University System News:
www.dailyreportonline.com
Updated: Appeals Court Won’t Reconsider Ex-College President’s Fraud Suit Against State Officials
http://www.dailyreportonline.com/id=1202755006118/Updated-Appeals-Court-Wont-Reconsider-ExCollege-Presidents-Fraud-Suit-Against-State-Officials?mcode=0&curindex=0&curpage=ALL
Katheryn Hayes Tucker, Daily Report
The original version of this article reported that the appeals court was considering the ex-college president’s motion for reconsideration. The court has now rejected the motion.
It took the Georgia Court of Appeals just three days to say no to a former college president who asked for reconsideration of a decision tossing his lawsuit on the basis the state’s sovereign immunity. The lawsuit claims he was falsely blamed for a $16 million budget shortfall created and covered up by others.
www.myajc.com
Atlanta’s campus crimes concern students, parents
http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-education/atlantas-campus-crimes-concern-students-parents/nq5qM/
By Janel Davis – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The news reports told the story. On and around college campuses in the heart of metro Atlanta, criminals brazenly targeted students in crimes ranging from vandalism to shootings. The crimes at Georgia State University got more publicity than most because of the dangers, locations and political debates about opening campuses to people carrying concealed weapons. In March, a student was involved in a double shooting outside a dorm during a suspected drug deal. Another shooting occurred days before outside a popular restaurant among campus buildings, and several armed robberies in the campus library earlier this year still have the school on alert. The incidents and others at the in-town Georgia Tech and the historically black institutions in the Atlanta University Center concern parents and leave them wondering whether school officials are up to the task of keeping students safe, despite recent efforts by the universities and Atlanta police to beef up security. “There should be no way someone can enter these (university) buildings without the proper identification,” said Shakeela Rattansingh, who has one daughter at Georgia State, another at Georgia Tech. Not just parents are worried. School, business and city leaders all have a stake in burnishing downtown’s image as a safe place for parents to send their children so that the universities, which have become integral components of the city’s economic development, maintain their positive momentum.
USG Institutions:
www.tiftongazette.com
ABAC economic impact on South Georgia reaches $329,844,725
http://www.tiftongazette.com/news/abac-economic-impact-on-south-georgia-reaches/article_8fe722de-0329-11e6-911b-97b9c273c18e.html
Special to The Gazette
TIFTON—For 75 years Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College offered only associate degrees. Students completed their course work in two or three years. Since 2008, ABAC has offered bachelor’s degrees. Students now complete their course work in four or five years. Those extra years on the ABAC campus pay huge dividends for the South Georgia economy. A recent study commissioned by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG) shows ABAC had a total economic impact of $329,844,725 on Tift and surrounding counties during the 2014 fiscal year. ABAC President David Bridges said the economic impact figure represents an all-time high in the 108-year history of the college.
www.washingtonpost.com
Top colleges put thousands of applicants in wait-list limbo, and some won’t admit any
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/04/16/top-colleges-put-thousands-of-applicants-in-wait-list-limbo-and-some-wont-admit-any/
By Nick Anderson
Students applying to top colleges crave to hear “yes!” when decisions roll out in March and brace themselves for “no.” But huge numbers get a vague answer that is neither admission nor denial — a tantalizing “maybe” — with an invitation to join a wait list. Wait-list offers far outnumber seats in the entering classes at many of those schools, a Washington Post analysis found … A strong International Baccalaureate student with an interest in biomedical engineering, Yong plays violin in the orchestra and picked up the mandolin for a part in the spring play “Dark of the Moon.” He has been admitted to the University of Virginia, Georgia Tech and the University of Texas at Dallas, and said he is “really happy” with those options … Case Western Reserve, a private university in Cleveland ranked 37th nationally, keeps an eye every year on the flow of students to higher-ranked private schools such as Northwestern, Chicago, Carnegie Mellon and Emory, as well as public universities such as Ohio State, Penn State, the University of Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech and the University of California at Berkeley. Those schools sometimes lure strong candidates away from Case Western … (w/chart of wait lists for 2014 and 2015. List includes Georgia Tech and others)
www.thebrunswicknews.com
Great grandson announces his intentions on becoming a Mariner
http://www.thebrunswicknews.com/opinion/editorial_columns/great-grandson-announces-his-intentions-on-becoming-a-mariner/article_c5cc6a83-2fcb-5495-98b9-a705f1942884.html
By Dick Yarbrough
Syndicated columnist
One thing you can say for Cameron Charles Yarbrough. He has his act together. He recently informed his family that he intends to enroll in the College of Coastal Georgia…It is good to get all those important life-altering decisions behind him. After all, he is already seven-years-old. Times a ’wasting. Cameron is my great-grandson, with emphasis on “great.” He is a typical boy. …Back home in Cartersville, Cameron is an A-student and showing early signs of aptitude with a golf club. …My thinking is that he feels that if he can master geometry and gap wedges in the next eleven years, he would be a natural for the College of Coastal Georgia. More importantly, CCGA’s president, Dr. Greg Aloia, agrees and has already started the ball rolling. Dr. Aloia knows potential when he sees it. When told of Cameron’s interest in attending Coastal Georgia, he went to work. Here is his recent letter to Cameron:
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
Gwinnett Tech, Georgia Gwinnett College students take part in hospital simulation
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/local/cities/lawrenceville/gwinnett-tech-georgia-gwinnett-college-students-take-part-in-hospital/article_ecbac608-d3e5-53a9-a4f0-038c8e5ca1ee.html
By Keith Farner
The situations and procedures could have come from any area hospital. There was trauma after a motorcycle accident, an ATV accident, an arm caught in machine, a pedestrian struck by a car, and a gunshot wound. Conditions evaluated were chest pain, carbon monoxide poisoning, low blood sugar, labor and delivery, gallbladder attack, drug overdose, kidney stone and mental illness. But the day was simply an educational event to offer real-world scenarios in a hospital simulation format for more than 140 health science students from Georgia Gwinnett College and Gwinnett Technical College. The event was at Gwinnett Tech’s campus in Lawrenceville and featured volunteers who served as patients alongside high-tech mannequins. The goal of the event was to simulate a day in the life of a real hospital as students had to respond in real time to unknown patients following hospital procedures.
www.ajc.com
Too cool for a bed rail? Don’t fall for that, Tech student says
http://www.ajc.com/news/lifestyles/too-cool-for-a-bed-rail-dont-fall-for-that-tech-st/nq6DC/
Alexis Stevens
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When she sent her younger child off to college, Mariellen Jacobs had the same worries as any other parent. Would her son, Clark, work hard in his classes and not party too much? Would he take care of himself and remember to call home once in a while? Would he be safe moving from suburban Cobb County to Georgia Tech’s downtown Atlanta campus? Never once did she worry about him falling out of bed. But that’s exactly what happened in January 2015 in Clark’s room in the Kappa Sigma fraternity house … In recent weeks, she has met with the University System of Georgia about her concerns about the safety of loft and bunk beds, both popular on college campuses.“The safety of our students on campus is our top priority,” Sandra Neuse, USG associate vice chancellor, said in an emailed statement. “We are working with Ms. Jacobs and RAD to ensure our students have information about the risk of falls from lofted beds, and to provide safety rails for students who choose to use them. Student awareness is critical and we would like to thank Ms. Jacobs for her tireless efforts to raise awareness about this important safety measure.”
www.thebrunswicknews.com
CCGA police hunt for alleged credit card thieves
http://www.thebrunswicknews.com/news/local_news/ccga-police-hunt-for-alleged-credit-card-thiefs/article_7e1b12b4-8b6b-53f4-b85e-17517fb0aadf.html?_dc=902613642723.1122
The College of Coastal Georgia police department is on the hunt for two women officers are claiming stole credit cards from people on campus and racked up thousands of dollars of fraudulent purchases. “These two women have stolen several credit cards from members of our campus,” the department said Saturday in a Facebook posting about the thefts. “Charges currently on the credit cards are several thousands of dollars. These two women need to be identified and brought to justice.” The post asks people to share it on their own Facebook pages and to share the photos of the women the department said allegedly walked confidently through campus at the library and the student center trying to blend in.
www.myajc.com
Coming soon to Midtown: Tech Square v.2
http://www.myajc.com/news/business/coming-soon-to-midtown-tech-square-v2/nq5hp/
By J. Scott Trubey – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Next week could be monumental for Georgia Tech and Midtown. On Thursday, Georgia Tech and its development partner Portman will formally launch the High Performance Computing Center, the sequel to Technology Square, one of the hottest addresses in metro Atlanta and a magnet pulling big firms and hot startups back to the city. Technology Square reconnected Georgia Tech with Midtown after the university was separated by construction of the Downtown Connector.
www.11alive.com
Investors green-light GT student’s anti-fraud program
http://www.11alive.com/money/investors-green-light-gt-students-anti-fraud-program/131785548
Jeremy Campbell, WXIA
GT STUDENT’S ANTI-FRAUD PROGRAM APPROVED – ATLANTA — Cyber criminals are targeting Atlanta bank accounts, credit cards and identities. In fact, the metro area ranks among the most targeted in the country. However Atlanta also boasts the next generation of cyber-crime fighters. On Wednesday, one of them got the green light to stop thieves. Inside a Georgia Tech classroom, big ideas meet big money. At the Demo Day” finale, five student teams presented their inventions to fight cyber crime. A group of venture capitalists – with the power to put them in business – chose a winner. …“America spends more on healthcare than any other nation in the world today,” Musheer Ahmad said. Ahmad presented his program, Fraudscope, to target healthcare fraud. Specifically, he’s going after criminals who file fake medical claims for money.
www.ajc.com
Four Georgia Tech teams honored for academic performance
http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/college/four-georgia-tech-teams-honored-for-academic-perfo/nq5FK/
Ken Sugiura, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Four Georgia Tech teams earned NCAA recognition for their academic performance, including the golf team for the 11th consecutive year. Wednesday, the NCAA honored the teams that finished in the top 10 percent of their respective sports for Academic Progress Rate. Besides golf, Tech’s football, volleyball and men’s swimming teams were also recognized. It’s the third time in the past four years that coach Paul Johnson’s team has been honored. “Our guys have done a nice job with school,” Johnson said. “We try to make sure they go to class and do what they’re supposed to do, but you have to give them the credit. They’re the guys who are going to school and doing it.” …This is the third time that four Tech teams have been recognized by the NCAA for APR excellence. The most in one year was five, in 2008-09.
www.nbcnews.com
Obama Names Former NSA Chief, Microsoft and Uber Execs to Cybersecurity Panel
http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/obama-names-former-nsa-chief-microsoft-uber-execs-cybersecurity-panel-n555811
by REUTERS
The chief executive of MasterCard, the former head of the National Security Agency and officials from Microsoft and Uber will join a commission to strengthen U.S. cyber defenses, the White House said on Wednesday. After high-profile hacks in the private sector and an embarrassing theft of information from government personnel files, President Barack Obama this year set up a Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity. The commission, due to make long-term recommendations by early December on tightening cyber security in the private sector and government, is part of Obama’s $19-billion proposal to boost defenses against hackers. …As previously announced, the panel will be co-chaired by Tom Donilon, Obama’s former national security adviser, and Sam Palmisano, former CEO of IBM. The panel, selected by Obama and congressional leaders from both parties, also includes: – Annie Antón, chair of the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech
www.inverse.com
A new method of detection may mean safer shores.
https://www.inverse.com/article/14395-nuclear-weapons-hidden-in-cargo-containers-won-t-remain-hidden-for-long
Nickolaus Hines
Researchers have developed a new method of detecting weapons-grade uranium and plutonium hidden in cargo containers. The proof of concept, announced today in a research paper published in Scientific Reports, was developed by scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Michigan, and Pennsylvania State University. If the concept scales to actual conditions, the technique has the potential to reveal smuggled nuclear material that would pass unnoticed using current detection methods. It’s nearly impossible to inspect the more than 10 million crates of cargo that enter the United States every year using the current system of passive radiation detection. Shielded nuclear material can be though of as a Russian doll: the small payload inside has layer upon layer covering it. Passive detection can identify a dense metal somewhere in those layers of steel, but it can’t identify what that metal is. It could be uranium, or it could be something relatively benign like tungsten … “The gamma rays of different energies interact with the material in very different ways,” Anna Erickson, an assistant mechanical engineering professor at Georgia Tech, says. “And how the signals are attenuated will be a very good indicator of what the atomic number of the hidden material is, and its potential density.”
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
Jumping to Conclusions
Academic studies that have been critical of state performance-based funding policies lack the data to back up their conclusions, writes Martha Snyder, and fail to account for the design and implementation of these policies.
https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2016/04/18/essay-challenging-academic-studies-states-performance-funding-formulas?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=6b25b22b79-DNU20160418&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-6b25b22b79-197515277
By Martha Snyder
A recent Inside Higher Ed article about the analysis of state performance funding formulas by Seton Hall University researchers Robert Kelchen and Luke Stedrak might unfairly lead readers to believe that such formulas are driving public colleges and universities to intentionally enroll more students from high-income families, displacing much less well-off students. It would be cause for concern if institutions were intentionally responding to performance-based funding policies by shifting their admissions policies in ways that make it harder for students who are eligible to receive Pell Grants to go to college. Kelchen and Stedrak’s study raises this possibility, but even they acknowledge the data fall woefully short of supporting such a conclusion. These actions would, in fact, be contrary to the policy intent of more recent and thoughtfully designed outcomes-based funding models pursued in states such as Ohio and Tennessee. These formulas were adopted to signal to colleges and universities that increases in attainment that lead to a better-educated society necessarily come from doing a much better job of serving and graduating all students, especially students of color and students from low-income families.
www.insidehighered.com
The Spending War on Student Recruitment
At a time when everyone should be committed to lowering the cost of college, it could trigger a windfall for education marketers and become the most expensive component of a higher education, writes John Katzman.
https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2016/04/18/too-much-being-spent-higher-education-marketing-assault-essay?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=6b25b22b79-DNU20160418&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-6b25b22b79-197515277
By John Katzman
There’s been a great deal of recent press and politics around the climbing walls, lazy rivers and other seemingly lavish campus amenities that have become commonplace at colleges and universities. But critics are missing the real arms race in higher education: a new student-recruitment spending war that is orders of magnitude more expensive and ends in only higher tuition rates for students — with none of the fun and relaxation. For decades, nonprofit colleges and universities spent around 2 percent of their tuition revenue on recruitment — on things such as direct marketing and other marketing initiatives. Spending a great deal of money on recruitment was pointless — while it might yield more applications and therefore a higher selectivity and better U.S. News ranking, a university’s physical facilities limited capacity. Exponentially growing enrollments led to more buildings, professors and maintenance engineers — all with long lead times and high costs.
www.insidehighered.com
Diversifying the Humanities
Study finds gains in undergraduate degrees awarded, but losses at the doctoral level.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/18/data-show-gains-minority-students-humanities-undergraduate-degrees-not-doctorates?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=6b25b22b79-DNU20160418&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-6b25b22b79-197515277
By Scott Jaschik
Humanities disciplines are seeing growth in the number of degrees awarded to minority students at the undergraduate level, hitting record levels in the largest humanities disciplines, according to an analysis being released today by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. But the analysis — based on various federal databases — shows uneven growth. Most of the gains are attributable to Latino students. The one exception to this trend was religion, where black students are making gains. And at a time when minority students on many campuses are pushing their institutions to hire more minority faculty members, the analysis finds declines — with the exception of philosophy — in the number of doctoral degrees in the humanities awarded to minority students. These declines could complicate the efforts of colleges that have pledged to make set percentages of their new hires or faculties as a whole come from minority groups.