University System News:
www.albanyherald.com
GSW hosts first undergrad research symposium
Topics such as history, music, sociology, business, nursing, theater discussed at event
From Staff Reports
AMERICUS — Georgia Southwestern State University hosted its first undergraduate research symposium recently, featuring student research on topics such as history, music, sociology, business, nursing, theater and a variety of sciences.
www.diverseeducation.com
Increasing Role Models, Fostering Community for Women in STEM
http://diverseeducation.com/article/114980/
by Tiffany Pennamon
A mentoring program created by women engineering students at Georgia Institute of Technology to train and empower the next generation of girls in science, technology, engineering and mathematics is bearing fruit, underscoring the importance of fostering community and having role models in order to support women pursuing STEM degrees and careers. In creating Stempower during their first year in Georgia Tech’s Grand Challenges Living Learning Community four years ago, founders Kaitlin Rizk, Brenna Fromayan, Natalie Leonard and Wendy Ng sought to build an organization that would demystify STEM and increase confidence and interest in STEM among girls ages 8 to 12 earlier in their educational development. Stempower now has chapters at Stanford University, Purdue University, the University of Tennessee and other campuses across the United States and in Uganda and Kenya. More
www.statesboroherald.com
20 Under 40 – the Class of 2018
The Statesboro Herald honors Bulloch County’s up and comers
http://www.statesboroherald.com/section/1/article/84919/
Gloria Goosby
Age: 35
Title: Director of Annual Giving, Georgia Southern University
Gloria is a higher education fundraising professional who is responsible for Georgia Southern University’s A Day for Southern campaign. She currently serves as Director of Annual Giving where she leads a team in educating alumni, community members, and other friends on the importance of private support in the academic lives of Georgia Southern students. She was one of 8 people awarded the Georgia Southern Merit Award of Excellence in 2008 and later completed GSU’s Eagle Leadership Program in 2009. She is a graduate of Leadership Bulloch and the Lynda Brannen Williamson Foundation Women’s Leadership Academy.
www.myajc.com
Georgia State student accuses university of discrimination
By Eric Stirgus – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A Georgia State University student is locked in a battle with administrators and faculty over her claims that the university violated federal policy by not providing adequate options for her to complete coursework while pregnant. The student, Whitney Shepherd, 26, a senior chemistry major, asked for a laboratory assistant to perform experiments for a class after she disclosed her pregnancy in December. She said the request and other options, such as writing additional papers for the class, were denied. Shepherd and faculty were concerned about harmful effects of lab chemicals to her and the developing baby. The American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing Shepherd, contends GSU is prohibited from excluding pregnant students from their courses or denying their requests for reasonable accommodations under federal Title IX policy, which forbids sex discrimination by schools that receive federal aid. The ACLU noted that Georgia State lists lab assistants as a “valuable reasonable accommodation” on its Disabilities Services website. Georgia State said Title IX does not include such requirements. Shepherd filed a complaint with the university in late January.
www.13wmaz.com
Student accuses Fort Valley State officer of sexual battery
Author: WMAZ
Peach County’s sheriff has asked the GBI to investigate an alleged “sexual battery” of a Fort Valley State University student by a former campus police officer. GBI spokeswoman Nelly Miles says the Peach County Sheriff’s Office on Monday asked them to investigate the case. By email, she said Tuesday afternoon that the GBI is considering the request. Sheriff Terry Deese released an incident report on that case that includes few details, but says the alleged victim was an 18-year-old woman. The report describes the alleged offense as “sexual battery,” a misdemeanor.
www.myajc.com
Sorority ramps up investigation of Fort Valley State chapter
By Eric Stirgus and Ernie Suggs – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority investigators have scheduled meetings this weekend with members of its Fort Valley State University chapter as it continues its inquiry into sexual misconduct that is also under investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The sorority sent a letter dated Sunday, April 22, to the chapter outlining plans to investigate “unauthorized activities and misconduct involving current and former members.” The letter also says the chapter is disqualified from participating in various sorority activities, pending the outcome. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained the letter Tuesday from the university under the Georgia Open Records Act.
www.medgadget.com
Remote-Controlled Signal Activates T Cells for Cancer Immunotherapy
Conn Hastings
Researchers at Georgia Tech have developed a technique to remotely activate genetically-modified T cells to attack cancer. The method employs a near-infrared laser that heats gold nanorods present in the tumor, causing local heating. This heat activates the T cells, making them more aggressive in killing cancer cells. Immunotherapies, such as T cell therapy, hold significant promise in treating cancer. However, the technique is still very new, and isn’t always effective. “Right now, we’re adept at harvesting a patient’s own T-cells, modifying to target cancer, growing them outside the body until there are hundreds of millions of them,” said Gabe Kwong, a researcher involved in the study. “But as soon as we inject them back into a patient, we lose control over the T-cells’ activity inside the body.”
www.archpaper.com
Meet the Georgia Tech laboratory advancing digitally integrated design
https://archpaper.com/2018/04/meet-laboratory-advancing-digitally-integrated-design/
By OLIVIA MARTIN
Founded by Professor Chuck Eastman, a renowned trailblazer in building computer sciences and one of the creators of BIM, Georgia Institute of Technology‘s Digital Building Laboratory (DBL) in Atlanta quickly earned a sterling reputation after its founding in 2009. Now led by Associate Professor Dennis Shelden, an architect and digital technology expert who previously was the director of research and development and computing for Frank Gehry, the lab aims to harness its educational position as an indispensable source for knowledge capital.
www.atlanta.curbed.com
Metro Atlanta’s status as ‘hub’ for key data centers is growing
Facebook, CyrusOne, DataBank, and others have set up shop in the metro area
https://atlanta.curbed.com/2018/4/24/17273872/metro-atlanta-hub-data-center-development
By Sean Keenan
Metro Atlanta is quickly becoming what some call a “development hub” for data centers. Data Center Frontier reports the region has seen a major influx of these tech facilities, calling metro Atlanta “a hot new destination for colocation providers and tech firms with big-data needs.” This interest in stationing data centers in and around Atlanta was most recently illustrated by Facebook’s plan to build a $750 million, 970,000-square-foot center at Stanton Springs in Newton County, about 40 miles east of downtown… Partnered with Georgia Tech, DataBank has plans for a 94,000-square-foot downtown facility for “high performance computing,” according to Data Center Frontier.
www.albanyherald.com
Philosophy professor at UGA makes Congressional run
Winfield ready to mix academia with politics
By Jon Gosa
ATHENS – With an audacious platform of federally guaranteed jobs, a minimum living wage of $20 per hour and a proposed super-Medicare program providing health care for all, University of Georgia professor of philosophy Richard Dien Winfield has announced his decision to make a run for Congress in Georgia’s 10th Congressional District. “I decided to throw my hat in the ring and run for an office in Congress after the 2016 election of Trump,” Winfield, who has been teaching philosophy at UGA for 35 years, said. “I felt our nation was entering a kind of political crisis where our democratic freedoms were in jeopardy, but the reason for all of that had much deeper grounds than simply what happened in that election. As a nation, we have failed to recognize and enforce the social rights we need to be able to exercise our democratic freedoms and take care of our family welfare.”
Higher Education News:
www.timeshighereducation.com
US student enrolment growth to ‘decline over next decade’
But government data predict that share of black and ethnic minority students on campuses will rise
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/fr/news/us-student-enrolment-growth-decline-over-next-decade
By Ellie Bothwell
The growth in student enrolment in US higher education is forecast to slow substantially over the next decade, but campuses are likely to become more diverse, according to government data. Enrolment in degree-granting post-secondary institutions is projected to increase by 13 per cent to 22.6 million between 2015 and 2026. This represents a significant slowdown of the 25 per cent growth between 2001 and 2015, even when taking account of the shorter time period. The data suggest that much of the growth over the next decade will be driven by an increase in the number of non-white students enrolling in colleges and universities.
www.hechingerreport.org
OPINION: Standardized tests offer ‘a neutral yardstick’ in college admissions
Exploring research, grade inflation and the ‘test-optional’ debate
by JACK BUCKLEY
To what extent should standardized tests play a role in college admissions? For many college admission officers, standardized tests provide a neutral yardstick for measuring student potential and performance. Others, including those who advocate for “test-optional” admission policies, believe college entrance assessments are biased, misused or overused. Yet this debate and the role of college admissions tests, in general, remain a mystery for many students, teachers, parents, policymakers and practically anyone outside the testing industry and college admissions and counseling professions.