tournament. The nation saw that, too. But what was unseen, and what I reflected on long after the game was over, was how the Panthers’ perseverance and drive to succeed symbolized the culture and personality of our university. I see that kind of intense commitment, that willingness to confront and overcome obstacles, every day on our campus of 32,000 students. Georgia State is among the country’s most diverse higher education institutions.
www.wabe.org
Georgia Tech Student Inventors Compete For Inventure Prize
http://wabe.org/post/georgia-tech-student-inventors-compete-inventure-prize
By TASNIM SHAMMA
Need a detector for your gas grill to tell you when to turn it off? Or want to use your smartphone to learn and teach braille? Undergrads at Georgia Tech have designed products to do just that. Next week, six teams will compete for a total of $35,000 in prizes to take their inventions to the next level. Mohamad Najia says drooping eyelids are common for older adults. “The person driving with drooping eyelids, they can’t even see the rearview mirror or the traffic signal, so they can’t see in front of them or behind them,” Najia says.
www.nlineathens.com
New UGA animal hospital open as veterinary college alumni gather in Athens
http://onlineathens.com/breaking-news/2015-03-26/new-uga-animal-hospital-open-veterinary-college-alumni-gather-athens
By LEE SHEARER
Tails are wagging at the announcement of University of Georgia’s new Veterinary Teaching Hospital opening this week in its new location. The well-timed opening occurs just ahead of the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine’s annual Veterinary Conference and Alumni Weekend. …The new hospital is more than twice the size of the hospital it replaced at the complex on D.W. Brooks Drive of UGA’s main campus.
The new College Station campus, called the UGA Veterinary Medical Center, includes an education center with an auditorium and three classrooms as well as the teaching hospital.
www.steamfeed.com
Georgia State University Receives $2.7 million Federal Grant To Improve Blood Transfusion Outcomes
http://www.steamfeed.com/georgia-state-university-receives-2-7-million-federal-grant-to-improve-blood-transfusion-outcomes/
by SteamFeed Admin
The Georgia Health Policy Center (GHPC) at Georgia State University has received a five-year, $ 2,669,903 award from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that will allow the GHPC and partnering organizations to look at transfusion-related complications in patients with hemoglobin disorders (sickle cell disease and thalassemia) and improve their outcomes.
www.georgianewsday.com
UGA to offer music education online degree program
http://www.georgianewsday.com/news/savannah/325850-uga-to-offer-music-education-online-degree-program.html
Staff Writer
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) – The University of Georgia plans to begin offering a master of music education online degree program. The university says its Hugh Hodgson School of Music will begin taking applicants immediately for the program that is set to start this summer. It is meant for certified music educators seeking to enhance their practitioner and research skills.
www.bizjournals.com
Cousins/Hines, Portman vie for huge Georgia Tech project
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/print-edition/2015/03/27/cousins-hines-portman-vie-for-huge-georgia-tech.html
Douglas Sams and Maria Saporta
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Two longtime Atlanta real estate companies known for some of the most recognizable buildings on the city skyline are competing to develop a $300 million mixed-use project for Georgia Tech — the next expansion of Midtown’s Technology Square. Cousins Properties Inc. is vying against Portman Holdings to develop the project. Cousins has also teamed with Houston-based powerhouse Hines. The new project would rise over Tech Square on the site that housed the Crum & Forster building at 4th and Spring streets. It would add up to 750,000 square feet of new development to Tech Square, including a new 600,000-square-foot office building anchored by Georgia Tech, and a High Performance Computing Center.
www.huffingtonpost.com
This Group Gives Refugees Toilets, Then Turns The Waste Into Charcoal For Cooking
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/25/poop-cooking-fuel_n_6940964.html
The Huffington Post | By Eleanor Goldberg
Across the globe, 1.8 billion people use a drinking water source that is contaminated with fecal matter, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). To make sure the waste produced by refugees and low-income households in Kenya doesn’t infiltrate their water systems, a group founded by U.S. university grads is turning poop into charcoal for cooking. Established in 2011 based off of research conducted at Emory and Georgia Tech, Sanivation provides toilets to people in need, collects the waste and then treats it with solar energy. The final byproduct are low-cost briquettes that can be safely used for cooking and heating homes. Sanivation co-founder Emily Woods said in a video interview that the briquettes are particularly “fantastic” because it burns longer than standard coal and emits less carbon monoxide and particulate emissions.
www.biomassmagazine.com
UGA researchers create trees that are easier to turn into fuel
http://www.biomassmagazine.com/articles/11710/uga-researchers-create-trees-that-are-easier-to-turn-into-fuel
Researchers at the University of Georgia have discovered that manipulation of a specific gene in a hardwood tree species not only makes it easier to break down the wood into fuel, but also significantly increases tree growth. In a paper published recently in Biotechnology for Biofuels, the researchers describe how decreasing the expression of a gene called GAUT12.1 leads to a reduction in xylan and pectin, two major components of plant cell walls that make them resistant to the enzymes and chemicals used to extract the fermentable sugars used to create biofuels.
www.wltz.com
Demolition set to begin in CSU project
http://www.wltz.com/story/28627044/demolition-set-to-begin-in-csu-project
The new hospital is more than twice the size of the hospital it replaced at the complex on D.W. Brooks Drive of UGA’s main campus. The new College Station campus, called the UGA Veterinary Medical Center, includes an education center with an auditorium and three classrooms as well as the teaching hospital. …The school hopes to have the new nursing school and other facilities at the new site completed by the fall of next year.
Higher Education News:
www.politics.blog.ajc.com
Nathan Deal’s order clears way for legalized medical marijuana
http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2015/03/27/nathan-deals-order-clears-way-for-legalized-medical-marijuana/
Greg Bluestein
Gov. Nathan Deal signed an executive order Friday directing state agencies to prepare for legislation that would legalize medical marijuana in an emotional ceremony surrounded by families who would benefit from the drug. The governor plans to sign the legislation, House Bill 1, next month that would make Georgia the 24th state to allow the drug for medical purposes. It authorizes the limited use of cannabis oil to treat disorders that include cancer, sickle cell disease and epilepsy as long as a physician signs off.
www.ajc.com
Atlanta could be getting ‘dumber’: Data
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/atlanta-might-be-getting-dumber-data/nkfpg/
Adam Carlson
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A new report in Slate suggests something very big off of a relatively small data point: Atlanta might actually be getting dumber, Jordan Weissmann wrote, at least according to a one-year estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau. “Out of the 51 cities analyzed, Atlanta was the only one where a smaller percentage of [25- to 34-year-olds] had earned at least a bachelor’s [degree] than in 2000,” Weissman wrote. This according to one-year estimates in the Census’ 2012 American Community Survey. …The AJC took an in-depth look at this issue earlier this year in our “Atlanta Forward” series. http://atlantaforward.myajc.com/
www.insidehighered.com
Professors Should Define Student Success
https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2015/03/27/faculty-members-should-drive-efforts-measure-student-learning-essay
By Norm Jones and Harrison Kleiner
Lumina Foundation recently released an updated version of its Degree Qualifications Profile (D.Q.P.), which helps define what students should know and what skills they should master to obtain higher education degrees.This revised framework marks a significant step in the conversation about measuring students’ preparedness for the workforce and for life success based on how much they’ve learned rather than how much time they’ve spent in the classroom. It also provides a rare opportunity for faculty members at colleges and universities to take the lead in driving long-overdue change in how we define student success.
www.chronicle.com
Why Colleges Don’t Do More to Rein In Frats
http://chronicle.com/article/Why-Colleges-Don-t-Do-More/228841/
By Eric Kelderman
It’s getting hard to keep up with the number of shocking incidents attributed to fraternities. As headlines pile up — racist and sexist speech, sexual impropriety, destruction of property, hazing, illegal drugs, and even the death of a student — there is a growing sense that Greek organizations are out of control. As a result, some colleges have moved to close fraternities, suspend or expel student offenders, and — in cases of alleged criminal activity — open their own investigations. But the latest spate of bad behavior has raised bigger questions about Greek organizations’ place on campuses: Why don’t colleges, or the national associations the fraternities represent, hold frats more accountable? Can they, or should they, do more? How?