University System News:
www.chronicle.augusta.com
AU researchers find clue to aggressive cancer
http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/2017-04-11/au-researchers-find-clue-aggressive-cancer
By Tom Corwin Staff Writer
A form of breast cancer that is particularly tough to treat and reoccurs more often appears to use a mechanism, first discovered at Medical College of Georgia, to blunt the response of the immune system, researchers at the Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University at Augusta University said. The work focuses in on what is called triple negative breast cancer – breast cancers that lack receptors for estrogen, progesterone and the HER-2 protein that would make them easier to treat with more targeted therapies. Because of this lack of specific therapies, they tend to have a worse outcome, according to the American Cancer Society’s Breast Cancer Facts and Figures. They also disproportionately affect black females. “So it is a very relevant disease for our area as well,” said Dr. David Munn, one of the researchers on the new study. One of the defense mechanisms those tumors are employing is a molecule called indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase, or IDO for short. Munn was part of the team at MCG that discovered it was a key component of protecting a developing fetus from the mother’s immune system and later how tumors exploit it to evade the immune system as well. In a study published this month in Cancer Immunology Research, Dr. Huidong Shi, Munn and others find that some triple negative breast cancer lines are especially adept at turning on IDO at the approach of the immune cells.

www.thedallasnewera.com
GHC’s Enrollment Growth Continues
http://www.thedallasnewera.com/paulding-schools-news/pc-school-events/1756-ghc-s-enrollment-growth-continues
Written by Nicholas Godfrey
Georgia Highlands College continues to grow with a consistent swell in enrollment. Spring enrollment is up 3.9 percent. This increase follows a 4.6 percent increase last fall, a 9.9 percent increase last summer and a 6.3 percent increase last spring.
President Don Green stated the value of a GHC education continues to contribute to the enrollment increases at the college and each of its five locations across Northwest Georgia. “Maintaining quality two-year and four-year degree programs that are affordable for students across Northwest Georgia remains one of GHC’s highest priorities,” Green said. “I’m glad we can continue to offer a full associate degree for less than $8,000 and a four-year bachelor’s degree for less than $16,000. Not only is this a great return on investment for our students, it also fuels a growing Georgia economy with much-needed college graduates who will become career-ready with little to no debt upon completion.” According to the University System of Georgia, there was a 0.5 percent increase system wide. Despite overall negative enrollment growth for state colleges collectively, GHC’s enrollment continues to climb.

www.trueviralnews.com
Georgia’s Film Industry Now Brings in $7 Billion a Year, Fueled by Smart Incentives and Massive Hits
http://trueviralnews.com/georgias-film-industry-now-brings-in-7-billion-a-year-fueled-by-smart-incentives-and-massive-hits/
Hollywood is still the center of the film and TV universe-for now-but over the past few years, Atlanta’s thriving entertainment industry has been rapidly giving it a run for its money. In the past year alone, big-ticket films like Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2, The Fate of the Furious, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Hidden Figures, Marvel’s Black Panther and Pitch Perfect 3 filmed in and around Atlanta. The list of TV productions based there is also impressive: The Walking Dead, Stranger Things, 24: Legacy, FX’s breakout hit Atlanta, The Vampire Diaries and MacGyver-plus all of Tyler Perry’s series for OWN and TLC call the Atlanta area home. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg: the full list of film and TV productions currently filming in Georgia can be found here. According to Georgia’s Film, Music & Digital Entertainment Office, 245 film and TV productions were shot in Georgia during fiscal year 2016 (between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016). Those productions spent $2.02 billion during that time and generated an economic impact of $7.2 billion. (Much of the state’s production is located in and around Atlanta.) …Thompson, whom Gov. Deal appointed to serve on the 10-person Georgia Film, Music and Digital Entertainment Advisory Commission in 2015, said Deal has used a portion of the state’s entertainment-related revenue to establish the Georgia Film Academy, which focuses on getting residents trained to work on TV and film sets. “It makes sure that [a Georgia resident] doesn’t graduate from college and think, ‘I’ve got to go to L.A. if I want to be in the movie business.’ You don’t have to go. Would you like a job making Black Panther? It’s shooting right across town!” said Thompson.

www.publicnow.com
Prepping Students For Jobs In State’s Billion-Dollar Movie Industry
http://www.publicnow.com/view/B987F4CEF9FC327DA3070AC079656EA57C830B80
GEORGIA COLLEGE & STATE UNIVERSITY
Georgia College’s first course in moviemaking prepares students to work in the state’s $7 billion industry, dubbed ‘Hollywood of the South.’ Only five of 30 schools in the University System of Georgia (USG) – and four schools in the Technical College System of Georgia – have partnered with the Georgia Film Academy (GFA) to offer ‘Introduction to On-Set Film Production.’ ‘Georgia College needed to be teaching film. It was always on our wish list,’ said Dr. Karen Berman, chair and artistic director of theatre and dance. ‘We got in on the ground floor, and we weren’t sure how it was going to work, but it’s been growing with us.’ ‘I think our students are very motivated, and they have great work ethic,’ Berman said. ‘Now, being able to learn actual skills in the craft of moviemaking, they are going to be unstoppable.’

www.gwinnettdailypost.com
GGC associate professor named ACE Fellow
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/local/ggc-associate-professor-named-ace-fellow/article_639625c0-8472-5c3e-9bd8-bbb7cf4b20ee.html
By Keith Farner
An assistant dean and associate professor who joined Georgia Gwinnett College in 2010 was recently named a fellow by the American Council on Education. Rachel Ann Bowser, the GGC faculty senate president from 2015-17, will be a fellow for the 2017-18 academic year. “Dr. Bowser has demonstrated a strong commitment to literary education and has inspired a new generation of creative thought leaders,” GGC President Stas Preczewski said. “The only person to have served two consecutive years as Faculty Senate President, the ACE program will hone her leadership skills even further and position her for additional contributions upon returning to GGC.” GGC is well-versed in sending employees to participate in this program. In 2015, Jennifer Stephens, an associate vice president of Public Affairs at GGC, was named a fellow for the 2015-16 academic year. The school also hosted someone from Florida A&M University.

www.goodblacknews.org
Gregory Robinson Named Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry

Gregory Robinson Named Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry

Gregory H. Robinson, the University of Georgia Foundation Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the University of Georgia, has been named a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Founded more than 175 years ago, the Royal Society of Chemistry is the largest organization in Europe for advancing the chemical sciences. The Royal Society of Chemistry partners with industry and academia, promotes collaboration and innovation, advises governments on policy and promotes the talent, information and ideas that lead to great advances in science. Professor Robinson’s research focuses on the synthesis, structure, and stabilization of compounds containing multiple bonds between heavier main group elements. “To be named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry is a tremendous honor, and to now be associated with some of the world’s most notable chemists is equally humbling,” Professor Robinson said. “This international honor is a testament to the gifted students and creative colleagues that have been a part of our research team over the years.”

www.accesswdun.com
UNG sergeant becomes first in nation to attain instructor badge
http://accesswdun.com/article/2017/4/522504/ung-sgt-becomes-first-in-nation-to-attain-instructor-badge
By AccessWDUN Staff
A military instructor at the University of North Georgia (UNG) recently earned the Army Basic Instructor Badge, becoming the first ROTC instructor in the nation to do so.  Sgt. 1st Class Shannon Clark, a native of Newport News, Virginia, has been teaching for a year and a half, according to a press release from UNG. The badge is earned by certified noncommissioned officers (NCO) who work as instructors and is part of the Army’s Instructor Development and Recognition Program, which seeks to “professionalize” instructors. The badge comes with promotion points for some pay grades. The program is voluntary, and to earn the badge candidates must first complete the U.S. Army Cadet Command instructor certification process, followed by completing 80 instructional hours in a classroom setting, and be evaluated twice by a evaluator that has successfully completed the  Evaluating Instruction Course (EIC).

www.onlineathens.com
Grad students vie for bucks in UGA “Three Minute Thesis” competition
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2017-04-09/grad-students-vie-bucks-uga-three-minute-thesis-competition
By Lee Shearer
Ten of the University of Georgia’s brightest and most confident graduate students took their research public late last week, facing a panel of five judges and a packed downtown theater in the university’s annual “Three Minute Thesis” competition. Sponsored by the UGA Graduate School, the competition as usual drew an overflow crowd to one of Cine’s theaters Thursday; some people had to be turned away at the door. Preliminary judging had reduced the field to 10 graduate students, each of whom had exactly three minutes — and no more — no more, to describe their research projects in a way that a layperson could understand and would want to know more about. Participants got to use one slide — and no more — as a visual aid. …But the five judges gave the most points and the $1,000 first prize to the last of the 10 contestants, Maria Cristina Huertas-Diaz, whose research in the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine’s infectious diseases department aims to find new ways of developing vaccines, and new vaccines. The other four judges were Jinx Patel, president of the corporate board at Athens Research and Technology, Inc.; former Athens-Clarke County Mayor Heidi Davison; community leader Peggy Galis, a member of the Augusta University Board of Visitors; and Shelley Nickel, executive vice chancellor for strategy and fiscal affairs for the University System of Georgia.

www.secsports.com
Georgia wins 2017 SEC MBA Case Competition
http://www.secsports.com/article/19126324/georgia-wins-2017-sec-mba-case-competition
SECU Staff
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Georgia won first place in the 2017 SEC MBA Case Competition held at the Warrington College of Business at the University of Florida on Saturday. The winning team was comprised of Rohit Banerjee, Matthew Green, Desiree Sullivan and Noah Winterer. A team of four MBA students from every SEC university was presented a business case by Nationwide on Friday. The teams, who were separated into four divisions, proposed their solutions to a panel of judges on Saturday morning in divisional rounds. The top four proposals moved on to the final round to determine the winner of the competition. “Winning this competition is so rewarding because we gave so much effort and stayed up late into the night,” said Sullivan. “We put together a bold strategy and it took a lot of endurance to prepare our presentation.”

www.gainesvilletimes.com
UNG Gainesville students spend break building trail, forming bonds
Rebekah Bennett and Sebastian Godinez build part of walking trail in northwest Georgia
http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/section/199/article/122902/
By Jennifer Linn
While University of North Georgia students worked to build part of a walking trail that will eventually become part of a system connecting Alabama to New York, it was the relationships formed that created a lasting connection. Rebekah Bennett and Sebastian Godinez, both second-year UNG students from Gainesville, were among the 18 students who helped build the part of the Chattanooga Connector Trail from March 10-13. The Chattanooga Connector Trail cuts across Northwest Georgia, connecting Chattanooga with Cloudland Canyon State Park in Dade County. Eventually it will be part of a larger system of trails — called the Great Eastern Trail —connecting the Northeast to the Gulf Coast. It will be similar to the Appalachian Trail, Bennett said. “It’s part of a trail that will eventually (span much of the eastern part of the country),” Godinez said. “It was just a piece of that. But at the end of the day, we can reflect back and say ‘I was a part of that.’”

www.onlineathens.com
UGA Relay for Life takes in $250,000 for American Cancer Society
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2017-04-10/uga-relay-life-takes-250000-american-cancer-society?utm_source=eGaMorning&utm_campaign=ebce6f726f-eGaMorning-4_11_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_54a77f93dd-ebce6f726f-86731974
By From staff reports
During Emily Maggs’ four years at the University of Georgia, she has learned that she’s not alone in hating cancer. Overnight Friday and Saturday, Maggs and nearly 3,000 other students participated in the 18th Annual University of Georgia Relay for Life at UGA’s intramural fields. Early Saturday morning, she revealed that the students had raised a total of $255,129.47 to support the American Cancer Society. Maggs, a senior majoring in consumer journalism, is originally from London, but her family now resides in Savannah. Over the past year leading up to this weekend’s relay, she has been executive director for UGA’s Relay for Life.

www.ledger-enquirer.com
CSU breaks ground on $14 million project to boost science education
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/local/education/article143789924.html
BY MARK RICE
Columbus State University ceremonially broke ground Monday on a project that will renovate and expand 28-year-old LeNoir Hall to produce a state-of-the-art science facility. The project, expected to cost an estimated $14 million and be completed by fall 2018, will construct a 22,000-square-foot addition with six new science teaching labs and student study spaces plus two more labs in the renovated building. The architect is 2WR of Columbus, and the contractor is Parrish Construction Group of Perry, Ga. LeNoir Hall is named after William “Bill” LeNoir, who twice served as acting president of Columbus College, now Columbus State University, during his 34-year career as a botany professor. He retired as dean emeritus of the science school in 1995, and he died at 86 on Aug. 1, 2016, in Loudon, Tenn. CSU President Chris Markwood thanked the local legislative delegation and state Rep. Earl Ehrhart, R-Powder Springs, who chairs the Higher Education Subcommittee on the Appropriations Committee in the Georgia House, for helping to secure the project’s state funding of approximately $12 million. Markwood also thanked the CSU Foundation for its contribution of $2 million from private donors.

www.bizjournals.com
Georgia Tech students pitch startup ideas to investors at Tech Square event
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2017/04/09/georgia-tech-students-pitch-startup-ideas-to.html
David Allison
Editor, Atlanta Business Chronicle
Four teams of students at Georgia Tech pitched their ideas for startups to investors at an event at The Garage in Tech Square on April 8. The four teams — FireHUD, TINA, Lean Basketball Analytics and Hera Health — were the finalists in a competition that began with 26 teams. Eight investors were the judges. FireHUD provides a real-time monitoring system and Head UP Display that communicates biometric environmental data to firefighters and outside officials. TINA is a tampon insertion aid that is designed to restore independence and discretion to women with limited hand mobility. Lean Basketball Analyticsprovides analytics to help college and high school basketball coaches improve their games. Hera Health Solutions is developing a resorbable contraceptive implant that will eliminate painful removal surgery for women worldwide.

Higher Education News:
www.insidehighered.com
Who Should Investigate Sexual Assaults?
Georgia legislation that would have forced more sex-crime cases into the hands of law enforcement failed, but marks a growing nationwide debate.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/04/11/controversial-georgia-sexual-assault-bill-prompts-debate-reporting
By Jeremy Bauer-Wolf
A Georgia lawmaker’s now defunct bill that would have restricted colleges’ powers to investigate campus sex crimes inspired a national firestorm. It highlighted a raging and yet unresolved debate: Do institutions unfairly pursue discipline against the accused? Some believe the current federal directions for how colleges should scrutinize sexual assault cases is skewed in favor of those making a complaint, but measures that others view as bringing more balance to the process are often slammed as protections for rapists. Though the controversial bill from Georgia Representative Earl Ehrhart easily passed the state’s House of Representatives, the Senate Judiciary Committee tabled it, citing the need to rework the proposal. Ideas in the bill are reflected in national criticisms of how colleges adjudicate sexual assault allegations and have cropped up in both state legislatures and Congress. Because the Trump administration is expected to rescind the current federal guidance on these issues, the battle in Georgia could preview what’s ahead. Early in the state’s legislative session, sexual assault prevention advocates, particularly students and survivors, rallied fiercely against Ehrhart, a Republican and chairman of the House of Representatives subcommittee that controls the state’s higher education spending.

www.insidehighered.com
New York Adopts Free Tuition
SUNY and CUNY students from families with incomes up to $125,000 will not pay tuition. But some aid experts are alarmed by requirement that graduates stay in state for same number of years they receive the benefit.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/04/10/new-york-state-reaches-deal-provide-free-tuition-suny-and-cuny-students?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=40d4220488-DNU20170410&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-40d4220488-197515277&mc_cid=40d4220488&mc_eid=8f1f949a06
By Scott Jaschik
In what proponents are calling a historic move, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and state legislative leaders announced a deal Saturday that will make tuition free at the City University of New York and State University of New York Systems — for both community colleges and four-year colleges and universities — for families with annual incomes up to $125,000. The plan will be phased in over three years, starting this fall with new enrollees from families with incomes up to $100,000.
The governor’s office estimates that nearly 940,000 families in New York State will be eligible for free public college tuition when the plan is fully phased in. The announcement from the governor also noted a “generous maintenance of effort” provision to protect SUNY and CUNY budgets. The provision is designed to address the fear of some educators that free tuition could reduce the pressure to provide adequate budgets to public higher education.

www.chronicle.com
Keeping Up With the Growing Threat to Data Security
http://www.chronicle.com/article/Keeping-Up-With-the-Growing/239704?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=1c59583f29ef4a459b75f8f642dceb3d&elq=5669ad3fde984522b478d0b040d1175c&elqaid=13390&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=5555
By Lee Gardner
Last fall, Donald Trump theorized that the computer hacker who stole emails from the Democratic National Committee could have been “someone sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds.” But the stereotypical rogue nerd isn’t the threat that most concerns information-security officers on college campuses. Their institutions are under constant attack, they say, by groups of criminal hackers who have professionalized, and industrialized, their efforts in the past few years. If the hackers find a tiny flaw in a college’s data-security apparatus — an unsecured server, a careless user — they can infiltrate its network, Hoover up any and all data they come across, and peddle the choice bits on the dark market — those shadowy corners of the internet where people go to buy and sell illicit goods anonymously. There have been thefts of politically sensitive data, as when hackers published hundreds of emails and documents in 2009 that raised questions about climate scientists’ impartiality, but almost all attacks have more mercenary motives. It’s an escalating battle that many colleges must fight with limited resources. And the stakes are high. A major breach can expose thousands of names and Social Security numbers, credit-card numbers, and other personal data that employees and students turn over to colleges all the time, leaving those affected vulnerable to identity theft.