USG e-clips for February 23, 2021

University System News:

WRDW

For AU Health, vaccine flows again after a week of delays

By Tyria Goines

On Monday morning, Augusta University Health received more shipments of COVID-19 vaccines from the Georgia state allotment. The medical center is scheduled to received shipments from South Carolina soon after. Another shipment is expected to roll in on Wednesday. “From our perspective, we are good to go. We will honor our second dose clinics and this week,” Dr. Joshua Wyche with AU said. AU Health is also looking to open additional clinics later this week in both states to get more first-dose vaccinations out to the public.

The George-Anne

Georgia Southern officials announce 34 positive COVID-19 ahead of its seventh week

Mitch Smith, Managing Editor for Print

Georgia Southern officials reported a week of decreased positive COVID-19 cases, reporting 34 cases during the sixth week of this spring semester. After completing the sixth full week of classes in the Spring semester, “the report below indicates further decrease of total cases from the previous week with 6 university-confirmed cases and 28 self-reported cases last week.” said a disclaimer on the GS’ reporting website.

The Red & Black

UGA Miracle’s 26th annual Dance Marathon raises over $1.4 million

Sophie Ralph | Contributor

On Feb. 20 at noon, the University of Georgia’s student-run philanthropic organization UGA Miracle kicked off their 26th annual 26.2 hour Dance Marathon. In previous years, this event had been held in person, but due to COVID-19, the marathon was held virtually over Zoom with in-person attendance limited to UGA Miracle committee members and leadership. Despite this change, the cards flipped up in Tate Student Center ballroom and on attendees’ computer screens, revealing that UGA Miracle raised a total of $1,427,386.91 — the most money ever raised at UGA Miracle’s Dance Marathon in its 26 years of operation. This amount was a result of the 26.2 hour Dance Marathon and a year of fundraising to benefit Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. To kick off the event, UGA Miracle hosted the “Parade of Families,” introducing participants to many of the “Miracle Families” who would benefit from the fundraiser.

Columbus CEO

CSU Makes PRNEWS’ Education A-List

Columbus State University’s Department of Communication has been recognized by PRNEWS as one of the top 35 educational institutions advancing the careers of public relations and communication professionals across the nation.  “This is quite a prestigious honor,” said Dr. Danna Gibson, professor and chair of the Department of Communication. “We provide a quality curriculum that reflects current trends, including service-learning opportunities, with a successful record of placing graduates in degree-relevant employment.” To compile the list, PRNEWS looked at how programs at both public and private colleges prepare students for continued success in their existing jobs and along their future career paths. The schools selected continue to evolve their program offerings to reflect the changing nature of the field of communication and ensure students learn about emerging trends.

The Signal

‘Whistleblower Field’: Marc Cohodes announces $100,000 donation to rename Parker H. Petit Field

By Brooklyn Valera

Marc Cohodes, a notorious short-seller who helped shine a light on Georgia State alumnus and top donor Parker H. Petit’s criminal activity, is now calling to remove Petit’s name from Georgia State’s football field. In an interview with The Signal, Cohodes announced he is willing to donate $100,000 to the university to begin the discussion. He wants the University System of Georgia to rename the football field after the whistleblowers who brought Petit to justice.

Growing Georgia

Employers Seek ABAC’s Agriculture & Natural Resources Graduates

Graduates of the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources (SANR) at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College are sought out by employers because of their superb skillset developed in their program of study. Brittany Braddy, a junior agricultural education major at ABAC from Vidalia, believes that even though experiences in the classroom look different because of COVID-19 protocols, the quality of education she is receiving continues to be first rate.

WGAU Radio

UGA’s Holmes-Hunter Lecture is on tap for today

Honors black students who integrated the University of Georgia

By Tim Bryant

Harvard professor, author, and documentary maker Henry Gates delivers the University of Georgia’s annual Holmes-Hunter Lecture, doing so virtually because of concerns about coronavirus. Gates’ speech streams live at 2 o’clock this afternoon. The Holmes-Hunter Lecture is named in honor of the first black students to attend UGA. The University is marking this year the 60th anniversary of its 1961 desegregation.

The Signal

What it’s like being Afro-Latinx on campus

On February 23, 2021 • By Isa Cardona

The Latinx identity is exceptionally diverse, and the lines between race and ethnicity often blur. Often marginalized within the Latinx community, many Afro-Latinx people around the world embrace their heritage and resist cultural erasure. According to the Latinx Student Service and Outreach, as of fall 2020, 13% of Georgia State’s students identify as Hispanic or Latinx of any race. That’s a total of 6,983 students, the highest number of students in a University System of Georgia institution. Some students identify as Afro-Latinx within that demographic, and LASSO created a space for students to feel at home. From its humble beginnings as a “closet-sized office,” LASSO Retention Coordinator Iris Trejo Valencia says that the center has grown to accommodate its growing population. While LASSO works to showcase the diversity of Latinx identity and culture year-round, in honor of Black History month, they collaborated with other offices at Georgia State to help students learn and talk about Afro-Latinidad.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia Tech Arts launches outdoor Skyline Series

Longtime Georgia Tech Arts partner Dance Canvas will bring its choreographic showcase to the outdoor Skyline Series.

By Cynthia Perry

Dance featured prominently as live performance returns to campus.

The return of Georgia Tech’s live performance series this spring will look and feel entirely different from its pre-pandemic shows at the Ferst Center for the Arts. We won’t see the advanced stage technology of the 2019 “Dökk” by Fuse*” — a mind-altering fantasia blending aerial dancing with multidimensional video projections and a mesmerizing score echoing emotions pulsating across the internet. The setup for Georgia Tech Arts’ new Skyline Series will be low-tech by comparison — folding chairs, sports turf and a metal truss stage backed by the college’s vibrant Midtown cityscape. But audiences can expect a breath of fresh air. Tech Arts’ first outdoor series represents a different kind of innovation, and a mission reset to meet more fundamental human needs: Artists have made compelling work during the pandemic and need a venue. Audiences need a safe space where they can gather to enjoy the art.

Other News:

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

New vaccine guidelines coming soon from CDC, Fauci hopes

By Tim Darnell

One day after the U.S. officially surpassed 500,000 coronavirus deaths, President Joe Biden’s top health adviser said he believes new vaccination guidelines will come soon from the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We want firm recommendations from the CDC, which I believe will be coming soon” for interactions with “fully vaccinated people,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN on Tuesday morning. The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said he expects those guidelines to include less-stringent recommendations regarding quarantines for those who have been fully vaccinated.

WCHS TV

As deaths top 500K and cases trend downward, US pandemic fight at ‘crossroads’

by Stephen Loiaconi

The United States faced a grim milestone in its battle against the coronavirus pandemic Monday as the nation’s death toll topped 500,000, but new data suggests brighter times might be on the horizon, even if it is still unclear when life could return to normal. President Joe Biden was set to mark the loss of a half-million American lives with a candle lighting ceremony Monday night. Nearly 100,000 of those deaths occurred in the last month and over 100,000 more are expected in the months ahead, but recent days have brought several positive developments.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Feb. 22)

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

CONFIRMED DEATHS: 14,689 | Deaths have been confirmed in every county. This figure does not include additional cases that the DPH reports as suspected COVID-19-related deaths. County is determined by the patient’s residence, when known, not by where they were treated.

CONFIRMED CASES: 806,119 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.

Higher Education News:

The Chronicle of Higher Education

Could Fall Bring Some Return to Normalcy? These Colleges Say Yes

By Katherine Mangan

No Zoom class can replicate the experience of studying forestry management or salmon habitats on 1,000 acres of woodland along the Puget Sound. That’s at least partly why Evergreen State College, a campus in Olympia, Wash., known for environmental studies, has joined the growing number of institutions declaring their intent to resume in-person classes this fall. …Announcements like Evergreen’s are trickling out despite admitted uncertainty and with plenty of caveats. While Covid-19 rates are generally declining across the country, cases of the disease are still spiking in some regions. The rollout of vaccines has been slower than expected, and the emergence of Covid-19 variants continues to worry some experts. Still, for tuition-dependent colleges that were already suffering from declining enrollment, the pressure has been intense to give students and their parents a glimmer of hope for a more normal semester.

The Chronicle of Higher Education

More International Grad Students Wanted to Come to the U.S., but Couldn’t

By Karin Fischer

The number of first-time graduate students enrolling in American colleges has plunged during the pandemic, a decline fueled by precipitous drops from the two largest-sending countries, China and India. New graduate numbers fell by almost 40 percent in the fall of 2020, according to a new survey by the Council of Graduate Schools. Application numbers, however, rose modestly before the Covid-19 outbreak. While international enrollments are estimated to be down across American higher education, the impact is outsized at the graduate level, where one in five students is from overseas. In certain science and engineering graduate programs, more than half of those who earn degrees are student-visa holders.