USG e-clips for November 11, 2020

University System News:

The Red & Black

UGA ROTC to hold Veteran’s Day event honoring past, current service members

Kaylee Scott | Contributor

Veterans Day is on Nov. 11, and the University of Georgia’s ROTC program will hold an event to honor past and present service members on the annual holiday at 6 a.m. at the Military building. The holiday was initially put into place to honor the first anniversary of World War 1, and became a national holiday beginning in 1938. UGA has a strong ROTC program on campus. The program is structured as an elective that pairs with more than 100 majors offered at UGA. Joshua Dillard, a senior political science major, is a cadet command sergeant major for the UGA Army ROTC program and he spoke with the Red & Black about the event.

Albany Herald

UGArden offers academic and economic opportunities for students

By Austin Clark CAES News

Balancing academic coursework with a job is a challenge many University of Georgia students face, but for students in the new Organic Horticulture Entrepreneurship class, their classwork is both academic and economic. This semester is also harvest season for the four horticulture students in the class, who are gaining experience planning, planting and marketing crops through a weekly student farmers market. Taught by Associate Professor David Berle and Professor Tim Coolong in the Department of Horticulture, the new course in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences allows students to learn the process of growing their own produce and build the interpersonal communication skills necessary sell their crops.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

AJC College COVID Tracker: Ga. Tech officials worried as cases rise

By Eric Stirgus

Georgia Tech officials sent another reminder Monday to students to act responsibly to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on campus as positive cases have increased in recent days. The school reported 32 positive cases Saturday, its highest single-day total since Sept. 6, when it reported 29 positive cases. The seven-day moving average of daily reported cases surpassed 14 for the first time since early September, officials said. The message does not specifically explain why there is an increase. Recent student cases have been evenly split between on campus and off campus.

The Red & Black

Things to keep in mind when registering for spring 2021 classes at UGA

Julia Walkup | Campus News Editor

Spring 2021 registration started Nov. 6 for graduate students and Nov. 9 for seniors, and will continue through Nov. 20. There will be five different types of instructional formats as well as new class locations and more class times offered during peak hours. Here is what to keep in mind as you register for classes for the upcoming semester.

Albany Herald

Former Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College baseball, golf coach Tom Moody passes away

From staff reports

Tom Moody, a former baseball and golf coach at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, passed away on Monday at the age of 82. Perry Funeral Chapel in Ashburn is in charge of the arrangements. Moody was the ABAC baseball coach for 24 years, winning state tournament titles in 1975 and 1986. He took the reins of the Golden Stallions on the golf course from 1992 through 1995, and ABAC won the state championship each of those years, earning Moody four consecutive State Coach of the Year honors. ABAC finished eighth in the 1994 national golf tournament. Moody was inducted into the ABAC Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016.

WTOC

SSU welcomes new police chief

By Bria Bolden

Savannah State University has a new Chief of Police. You may remember the former chief resigned after less than a year on the job. Chief Rennie Walters says the Savannah Coastline and the school’s history brought him to SSU. …Chief Walters has 19 years of experience in law enforcement and public safety. He has served as Chief of Police and Captain of Patrol Operations at two colleges in the state. He also served 16 years in the U.S. Military. He says his top priorities are student safety and strengthening relationships.

Patch

Dressing History: Georgia Gwinnett College English Professor Uses Her Expertise In Film

By Jackson Gann, Class of 2020 Super Science Showcase, Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn and Shocklosers.

Dr. Jennie Stearns has a teacher’s heart. Originally from Lake Charles, Louisiana, Stearns, who now lives in Suwanee, has spent more than 28 years as an educator and is currently an associate professor of English at Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC). However, like many, she has more than one passion in life. For Stearns, it is costuming. Stearns currently works as a costume supervisor for Super Science Showcase, written and directed by Lee Fanning.

Savanna Morning News

One Georgia Southern student is using art to explore what we are ‘Good Without’ amidst the pandemic

By Rob Hessler

We’ve all made sacrifices and dealt with loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether it be from product shortages, job security or even income disparity, we’ve been forced to make changes. With her new exhibition at Georgia Southern’s Armstrong Campus, conceptual artist and BFA senior Lananh “Lann” Lê confronts this unavoidable truth, asking the question: “What are we ‘Good Without?’” … She’s soliciting questions from the public and they’re providing her with photos. They’re providing her with stories, and even the objects that will go in the gallery.

MedicalXpress

Vitamin C’s effectiveness against COVID may hinge on vitamin’s natural transporter levels

by Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University

High doses of vitamin C under study for treating COVID-19 may benefit some populations, but investigators exploring its potential in aging say key factors in effectiveness include levels of the natural transporter needed to get the vitamin inside cells.  Age, race, gender, as well as expression levels and genetic variations of those vitamin C transporters that make them less efficient, all may be factors in the effectiveness of vitamin C therapy against COVID-19 and other maladies, investigators at the Medical College of Georgia Center for Healthy Aging report in a commentary in the journal Aging and Disease. The investigators recommend that those factors be considered in the design and execution of clinical trials, and when trial results are analyzed, for COVID-19 as well as other conditions, says Dr. Sadanand Fulzele, aging researcher and the article’s corresponding author.

Metro Atlanta CEO

Augusta University: What Toll is the Second Wave of COVID Taking on America’s Mental Health?

Staff Report

The novel coronavirus pandemic has lasted nearly 10 months now. As we edge toward a full year in what is being called the “new normal,” the world and most parts of America are experiencing a resurgence of the virus in what experts are calling a second wave of cases. With it comes a lasting toll on America’s economy, medical system and the mental health of its people. …If you are a journalist looking to cover this topic to share information on how Americans can maintain positive mental health during the pandemic, that’s where our expert can help. Dr. Dale Peeples is a highly regarded psychiatrist who can provide tips to maintain mental wellbeing.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

UWG leader tasked with improving faculty ties after no confidence vote

By Eric Stirgus

University of West Georgia President Brendan B. Kelly remained optimistic Tuesday about his ability to run the school a day after faculty passed a nonbinding, no confidence resolution in his leadership. “We will figure out ways to make it work,” Kelly said during a hourlong online meeting Tuesday with a group of Atlanta Journal-Constitution editors and reporters.

Other News:

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia back in coronavirus red zone in latest White House report

By J. Scott Trubey

Task force urges mask-wearing, caution indoors and around family to limit spread.

Georgia has reentered the coronavirus red zone. Citing an increase in cases, President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force moved the state back into the most severe category for spread of the virus for the first time since mid-September. The report warned of asymptomatic spread, particularly in social gatherings, as cool weather pushes people indoors and friends and families plan holiday events. Forty-two states now sit in the COVID-19 red zone for cases as the virus surges to new daily case highs and hospitalizations and deaths climb across the nation. Georgia ranked 40th in the nation for new cases per 100,000 people and 30th for test positivity.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Nov. 10)

An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state

DEATHS: 8,264 | Deaths have been confirmed in all counties but one (Taliaferro). County is determined by the patient’s residence, when known, not by where they were treated.

CONFIRMED CASES: 376,054 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.

Higher Education News:

Inside Higher Ed

Common App Will No Longer Ask Veterans About Their Discharge

Hope is that more will apply to colleges and universities.

By Scott Jaschik

The Common Application will no longer ask veterans about the nature of their military discharge. The change, being announced today, on Veterans Day, is designed to encourage more veterans to finish their applications and enroll in college.

Inside Higher Ed

Pandemic Hits Higher Ed Employment Hard

By Emma Whitford

Nearly every state lost higher education jobs during the pandemic, according to a report from the Pew Charitable Trusts published Tuesday. The education sector is among the hardest hit by the pandemic. Public colleges and universities showed a 13.7 percent drop in employment when October estimates were compared with pre-pandemic February numbers. …Higher education jobs fell due to state funding cutbacks, new expenses such as for testing and contact tracing, and enrollment declines, according to Pew. Higher education employment has declined at greater rates than overall education employment in most states, though K-12 education, which employs more people, has lost more total jobs.

The Chronicle of Higher Education

Colleges Have Shed a Tenth of Their Employees Since the Pandemic Began

By Dan Bauman

September, the traditional start of the fall semester, saw the continuation of historic job losses at America’s colleges just as they sought some return to normalcy amid the coronavirus pandemic. Preliminary estimates suggest that a net 152,000 fewer workers were employed by America’s private (nonprofit and for-profit) and state-controlled institutions of higher education in September, compared with August, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which calculates industry-specific employee figures. The net number of workers who left the industry from February to September now sits at around 484,000. Put another way, higher education has shed at least a tenth of the labor force it had before the start of the pandemic.

The Chronicle of Higher Education

Meet Covid-19’s Freshman Class

They’re lonely, they’re struggling. But they’re fighting to make it through.

By Sarah Brown

…On campus, many are struggling to make friends and not finding much to do, with sizes of gatherings strictly limited and extracurriculars mostly virtual. Others are taking classes remotely, even further away from the traditional undergraduate experience, and contending with direct impacts of Covid-19: loved ones with serious bouts of the virus, and job losses due to economic fallout. Many say their mental health has taken a hit. Because of the pandemic, “freshmen, especially, are at grave risk of dropping out, of going home, of having a mental-health crisis,” said Lee Burdette Williams, senior director of mental-health initiatives and the College Autism Network at Naspa: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. Colleges are trying a range of interventions to help new students adjust: ramped-up advising, additional check-ins, virtual activities, mental-health resources.