University System News:
www.myajc.com
A day after gun vote, House OK’s Tasers for Georgia colleges, too
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/a-day-after-gun-vote-house-oks-tasers-for-georgia-/nqWp8/
By Kristina Torres – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A day after the state House passed “campus carry” to let Georgia college students have guns on campus, the chamber backed a bill to let them carry Tasers and stun guns on campus as well. Call it “campus carry lite.” House Bill 792 would legalize carrying what are formally called electroshock weapons onto the state’s university and college campuses. It would require, however, that they only be used for self-defense or the defense of others. “This is just another option,” said the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Buzz Brockway, R-Lawrenceville. “I support campus carry but even if campus carry becomes legal, not everybody is going to want to carry a gun.”

See also:
www.wsbtv.com
Georgia House backs Tasers on campus, rape kit testing bill
http://www.wsbtv.com/ap/ap/georgia/georgia-house-backs-tasers-on-campus-rape-kit-test/nqWrJ/

www.valdostadailytimes.com
Valdosta police chief opposes ‘campus carry’
http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/news/local_news/valdosta-police-chief-opposes-campus-carry/article_a487f755-5f92-50aa-af82-469dfbd6df5e.html
By Dean Poling
VALDOSTA — Police Chief Brian Childress said he opposes “campus carry” and he said no area legislators even asked him for a law-enforcement opinion on the legislation that would allow people to carry firearms on campus. “What possible good could it be to allow anyone to carry a gun on university property?” Childress said Tuesday. “It’s outrageous.” The Valdosta police chief said he has expressed his displeasure with the legislation to the state police chiefs association. Yet, the most outrageous aspect to him is that state representatives have failed to heed to the recommendations of law-enforcement regarding the legislation, or to even ask for the law-enforcement perspective on campus carry.

www.bizjournals.com
GSU study: Long-term costs and benefits of film tax incentive “uncertain”
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2016/02/23/gsu-study-long-term-costs-and-benefits-of-film-tax.html
Ellie Hensley
Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Georgia’s entertainment tax credit has propelled it to the No. 3 spot in the United States to film movies and television shows, but the long-term costs and benefits of the program are uncertain, according to a new study from Georgia State University’s Fiscal Research Center. The center estimates the tax credit, which awards up to 30 percent in tax credits to productions that spend at least $500,000 in the state, cost Georgia more than $925 million between 2009 and 2014. …The research center’s findings showed that film jobs aren’t as affected by economic downturns as other sectors. Over the post-recession period from 2009 to 2012, employment in Georgia’s film industry increased by 62 percent compared to a 9 percent increase in total state private employment. “Notwithstanding the immediate revenue costs of the film tax credit, there are potential benefits in terms of employment, investment and overall growth — not just for Georgia’s film industry but for the state economy in general,” the study said.

USG Institutions:
www.tiftongazette.com
ABAC celebrated 108th birthday Feb. 20
http://www.tiftongazette.com/news/abac-celebrated-th-birthday-feb/article_d32e0aa2-da3f-11e5-9d8f-c7cab269e0cf.html
Special to The Gazette
TIFTON – It was 108 years ago on Feb. 20, 1908 when a special train rolled up the railroad tracks from downtown Tifton for opening day ceremonies at the Second District Agricultural and Mechanical School. Today that school is known as Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. “It’s always a great day to celebrate another birthday,” ABAC President David Bridges said. “ABAC today is much different than it was in 1908 but let’s give credit to all the faculty, staff, administrators and students who set the foundation for the success story that ABAC is today.” City officials declared a holiday when the school opened in 1908. As a result, downtown stores and the public school were closed on that special day. Some 1,200 people attended the opening day ceremony. A total of 27 students walked up the Tift Hall steps to attend classes. Lewis Hall and Herring Hall, adjacent to Tift Hall, served as the dormitories for boarding students.

www.valdostatoday.com
VSU Ranked for Exceptional Online Education in Georgia
http://valdostatoday.com/2016/02/vsu-ranked-for-exceptional-online-education-in-georgia/
VALDOSTA — Valdosta State University is one of the Best Online Schools in Georgia for 2015-2016, according to Accredited Schools Online. “Online programs and courses are an area of consistent growth for VSU,” said Meg H. Giddings, director of VSU’s Office of Extended Learning. “Our programs integrate the flexibility of online programs with exceptional and student-focused faculty and support. From the post-traditional student who balances a job, children, and a spouse and is looking for fully online learning opportunities to the on-campus student customizing their student experience by integrating online and in-seat courses in a term, online programs and courses are making a customized learning opportunity a reality for many VSU students. Ultimately our graduates earn a degree from a traditional institution that they know and trust.”

www.stylemagazine.com
Albany State University selected as Tom Joyner Foundation School of the Month
TJF to help raise funds for student scholarships and initiatives
http://stylemagazine.com/news/2016/feb/23/albany-state-university-selected-tom-joyner-founda/
Jo-Carolyn Goode
ALBANY, Ga. – Albany State University is the Tom Joyner Foundation (TJF) School of the Month for November 2016. As the School of the Month, the TJF will promote raising funds for the university and highlight its programs for the entire year. ASU will be featured daily during the month of November. …During the month of November, donations for Albany State University will be promoted on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, which has more than 8 million listeners each week in more than 115 markets. The university will also be featured on the foundation’s website. ASU hopes to raise $300,000 through this campaign.

www.ajc.com
Want a job at Google? Consider going to this Georgia school
http://www.ajc.com/news/business/employment/want-job-best-place-work-consider-going-georgia-sc/nnmXQ/
Lauren Colley, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Google is often ranked as the “best place to work,” with competitive pay, on-site childcare, free meals and other perks. Of its nearly 60,000 employees, 84 percent are reportedly highly satisfied. It’s no surprise that the tech giant is very selective, recruiting roughly .13 percent from an applicant pool of more than 3 million each year. Using data from LinkedIn, Business Insider determined which colleges and universities have the most alumni at Google. Georgia Institute of Technology, offering an education with a notable bang for your buck, is ranked No. 19.

www.ajc.com
Review: Tech frat got due process in race case, but suspension lifted
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-education/review-tech-frat-got-due-process-in-race-case-but-/nqXKh/
Janel Davis,The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Tech on Wednesday lifted its suspension of a fraternity accused of yelling racial slurs at a black student, after a former chief judge of the Georgia Supreme Court said the punishment was out of line with the university’s policies. But former justice Leah Ward Sears noted in her findings released Wednesday that the university did give Phi Delta Theta fraternity due process in the investigation of the incident and in the appeals process.

www.sciencecodex.com
Georgia Tech discovers how mobile ads leak personal data
http://www.sciencecodex.com/georgia_tech_discovers_how_mobile_ads_leak_personal_data-176293
The personal information of millions of smartphone users is at risk due to in-app advertising that can leak potentially sensitive user information between ad networks and mobile app developers, according to a new study by the School of Computer Science at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Results will be presented Tuesday, Feb. 23 at the 2016 Network and Distributed System Security Symposium (NDSS ’16) in San Diego, Calif., by researchers Wei Meng, Ren Ding, Simon Chung, and Steven Han under the direction of Professor Wenke Lee.

www.news.abe.org
Ga. Tech Scientists, Don Quixote Teach Robots Human Values
http://news.wabe.org/post/ga-tech-scientists-don-quixote-teach-robots-human-values
By TASNIM SHAMMA
For a robot waiting in line to pay for its owner’s medication, the fastest and most efficient method of getting the medication might be to steal the pills and leave the store without paying. But as humans, Mark Riedl says, we’ve decided that’s not the right way. Riedl is an associate professor in the Georgia Tech School of Interactive Computing and director of the Entertainment Intelligence Lab.

Higher Education News:
www.diverseeducation.com
Remedial Programs a Weak Spot at Community Colleges
http://diverseeducation.com/article/81490/?utm_campaign=Diverse%20Newsletter%203&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&elqTrackId=71d71fdd0a044153ad97bf6016891564&elq=bcc827892e744ddaad1c5afcf82996df&elqaid=88&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=771
by Catherine Morris
A new report from the Center for Community College Student Engagement examines weaknesses in developmental education programs at the nation’s community colleges. Developmental education has been identified as one of the barriers to improved graduation and completion rates at community colleges. The report found that there is a mismatch between students’ self-assessment of their academic abilities and the results they get on placement exams. According to the report’s findings, 86 percent of students believe they are “ready for college,” but a full 67 percent test into developmental coursework. Developmental, or remedial education, are courses intended to bring students up to speed, and they are not credit bearing. Some developmental sequences are three courses long, meaning that students can spend a year or more studying before they can start earning college credits.

www.chronicle.com
State-by-State Breakdown of Graduation Rates
http://chronicle.com/interactives/state-graduation-rates?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=6a3eca338049429792b9c5c1d1e8df01&elq=31e61b2d37dd4611afe4dad2b0fd6736&elqaid=8027&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=2530
According to a study by the National Student Clearinghouse, nearly 25 percent of students who first enrolled in college in 2009 and completed a degree by 2015 did so at an institution other than where they started. See how those and other figures vary by state, by college, and by type of student in the interactive below.

www.chronicle.com
The Moral Absurdity of Denying Financial Aid to Undocumented Students
http://chronicle.com/article/The-Moral-Absurdity-of-Denying/235365?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=6c3c14b9f4be42ef93f9b58659a34aee&elq=31e61b2d37dd4611afe4dad2b0fd6736&elqaid=8027&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=2530
By Eric Johnson
Financial-aid nights offer a fascinating window into the state of the world. Spending long hours talking with students, parents, guidance counselors, and legal guardians in a rural high-school or a downtown community center, I am always struck by the chasm that separates bloodless policy discussions from lived reality. Last year, for instance, there was intense controversy over a scuttled Obama-­administration proposal to end a tax exemption for college-savings plans. “Critics pounce on Obama’s plan to cut the tax benefits of 529 college savings plans,” The Washington Post reported. The political fallout was dissected for weeks, though barely 3 percent of families have 529 plans. That tiny minority is also disproportionately wealthy — a decade of falling median incomes hasn’t left much leeway for college planning among the non-rich. A few months ago, I went to a national conference where the hot topic among aid administrators was retirement savings, and whether “excessive” assets ought to be counted as a college resource. …Not surprisingly, I don’t field many questions about excess capital in 401(k)’s. But the most jarring gulf between policy and practice, at least in my home state of North Carolina, emerges around immigration.

www.insidehighered.com
Don’t ‘Go There’
Is teaching under campus carry still teaching? New guidelines from the Faculty Senate at U of Houston ask the question, with suggestions such as dropping controversial course content for safety concerns.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/02/24/u-houston-faculty-senate-suggests-changes-teaching-under-campus-carry?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=183bc9e3a3-DNU20160224&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-183bc9e3a3-197515277
By Colleen Flaherty
Faculty members opposed to Texas’s new campus concealed carry law have argued that it will chill academic freedom and free speech. A set of recommendations from the University of Houston’s Faculty Senate on how to teach under campus carry is the new exhibit A in the case against the law for those concerned about its effects on academic freedom. Its advocates, meanwhile, say faculty fears are overblown. The debate is being renewed the same week Georgia’s House of Representatives passed similar legislation. A working group at Houston is still deciding exactly how concealed carry will play out on campus, though the law’s parameters are narrow: guns can’t be banned outright. (Some universities already have decided, reluctantly, that concealed firearms must be allowed in the classroom.) In the meantime, a PowerPoint presentation created by the president of Houston’s Faculty Senate, and shared at recent faculty forums on the implications of campus carry, suggests that professors may do nothing about the new law, post signs reminding people of it or include syllabus language quoting a senate resolution that “Guns have no place in the academic life of the university.”

www.chronicle.com
A PowerPoint Slide Advises Professors to Alter Teaching to Pacify Armed Students
http://chronicle.com/article/A-PowerPoint-Slide-Advises/235418?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=f9108b77ca0646759aa9611b1b6e317f&elq=31e61b2d37dd4611afe4dad2b0fd6736&elqaid=8027&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=2530
By Rio Fernandes
A photo from a faculty forum at the University of Houston that circulated Tuesday on Twitter has raised pressing questions about how professors will adapt to Texas’ controversial new campus-carry law. The slide, which was part of a presentation arranged by the president of the central campus’s Faculty Senate, Jonathan Snow, provides suggestions for faculty members to alter their behavior, among other things, when the law takes effect for all four-year public colleges in the state, on August 1. Opponents of the law, which will allow people with concealed-handgun permits to carry their weapons into public-university buildings, seized on the image as proof that many professors will feel they need to change their curricula or tiptoe around emotionally volatile students for fear of attack. In a statement, the university said the slide and presentation were not endorsed by the university. Houston has created a 15-member working group that is crafting an official policy, which is expected to be released in the next week.

www.chronicle.com
After Title IX Lawsuit, Tennessee Coaches Defend Administration
http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/after-title-ix-lawsuit-tennessee-coaches-defend-administration/108804?elqTrackId=1a4ad72cfb5548bb822f623666ffcb68&elq=31e61b2d37dd4611afe4dad2b0fd6736&elqaid=8027&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=2530
By Rio Fernandes
The athletics coaches at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville — 16 in all — held a rare joint news conference on Tuesday to voice support for the administration after a high-profile Title IX lawsuit was filed against the institution this month, reports The Tennessean. …Each coach who spoke said, in effect, that the lawsuit’s accusations did not reflect the atmosphere that they had seen during their tenure at the university.