University System News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
BREAKING: Ga. Regents member resigns amid state investigation
By Eric Stirgus and Greg Bluestein
Georgia Board of Regents member Dean Alford abruptly resigned Thursday amid a state investigation involving him, state officials announced. The state Attorney General’s Office and Georgia Bureau of Investigation issued an arrest warrant for Alford on suspected racketeering and criminal attempt to commit theft by taking charges. Alford is alleged to have exploited a common industry practice referred to in the financial services sector as “factoring.” Factoring is a financial transaction in which a business may sell its accounts receivable to a third party at a discount.
See also:
WSB-TV
Ex-Georgia Board of Regents member charged in alleged $1.8 million racketeering scheme
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia college workers push for lower health care costs
By Eric Stirgus
Employees at five University System of Georgia schools hit the streets on their campuses Wednesday and called colleagues to seek support for their demands that the system rescind its plan to increase worker health care costs next year. The state’s Board of Regents, which oversees University System operations, voted in September to raise employee health care costs. The board also approved a monthly $100 surcharge on working spouses of system employees who choose not to use their own employer’s health care plan. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on the surcharge last month. System officials have said they need to increase costs to cover a 6% increase, about $47 million, in the health care budget this fiscal year, which began July 1.
Connect Savannah
Cecilia Arango named “40 Under 40” honoree
Posted By Jim Morekis
Thomas & Hutton Marketing Manager — and popular local actress and singer — Cecilia Arango has been named as one of Georgia’s “40 Under 40” honorees in Georgia Trend magazine this month. Cecilia also appears alongside three other professionals from the “40 Under 40” list on the magazine’s cover. …A graduate of Armstrong State University and Georgia native, Cecilia has been with Thomas & Hutton since 2001.
11Alive
UGA grad reunited with lost diploma thanks help from 11Alive meteorologist and the internet
The power of the internet!
Author: Adrianne Haney
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — A five-year mystery is solved, and it all happened thanks to the power of the internet and a little help from 11Alive’s own chief meteorologist. Earlier Wednesday, a Facebook user posted a photo of a UGA diploma that had somehow made it into her stuff when she moved five years ago. “SOMEHOW this diploma ended up in my stuff from the moving company,” the post read. While the name of the owner was pretty obvious, attempts to try and connect weren’t fruitful. …Enter 11Alive Chief Meteorologist Chris Holcomb, who shared the post. …One of Stephanie Bingham’s friends tagged the rightful owner – bringing an end to the mysterious disappearance of her diploma. “This is me!!!!!!” Bingham wrote under Holcomb’s post. “We just connected! She ended up with two of my pictures from that move 5 years ago! thanks so much for posting everyone!” she added.
Albany Herald
ABAC to welcome alumni, prospective students at Expo
From staff reports
From remote-controlled miniature pulling trucks to a basket of prizes every day, visitors to the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition at Spence Field near Moultrie on Oct. 15-17 have plenty of reasons to make a stop at the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College building. “We’re always looking for new and different ways to greet prospective students and alumni who visit our Expo building,” ABAC Director of Marketing and Communications Lindsey Roberts said. “Everyone who comes into the building wearing something ABAC will get to pick a prize out of our ABAC box.”
WTOC
Georgia Southern hoping to create sustainability degrees
By Dal Cannady
Students at Georgia Southern University could soon have a hand in helping make the university more environmentally friendly. The Center for Sustainability has been around for a decade. But they plan to add more to it to include students and teach them, maybe even to graduation day. The announcement of changes comes with the university’s “Greenfest” coming up this weekend. The center uses it to show people the impact trash and other pollution can have on the environment. Georgia Southern hopes to expand on that and educate students more and even create a field of degrees in sustainability, starting with a bachelor’s degree and eventually adding a doctorate.
Savannah Business Journal
Savannah Business Journal Staff Report
Georgia Southern University’s Center for Sustainability is gearing up for its seventh annual GreenFest, set for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., on Saturday, Oct. 5, in downtown Statesboro. …The event, which brings town and gown together, will showcase all that the region has to offer for sustainable living. More than 40 vendors and exhibitors will share sustainability information and green products to encourage a green lifestyle with dozens of activity stations.
The goal of GreenFest is to educate the public about sustainable solutions throughout the community and to share green resources and eco-friendly ideas in an outdoor festival atmosphere.
WTVM
CSU students and local nonprofit join global climate protests
By Mya Johnson
The extreme heat coincided with a rally over climate change in Columbus Friday night. Recently, thousands of people have been protesting at climate strikes. Now, a group of students is doing the same in Downtown Columbus, teaming up with a local nonprofit. …People took to the streets rallying and marching, and joining a worldwide effort to get changes and answers about global climate control. …This was organized by a group of Columbus State University students who had the opportunity to make their efforts bigger by teaming with Indivisible Columbus.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Institutions Stepping Up to Serve Hispanic Students
by Lois Elfman
As colleges and universities work to reach enrollment and college completion goals, increased focus has turned to the Hispanic populations in their communities. Earlier this year, Dalton State College became the first institution in the state of Georgia to receive official status as an Hispanic serving institution (HSI). While Texas and Florida have numerous HSIs, Dalton State is a rarity in the Southeast. In order to apply to the U.S. Department of Education for HSI designation, a college or university must be an accredited, degree-granting institution with at least 25 percent full-time-equivalent undergraduate Hispanic enrollment. Introduced in 1995 with 189 institutions, HSIs presently number 523 across the U.S., and such institutions are eligible to receive federal funds to further their educational mission.
CISION PRWEB
Women in Technology Announces the 2019 Women of the Year Award Finalists
Finalists announced for the annual event celebrating girls and women in STEAM
The Women of the Year Awards gathers top Georgia companies at the forefront of science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) industries to recognize and announce the Woman of the Year – women who demonstrate leadership and vision in business, and are remarkable women who make a difference in our community. Additionally, one special WIT Girl will be recognized as the Girl of the Year for her exemplary achievement and dedication to STEAM education. This year, 123 women were honored by being nominated as a Woman of the Year and 13 young girls were nominated as Girl of the Year. Each honoree holds a business or STEAM leadership role within an organization in Georgia or have shown excellence in STEAM education studies. …Non-Profit Educational Institutions, representing public Educational Institutions
Candice Alger, Professor of Practice, AR, VR, Virtual Production at CMII, GSU – GSU / Creative Media Industries Institute
Lynn Fountain, Division Chief – Georgia Tech Research Institute
Sonal Dekhane, Chair of Faculty, IT & Professor IT – Georgia Gwinnett College …Girl of the Year:
Praises special participants from the WIT Girls program for their exemplary achievement and dedication to STEM studies
Bavisha Rajesh, Denmark High School, Dual enrollment student at Georgia State University – Junior
Foundation for Financial Planning
The University of Georgia’s Financial Planning program won the inaugural CFP® Board and Foundation for Financial Planning Pro Bono Award. The financial planning program offers two experiential learning opportunities in which hundreds of students have participated: the ASPIRE Clinic practicum and the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) practicum. Together, these two programs have helped thousands of low- to moderate-income individuals and families since their inception over a decade ago.
WGAU Radio
UGA announces partnership with Atlanta schools
A new partnership between the University of Georgia and the Atlanta Public Schools will create connections with APS high school students who may not be considering UGA for their college education. The partnership will also provide opportunities for professional development for APS counselors. For the partnership’s inaugural student-focused event, two groups of approximately 100 high school students from 13 Atlanta Public Schools each spent a day at UGA on Oct. 1 and 2. Visiting students connected with administrators, staff, faculty members, campus partners and current UGA students, who graduated from an APS high school, to learn about the opportunities UGA has to offer and to experience firsthand what it’s like to be a student on campus.
WJBF
First vaping related lung injury hits Augusta
By: Renetta DuBose
Hospital officials shared very little about the person admitted to Augusta University Medical Center for the first ever lung related illness due to e-cigarettes. That person is in ICU, according to a hospital spokesperson. The vaping related lung illness has become an epidemic. So, NewsChannel 6 wanted to know what is in the devices causing people major health issues or worse, death. We sat down with Dr. Phillip Coule, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. He said, “Those that are vaping need to know that vaping is not safe and this could happen to any one of them tomorrow.” The nationwide vaping epidemic has hit home. AU’s top doctor wants to let people know the crisis is serious, even in the CSRA.
GPB
Clinical Trial Opportunities For Cancer Patients Expanding In Rural And Minority Communities
By DREW DAWSON
The Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University has been awarded a six-year, $6 million grant from the National Cancer Institute for a program that will improve access to innovative clinical trials in rural and minority communities across the state. The money will be used to recruit patients for clinical trials and cancer care delivery studies in areas around Albany, Athens, Augusta and Atlanta. Plans call for expanding the program into rural areas of South Georgia as well. Participating patients will receive “standard of care” chemotherapy, and the additional benefit of treatments that could be more beneficial in the future.
Georgia Trend
Georgia has some of the most advanced OB-GYN centers anywhere but still leads the country in maternal mortality.
Susan Percy
…Hospitals and stand-alone facilities have long recognized the need to offer services specifically tailored to women, especially maternity care. Women’s health centers in Georgia range from small clinics offering basic services – pregnancy testing, treatment for acute or chronic conditions, mammography or other screenings – to sophisticated hospital-affiliated centers with a full range of gynecological, obstetrical and newborn care. Eighty-one of Georgia’s approximately 170 hospitals deliver babies, according to the Georgia Hospital Association. Some offer basic care for healthy moms; others have more specialized care and are staffed to handle more difficult pregnancies and births. The state’s regional perinatal centers have full teams of maternal-fetal doctors as well as cardiologists, neonatologists and neurologists and other specialists and the ability to manage complex maternal and infant conditions to care for the highest-risk patients. These are located at hospitals in Atlanta (Grady), Columbus (Piedmont Columbus Regional, formerly Midtown), Augusta (University Medical Center), …Take East Central Georgia, where there is a significant lack of obstetrical care outside of Metro Augusta: “It kind of looks like half of a donut,” says Dr. Chadburn Ray, interim chief of the OB-GYN section at Augusta University’s Medical College of Georgia and president of the Georgia Obstetrical and Gynecological Society (Georgia OBGyn), “where the center of the donut, the hole, has high-quality care and good access – really Richmond and Columbia counties. Outside of that it becomes a bit of a maternal healthcare desert.”
Medical Xpress
Sleeping pills reduce suicidal thoughts in patients with severe insomnia
Insomnia is a driver of suicide, and particularly people with severe insomnia may safely benefit from taking a sedative to help address their sleep problems as it reduces their suicidal thoughts, investigators report. …More than 30 studies have linked insomnia to suicidal thoughts or actions, however suicide risk and prevention are largely overlooked in the treatment of insomnia, says McCall, an expert in the trifecta of insomnia, depression and suicide. He is hoping the REST-IT—Reducing Suicidal Ideation Through Insomnia Treatment—study, the first clinical trial looking at whether targeted insomnia treatment reduces suicide risk, will help change that.
BioSpace
Compressing the arm to protect the brain part of NIH study to find better stroke treatment
Successive bouts of compressing then relaxing a limb with a blood pressure-like cuff to prepare the brain to better weather the lack of oxygen that occurs in stroke is one of six approaches being evaluated in the first national, head-on comparison of potential new stroke therapies. The National Institutes of Health is funding the novel initiative called the Stroke Preclinical Assessment Network, or SPAN, that seeks to efficiently identify treatments that hold the most promise, and has seven labs across the nation working collaboratively to make that happen. Dr. David Hess, stroke specialist and dean of the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, is project leader on studies of remote ischemic conditioning, an approach he has been pursuing in the laboratory and limited human trials.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Federal-State Partnerships for College Affordability
By Andrew Kreighbaum
In a report released Wednesday, the Institute for College Access and Success proposed a framework for a federal-state partnership to increase college affordability. The report argued that federal funding should go to states to add to overall investment in higher education. But that funding should be contingent on maintenance-of-effort requirements for states, the report said. TICAS also argued the plan should include an automatic stabilizer provision to ensure higher ed funding does not suffer during recessions. And the group said new federal funds should be attached to requirements for states to assess funding inequities for racial and socioeconomic groups, and to develop strategies to address those inequities.
Inside Higher Ed
More Title IX Lawsuits by Accusers and Accused
Increased legal challenges place mounting pressure on universities’ Title IX proceedings.
By Greta Anderson
Universities and colleges are increasingly experiencing legal challenges to their institutions’ Title IX enforcement processes, a trend that higher education law experts say is a natural reaction to proceedings that declare “winners” and “losers.” The societal pressures from the Me Too movement and repercussions from the Obama administration’s 2011 guidance for how colleges should adjudicate sex assault cases have led to more civil complaints from both alleged victims and accused perpetrators of sexual misconduct who feel they were treated unfairly during Title IX hearing processes. Legal challenges in federal courts exploded following the guidance, which called on universities and colleges to vigorously root out campus sexual assault and harassment with a preponderance of evidence standard, leaving officials to determine if “it is more likely than not that sexual harassment or violence occurred.”