University System News:
www.onlineathens.com
University of North Georgia seeks room to grow in Oconee County
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/oconee/2018-02-01/university-north-georgia-seeks-room-grow-oconee-county?utm_source=eGaMorning&utm_campaign=1f2c3c38b8-eGaMorning-2_2_18&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_54a77f93dd-1f2c3c38b8-86731974&mc_cid=1f2c3c38b8&mc_eid=32a9bd3c56#
By Lee Shearer
The University of North Georgia’s Oconee County campus could grow, but is stymied by maxed-out building space and the lack of a road, University of North Georgia President Bonita Jacobs told county leaders this week in a meeting pegged to economic development. The school’s enrollment is slightly under 2,300, down from a few years earlier, but the campus may be even busier now because the number of full-time students has increased at the same time, explained UNG Oconee Campus Executive Director Cyndee Perdue Moore. The campus has just one entrance, Bishop Farms Parkway off Georgia Highway 53 just outside Watkinsville. Traffic often gets backed up as drivers try to get their cars onto Highway 53, Jacobs told the leaders at Wednesday’s meeting. Among those attending were new Watkinsville Mayor Dave Shearon, Oconee County Administrator Justin Kirouac and county commissioners. But a short extension of Bishop Farms Parkway could connect it to U.S. Highway 441, giving the campus two entrances. “We need to have that road,” Jacobs said. Along with the road extension, the campus also needs more building space, Jacobs said.
www.thewestgeorgian.com
Social Media Marketing Competition
By Kristian Hammond in Living West on February 2, 2018 / no comments
A team of students from the University of West Georgia will be honing their marketing skills in a social media competition held by Ball State University and their Center for Advancement of Digital Marketing and Analytics. The event is meant to challenge undergraduate students to solve a real-world problem using social media marketing tools. It is led and coached by UWG Professor of Marketing Jack Wei and Assistant Professor of Marketing Agnieszka Chwialkowska. The UWG team will consist of UWG students Dayzia Gray, Ashley Hood and Ji’brayah Marson-Young. …The social media competition is being held because it is expected that by 2019 social media marketing will account for almost a fourth of corporate marketing budgets according to CADMA.
www.albanyherald.com
Chess club for south Georgia students forms in Valdosta
VSU Chess Club will also draw young players from north Florida
http://www.albanyherald.com/features/chess-club-for-south-georgia-students-forms-in-valdosta/article_59d13417-910b-53a1-98f4-1c22a92e7c4a.html
Staff Reports
Valdosta State University has created a chess club for middle school and high school students in the south Georgia and north Florida region. The club is designed for public, private, and homeschooled students in grades 5-12. “This chess club is for all types of students,” Thomas Manning, director of the VSU Chess Club and professor of chemistry at VSU, said. “You don’t even have to know how to play chess to participate.” …Manning said that playing chess teaches students important life skills, such as patience, concentration, and the ability to plan and strategize. “Chess isn’t just a game,” he said. “You’re learning to think. It makes you smarter. Studies show that kids who play chess perform better in STEM — science, technology, engineering, math — subjects. It builds you intellectually while you’re having fun.
www.onlineathens.com
UGA and USAID launch new partnership to fight hunger with peanuts
http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2018-02-01/uga-and-usaid-launch-new-partnership-fight-hunger-peanuts
By Allison Floyd University of Georgia
The University of Georgia recently received a $14 million grant from the U.S. Agency of International Development to manage the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Peanut Research, known as the “Peanut Lab.” A global peanut research program, the Peanut Lab works to alleviate hunger by helping farmers in developing countries grow healthy crops. The agreement builds on UGA and USAID’s long-standing partnership on global peanut research, which dates back to the 1980s.
www.bizjournals.com
Survey: Atlanta #1 pick to land Amazon’s $5 billion HQ2 by college students
https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2018/02/01/survey-atlanta-1-pick-to-land-amazons-5-billion.html
By Urvaksh Karkaria – Staff Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle
It’s not just economic developers and real estate brokers clamoring for Amazon.com to pick Atlanta for its $5 billion second headquarters (HQ2). Tomorrow’s workforce, the lifeblood of corporations, also has its collective fingers crossed that the Big A lands Amazon’s 8 million square-foot project and the 50,000 jobs it will generate over two decades. Of the 20 cities that Amazon shortlisted for HQ2, Atlanta was the No. 1 choice of college students surveyed (11.9 percent), followed by a tie between Chicago and New York City (11.2 percent for each), Boston (10.4 percent), and then Austin (8.8 percent), according to a survey by New York City-based WayUP. The college career platform surveyed 672 college students to see which city they want Amazon to build HQ2, based on where they hope to work after graduating. The survey included freshmen and sophomores from 410 universities, …Georgia Tech is undoubtedly the engine powering Atlanta’s tech industry — generating research and talent that feeds the startup ecosystem and established tech. The school’s computer science program is ranked No. 5 in the world, according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.