University System News:
www.dvidshub.net
Change of Command for Black Knights of the 221st EMIB
https://www.dvidshub.net/news/232908/change-command-black-knights-221st-emib
(John Fuchko is Vice Chancellor for Organizational Effectiveness with the Board of Regents)
Major John Fuchko assumed command of the Georgia Army National Guard’s 221st Expeditionary Military Intelligence Battalion from Lt. Col. Patrick Watson during a ceremony at the Fort Gillem enclave in Atlanta, Saturday. “This is an important day for the battalion and an important day for these two fine officers.” said Brig. Gen. Tom Blackstock, commander of the 78th Troop Command. Fuchko has served in multiple positions in the 221st EMIB from platoon leadership to battalion command. In 2015, he deployed with the 221st EMIB the deputy commander alongside Lt. Col Watson. In his remarks following the assumption of command, Fuchko thanked his wife Sherie, his family, Soldiers of the 221st EMIB and those who mentored him throughout his military career. “It is my honor to lead you, and I will do so to the best of my ability,” Said Fuchko concluding with the battalion motto: Out Front.
www.delawarestatenews.net
Group travels US to honor those who ‘protect and serve’
http://delawarestatenews.net/news/group-travels-us-honor-protect-serve/
by Craig Anderson
LEIPSIC — Steven Smith opened his bait shop a bit early Friday. The longtime business owner didn’t want to miss a special arrival.A few minutes after 7 a.m., a tour bus pulled into Smith’s Bait Shop on Del. 9 as planned. On board were members of the Carry the Load team paying tribute those who “protect and serve.” Walking in five-mile segments with an American flag during stops from West Point, N.Y., to Dallas, Texas, the group aims to draw attention to their heroes — military personnel, police officers, firefighters and first responders. A nine-member contingent of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College students from Tifton, Georgia, and support staff planned to veer west toward Delaware International Speedway in Dover before heading toward Maryland.
www.macon.com
Georgia College grad wants brighter future for his home country
http://www.macon.com/news/local/education/article148604999.html
BY ANDREA HONAKER
A physics degree is just the beginning for Chukwuemeka Ibebuike and the long-term plans he’s mapped out for his future. The international student from Nigeria, nicknamed “Chuks,” is graduating from Georgia College on Saturday. He decided to attend the school because his uncle received his chemistry degree there, and he would have relatives living nearby. Ibebuike, who turns 24 on Tuesday, will pursue a master’s degree in accounting at Georgia College. Then, he hopes to apply for the electrical engineering graduate program at the University of South Carolina.
www.daltondailycitizen.com
Editorial: Rising college costs could harm Dalton State
http://www.daltondailycitizen.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-rising-college-costs-could-harm-dalton-state/article_28010a8f-e8b1-5c0c-98de-07b876ee84ac.html
Dalton Daily Citizen
The cost of earning a college degree has never been cheap, and the bad news is it’s rising in Georgia. On the brighter side, it’s only rising 2 percent across the state following no increase in tuition last year. The rate increase applies to Dalton State College, where, according to figures supplied by the college, tuition and fees for in-state students taking 15 credit hours will rise $48 per semester from $2,058 this year to $2,106 next year. This includes an increase in the school’s athletic fee that will rise from $83 to $100 per student. Fortunately many students don’t pay the full tuition rate, they applied for grants and scholarships and those who kept their grades up in high school can attend with the state’s HOPE scholarships. But any tuition increase does hurt the wallet and could deter someone from achieving higher education.
www.wjbf.com
Augusta University students react to campus carry bill signing
http://wjbf.com/2017/05/05/augusta-university-students-react-to-campus-carry-bill-signing/
By Mike Miller
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has signed a bill that will allow college students and others to carry concealed handguns on public campuses. Starting July 1st, anyone on campus will be allowed to do so just as long as they have a weapons carry license. “I don’t like it because I just feel it makes the campus more dangerous,” Freshman Patrice Collins said. “I myself have a concealed weapons license, but this law opens up a lot of opportunity for people to start feeling like it’s okay for them to carry guns on themselves,” Sophomore Tom Mershon said. Many are concerned that people will be allowed to conceal carry handguns on college campuses. “I just don’t like the fact that somebody I could be sitting beside could have a firearm in their pocket,” Collins said. University System Chancellor Dr. Steve Wrigley writing to faculty, “We recognize that many have strong feelings about this new law. It is important that we all work together across our campuses to implement the new law appropriately and continue to provide a top-quality education to our students.”
www.mdjonline.com
Local students have mixed feelings about campus carry bill
http://www.mdjonline.com/news/local-students-have-mixed-feelings-about-campus-carry-bill/article_df2df942-3200-11e7-8029-2f626b94f317.html
Mary Kate McGowan
Next school year, college students in Georgia can bring their guns to class. Thursday night, Gov. Nathan Deal signed into law the “campus carry” bill that allows state-issued gun owners to carry concealed weapons on campus. People with state-issued permits will not be allowed to carry concealed handguns in some parts of campuses: preschools, faculty or administrative offices, disciplinary hearings, areas where high schoolers take classes, dormitories, fraternity and sorority houses and buildings used for athletic events. Most students will not notice a difference, said Stewart Hickey, a Kennesaw State University junior from Canton. Hickey, a mechanical engineering major at KSU’s Marietta campus who supports campus carry, said most people who have firearms on college campuses are commuters who could legally leave their firearms in their vehicles while they attend class. “If (the university is) not going to be responsible for (my safety), I’m going to be responsible for that myself,” he said. Hickey said he does not believe the number of guns on a college campus determines how safe that campus is, but he wants to legally carry his state-permitted gun on campus.
www.walb.com
Gov. Deal gives VSU commencement speech, protesters talk campus carry law
http://www.walb.com/story/35361485/gov-deal-gives-vsu-commencement-speech-protesters-talk-campus-carry-law
By Emileigh Forrester, Anchor
Governor Nathan Deal made his way to Valdosta Saturday to give the keynote address at Valdosta State University’s 2017 Spring Commencement Ceremony. More than 1,200 undergraduate and graduate students were recognized at the school’s two ceremonies Friday night and Saturday night. In his speech, the governor passed on a simple piece from one world leader. “Sir Winston Churchill delivered the shortest and the most impactful graduation address ever given,” said Gov. Deal. “Never, never never never give up.” The celebration ended with a firework display for the graduates. However, not everyone was happy about Gov. Deal’s appearance in Valdosta. A handful of protesters lined a street near the campus. Gov. Deal’s speech came just two days after he signed a controversial campus carry bill into law. It allows people with permits to carry concealed handguns on public college campuses. The protesters, including Georgia Southern University professor Michelle Haberland, wanted to voice their opinions about the new law.
www.daltondailycitizen.com
Wary college community braces for campus carry
http://www.daltondailycitizen.com/news/local_news/wary-college-community-braces-for-campus-carry/article_521b92bb-7029-5c92-9dbf-b45baae691bb.html
By Jill Nolin
Michael Noll is feeling pretty good now about his decision to start transitioning his geography classes to an online classroom this summer, when Georgia’s new campus carry law will take effect. The long-time Valdosta State University professor says he’ll also likely move to virtual office hours as well, even though firearms will continue to be barred from faculty office spaces. “What am I going to do? Install a metal detector outside my door before you come in?” Noll said Friday. “This is, logistically and logically speaking, completely stupid.” A violation for bringing a gun into an unauthorized part of campus, Noll noted, is $25 for a first offense. “That’s like a visit to the movie theater and having a little popcorn on the side,” he said. Gov. Nathan Deal, who signed the bill Thursday evening, said in a statement that he believed the measure preserved needed restrictions for the most sensitive places, such as a professor’s office.
www.usnews.om
Georgia Colleges Now Must Implement Concealed Handgun Law
Georgia colleges that opposed a campus-carry law now have to figure out how to implement it before the next school year.
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/georgia/articles/2017-05-05/georgia-colleges-now-must-implement-concealed-handgun-law
By KATHLEEN FOODY, Associated Press
Georgia’s public university presidents and police chiefs were strongly opposed to letting people carry concealed handguns on college campuses. Now that Gov. Nathan Deal has signed the campus-carry law, it falls on them to figure out how to implement it before the next school year begins. Opponents and supporters alike agree that the law Deal signed Thursday could create complicated landscapes for concealed weapon permit-holders to navigate when they carry their handguns on campus. The law, which takes effect July 1, excludes on-campus preschools, faculty or administrative offices, disciplinary hearings and areas where high schoolers take college classes. Also off-limits to concealed weapons are dormitories, fraternity and sorority houses and buildings used for athletic events. Lawmakers provided no instructions on how campuses should implement the law, unlike the approach Texas lawmakers used last year, which gave campuses latitude on policies, as long as they don’t effectively prohibit people from carrying.
See also:
www.onlineathens.com
Georgia colleges now must implement concealed handgun law
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2017-05-06/georgia-colleges-now-must-implement-concealed-handgun-law
www.news.wabe.org
Ga. Universities Face Tight Deadline To Implement ‘Campus Carry’
http://news.wabe.org/post/ga-universities-face-tight-deadline-implement-campus-carry
By ELLY YU
Georgia’s university system has less than two months to implement a law that will allowing concealed guns on college campuses after Gov. Nathan Deal signed the measure Thursday. The law, which goes into effect July 1, will allow licensed gun owners to carry concealed weapons on campus, except for some areas, including student housing facilities, faculty offices and athletic venues. The timeline could be challenging, according to a university official from Texas, which passed a campus carry measure in 2015. When the Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott signed the bill there, the university system had more than a year to implement it. “We had a little more than a year to prepare, which was very much needed,” said Jenny LaCoste-Caputo, a spokesperson for the University System of Texas. She said implementing the law in two months would have been challenging. University officials in Texas reached out to students, faculty and other stakeholders, created working groups to discuss implementation of the law, and held weekly conference calls for at least six months.
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
Georgia Gwinnett College, others in holding pattern on campus carry policies
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/local/georgia-gwinnett-college-others-in-holding-pattern-on-campus-carry/article_b5f91690-5980-5e43-8567-011d26381838.html
By Keith Farner
The campus carry legislation signed Thursday by Gov. Nathan Deal has put colleges across Georgia, including Georgia Gwinnett College, in a holding pattern. University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley in a statement to presidents, provosts and police chiefs, said that the USG would issue implementation guidance to all institutions ahead of the July 1st effective date. “Please do not make any changes to your policies until you receive this final guidance,” Wrigley said. “We recognize that many have strong feelings about this new law. It is important that we all work together across our campuses to implement the new law appropriately and continue to provide a top-quality education to our students.”