University System News:
www.fox28media.com
University System of Georgia Chancellor speaks out against campus carry
http://fox28media.com/news/local/usg-chancellor-speaks-out-against-campus-carry
BY IAN DEMBLING
Savannah, Ga. (WTGS FOX 28) — The Chancellor of the University System of Georgia testified before the House Public Safety Committee Monday to oppose House Bill 280. Chancellor Steve Wrigley says the school is not in support of the bill, which if passed will allow students over 21 years of age, who are licensed to carry a weapon, to carry a weapon while walking around campus. In his letter to the committee, Wrigley wrote that he believes safety is the number one concern at all state universities. “With respect to campus carry, we feel strongly that current law strikes the right balance to create a safe environment on our campuses,” Wrigley wrote in the letter. Supporters of the bill’s approval include Georgia Carry, a pro-gun group, who says the Second Amendment should not be infringed, and those who wish to legally own a gun should be able to carry it as they please. Savannah State University students have spoken out on the issue as well.
www.ksusentinel.com
Olens supports USG chancellor’s remarks against ‘campus carry’
http://ksusentinel.com/2017/02/21/olens-supports-usg-chancellors-remarks-against-campus-carry/
Sierra Hubbard
In an email sent to students, faculty and staff, Kennesaw State University President Sam Olens offered his response to ‘campus carry’ legislation. The bill circulating in the Georgia legislature would allow licensed gun owners to carry their weapon on public universities and colleges in the state. Guns would still be prohibited in dorms, at sporting events, in fraternity and sorority houses, and in some on-campus daycare centers. University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley testified before a House committee Monday, Feb. 20, and he outlined the steps that have been taken to increase student and faculty safety across the state. …In his email to the KSU community, Olens gave a brief summary of his stance on the issue. “I support Chancellor Wrigley in his advocacy for maintaining Georgia’s existing law as it relates to campus carry,” the email read. Olens also offered the complete text of Wrigley’s testimony, seen below.
www.wmbfnews.com
GA Power donates $30K to CSU
http://www.wmbfnews.com/story/34564272/ga-power-donates-30k-to-csu
By WTVM Web Team
COLUMBUS, GA (WTVM) – Georgia Power made a generous donation of $30,000 to Columbus State University on Tuesday. The money will go towards scholarships of the U-Teach and STEM programs at the Turner College of Business and College of Letters and Sciences on campus. Faculty at CSU say this donation from Georgia Power will be very helpful to students entering and continuing in these programs.
www.ajc.com
Two Georgia colleges among the best in the world in new global ranking
Fiza Pirani The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Of the 980 top universities in the world, two Georgia schools made the top 100 in the Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings 2016-17 list. According to the Times website, the global university ranking is the only one of its kind to judge a multitude of world class universities across core missions of teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook. …Indicators such as staff-to-student ratio, research influence and international collaboration were among the 13 studied. The Georgia Institute of Technology tied with Australia’s University of Melbourne at No. 33 on the list, up from No. 41 the previous year. Here’s how Georgia Tech and Emory scored across each category:
Georgia Tech
Overall: 76.3
Citations: 90.8
Industry income: 62.3
International Outlook: 72.8
Research: 79.2
Teaching: 60.8
www.savannahnow.com
Savannah State NROTC students selected for nuclear officer training
By Jenel Few
Savannah State University’s Reserve Officer Training Corps has produced two Navy nuclear propulsion program trainees. Kurt Lynn, senior mathematics major, and Austin Garvey, who graduated with a degree in homeland security and emergency management, completed the highly competitive national selection process for prospective nuclear officers. The program trains students with engineering, mathematics or sciences backgrounds to become naval commanders and lead crews aboard ships and submarines. Although Savannah State’s NROTC program has commissioned approximately 235 officers into the Navy and Marine Corps since the unit was established in 1971, just nine SSU students have been selected for Navy Nuclear Propulsion Training Program. All student applicants go through a rigorous screening process that includes a 30- to 40-minute interview, calculus and physics questions and a personal interview with the director of naval reactors in Washington, D.C. “The interviews our students just passed have selected them to attend prestigious programs and embark on impressive careers,” said Navy Lt. Henry Barfield, associate professor of naval science at SSU. “Upon finishing these schools, the students will take extremely adventurous, and lucrative, posts aboard submarines and aircraft carriers around the world.
www.universityherald.com
College Student Enjoys Perks Of Working For A Senator
By Audri Taylors, UniversityHerald Reporter
Tristan Bagala, a 21 year old student from the University of Georgia, is working for a US senator, travelling to France in order to work for the Catholic Church, and serving dessert to the Canadian defense minister at the Canadian Embassy during a presidential inauguration. Aside from being a graduating student at his university where he is double majoring in political science and marketing, he is also Washington interning in the office Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb, Daily Comet reported. Bagala is one of the three students in the same institution who is spending this semester in Washington D.C, according to The Augusta Chronicle. He said that he is working for 50 hours every week, then he goes home 2 nights weekly and have classes. And since it is already his last semester already, he said that this could be a way from him to possibly transition into a job but is still unsure if that is his path. …Bagala enjoys a full scholarship as a Chambliss Fellow in UGA
www.accesswdun.com
UNG students leading the call to boycott Roberta Green-Garrett businesses in wake of KKK sign
http://accesswdun.com/article/2017/2/504521
By Colin Ochs Reporter
The citizens of Dahlonega wasted no time denouncing a Ku Klux Klan sign that was placed on top of a privately-owned business on the Dahlonega Square Thursday with students from the University of North Georgia holding a press conference at the Newton Oaks Building Tuesday night strongly urging students and citizens to boycott businesses owned by Roberta Green-Garrett. Some local residents have accused the business owner of orchestrating the hanging of the banner last week. This follows a protest that saw at least 80 people, many of them UNG students, flock to the the downtown square on Friday, the day after the sign was discovered, to voice their displeasure. So far 16 UNG clubs and over 800 students have joined together in the boycott that is just days old and those numbers are expected to grow with each passing day. “If this goes on for very long, we’ll only get more and more organized,” said UNG senior Cale Hatch, who was also at Friday’s protest and is one of the students leading the charge for the boycott. UNG pre-law student Jeremy Sharp is heading the boycott initiative and he says that in addition to boycotting Green-owned businesses, they are asking Holiday Inn National, a company Green works with, to cut all business ties with her.
www.latimes.com
Georgia Tech dean is chosen to replace UC Davis chancellor who resigned under cloud
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-uc-davis-new-chancellor-20170221-story.html
By Teresa WatanabeContact Reporter
A Georgia Tech dean who is one of the nation’s most prominent African American engineers and has been lauded for recruiting more minorities into science and technical fields was selected Tuesday to become the next chancellor of UC Davis. University of California President Janet Napolitano announced that she had chosen Gary May, a UC Berkeley alumnus who heads Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering, as the seventh chancellor of UC Davis. He would be the 10-campus UC system’s only African American chancellor. May would replace Linda Katehi, who resigned last year after a UC investigation into allegations of conflicts of interest found that she violated multiple university policies and misled her superiors, the public and the media. In a statement, Napolitano praised May as a “dynamic leader and an accomplished scholar and engineer with a passion for helping others succeed.” The UC Board of Regents will vote on the appointment during a special meeting Thursday at UCLA. If approved, May will take over Aug. 1 from interim Chancellor Ralph Hexter. May said he was excited by UC Davis’ commitment to quality education and research, diversity, faculty support and public service. “These values speak to my spirit, and I cannot wait to join the campus community,” he said in a statement.
www.ajc.com
Making the Grade: KSU program explores Civil War’s impact today
H.M. Cauley For the AJC
There’s no specific classroom, museum or meeting space connected to the Center for the Study of the Civil War Era. But the mission of the program, based at Kennesaw State University, is an educational one, designed to introduce and inform students of all ages about a tragic time in the country’s history. “The center really began as a series of annual symposia that evolved,” explained Director Brian Willis. “We’re now getting ready to have our 14th annual Civil War Symposium and the center this year marked its 10th anniversary.” The interest in the symposia caught the attention of Kennesaw State that created a home for the center where it can organize events and maintain a small display of artifacts. It also supports courses in the history and philosophy departments around Reconstruction and the Civil War home front. The Center’s outreach also extends to continuing education courses in Civil War topics that are open to the general public. But the university does not provide funding. Wills points out: “We’re expected to raise funds for our operating costs.”
www.rockdalenewtoncitizen.com
DAVE BELTON: State budget allocates most of new revenue to education
By Dave Belton
The House overcame its largest hurdle last week as we passed – once again – a balanced budget …something our federal government in Washington hasn’t done for decades. The $24.9 billion budget for 2018 will increase by $1.25 billion, or 5 percent, as a result of Georgia growing into the eighth largest state in the nation — not from a tax increase. As I have previously stated, Georgia is the 50th (lowest or “best”) in per capita state tax burden in the entire nation, according to a recent Georgia State University study, and we are one of the only states in the South currently enjoying growing revenues. Over half (62 percent) of the new revenue ($780 million) will go to education, 15 percent($185 million) will go to transportation, 10 percent ($125 million) will go to public safety, 10 percent will go to health care, and 3 percent will go to economic development. …We also added money for higher education ($120 million), HOPE ($78 million), Move On When Ready ($29 million) …Overall, the largest part of our budget (54 percent) is spent on education
Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
The Conservative Approach to Student Loans
Right-leaning policy thinkers push agenda to simplify loan system, inject bigger role for private lenders. But proposals to eliminate PLUS loans likely to draw opposition from advocacy groups.
By Andrew Kreighbaum
For much of the new year, Jason Delisle has taken every available opportunity to argue against a return to the bank-based federal student loan system that existed before 2010. On panels, in policy papers and in guest columns and op-eds, the American Enterprise Institute resident fellow has made the case that returning to a bank-based system from the current set-up where the government originates all federal student loans — a plank of the GOP platform — is misguided policy. “I’m [generally] inclined to believe that if the market is involved, the product will be better,” Delisle says. “This was a case where that wasn’t true.”