University System News:
WGAU Radio
UGA helps vaccinate CCSD teachers, staffers
Within hours of Gov. Kemp’s announcement that school employees would be eligible to receive the vaccine, plans were set in motion
By Tim Bryant
The Georgia Department of Public Health says Athens is closing in on 41 thousand vaccinations for coronavirus: Oconee County has had 5,458 people vaccinated for COVID 19. The University of Georgia’s Health Sciences campus supplied some of the workers who helped vaccinate more than 1,400 Clarke County School District teachers and employees.
WJBF
Augusta University preparing for COVID-19 vaccine distribution expansion
by: Wes Cooper
Progress being made on the fight against COVID-19 in Georgia, Wednesday, as Governor Kemp announced more people can get vaccinated starting next week. Augusta University’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Phillip Coule says they are ready. He said, “With the new J&J vaccine coming online, that will add some additional supply into the system that should help to alleviate some of the needier.” While AU waits for their first shipment of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, no additional staff will be needed at AU vaccination sites for the incoming patients.
The Red & Black
UGA COVID-19 cases decrease, positivity rate below 1%
Simran Kaur Malhotra | Health Data Reporter
The University of Georgia reported 47 COVID-19 cases over the week of March 1-7, a decrease from the 58 cases a week before. Since the start of 2021, the university has reported 1,347 positive cases. Since the start of the pandemic, UGA has reported 6,651 positive cases.
WALB
GSW named #1 ‘Best Online RN to BSN Program’ in Ga. for second year in a row
By Kim McCullough
For the second year in a row, Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) has been recognized as having the #1 Best Online RN to BSN Program in Georgia by RegisteredNursing.org, according to a press release from the university. The ranking is based on GSW’s nursing program graduation rate, tuition and fees, quality of faculty, acceptance rate and accreditations. …GSW said the fully-online RN to BSN program is designed to meet the needs of RNs in terms of employment demands, travel time, and family responsibilities. The program has been designed to allow full-time or part-time study and flexibility in the sequencing of courses, with most students completing the degree in one to two years.
GrowingGeorgia
ABAC Works with USG to Offer Mental Health Assistance to Students
In partnership with the University System of Georgia (USG), Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College is significantly expanding mental health services for students through its LetsChat@ABAC program. According to Donna Webb, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, the services provide a strong addition to what is offered to students by the ABAC Counseling and Accommodation Services Office.
AllOnGeorgia
Enrollment Services Now Offering GSU Students Central Hub for Student Services
Georgia Southern University has announced that Enrollment Services, a central hub that is dedicated to helping students connect the dots when it comes to the enrollment process, now has two walk-up service centers. Enrollment Services is a first stop for undergraduate and graduate students who have questions regarding general admissions, student records, student accounts and student aid.
CHRON.com
Intelligent.com Announces Best Respiratory Therapy Degree Programs for 2021
Degree holders gain increased earning potential with career opportunities upon graduation from these top ranked institutions. Intelligent.com, a trusted resource for online degree rankings and higher education planning, has announced the Top 50 Respiratory Therapy Degree Programs for 2021. The comprehensive research guide is based on an assessment of 155 accredited colleges and universities in the nation. Each program is evaluated based on curriculum quality, graduation rate, reputation, and post-graduate employment. …2021 Respiratory Therapy Degree Programs featured on Intelligent.com (in alphabetical order): Albany State University; Augusta University; Dalton State College; Georgia Southern University; Georgia State University
Marietta Daily Journal
KSU architecture student crafts thesis to preserve Black History
Staff reports
Savannah native and Kennesaw State University student Olivia Harrell grew up marveling at the architectural beauty of her city’s most historic buildings, including the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist and SCAD’s Ruskin Hall. When she ventured away from downtown to the area bordering Savannah’s urban core, however, she was often left disappointed in the lack of attention paid toward saving the history of its predominantly African American communities. Now a fifth-year architecture student at KSU’s College of Architecture and Construction Management, Harrell is using her thesis to explore how Black History in Savannah can be preserved for years to come.
WGAU Radio
UGA Diversity Committee outlines top priorities
Panel expects to complete its work over the summer
By Heather Skyler, UGA Today
Over the past several months, members of the University of Georgia’s Planning Committee on Diversity and Inclusive Excellence have been doing a lot of listening – to students, to faculty and staff, to alumni and community members. This period of in-depth listening and information gathering is helping the committee to develop goals to accomplish the following diversity priorities: 1) to build a more inclusive living/learning environment that supports access and success for diverse students; 2) to recruit and retain a diverse workforce; and 3) to expand partnerships and outreach to strengthen diverse communities.
WTOC (Video)
Community Champions: GSU’s grandparenting class
AllOnGeorgia
GSU Celebrated Arbor Day by Planting Trees on Statesboro Campus
Biology major Daria Stephens had never used a shovel until the 2021 Arbor Day Celebration on March 5, where she helped plant a tree near the Herty Pines Nature Preserve as part of her botany class. Stephens said the class inspired her to put what she is learning into action. …Stephens was one of dozens of volunteers who participated in the annual tradition celebrating Georgia Arbor Day with Sustainability Programs. Alicia Lanier, horticulturist and arborist with the University’s Department of Landscape Services, taught attendees the correct way to plant a tree by demonstrating how to cover the root system of a newly planted tree on Sweetheart Circle. Faculty, staff and students worked together during the event to plant a southern live oak, a summer red maple, dogwood seedlings and redwood seedlings near Sweetheart Circle.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Gwinnett College to stop providing cell phones to instructors
By Savannah Sicurella
Georgia Gwinnett College will no longer provide smartphones to instructors, ending the longstanding initiative designed to boost student retention. The college will transition to a new softphone system by June 30 that allows users to make phone calls over the internet using their computers. Eliminating cell phones will save the college $200,000, according to its 2021 budget plan.
WFXG
Getting ahead of allergy season: Spot the differences between allergy and COVID-19 symptoms
By Mary Klingler
Allergy season is bringing new challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both have similar symptoms at times – raising the question, is it allergies or is it COVID-19? As warmer weather is on its way, it marks the beginning of sneezing, congestion, coughing, and red, itchy eyes are itching – all signs of allergy season. Doctors are already are seeing patients who think their symptoms are only seasonal allergies, but turns out to be something more. Dr. Rodger MacArthur specializes in infectious diseases at Augusta University Health and said there are a few similar symptoms to keep on high alert, but also one differentiating symptom to help you identify if it is more than just allergies.
WJBF
The likelihood of COVID reinfections, how the vaccine helps protect from this
by: Mary Calkins
A lot of people think once you get COVID-19 and recover from it, you’re in the clear. While reported cases have been low, according to the CDC, you can contract COVID-19 a second time. “At least within the first three months or so, acquiring it again is very unlikely,” Dr. Rodger MacArthur, professor of infectious disease at Medical College of Georgia said. This is because your body creates antibodies in response to the virus. However, Dr. MacArthur says the most significant protection would be getting the vaccine, because it protects against multiple strains of the virus.
MSN
Augusta University, churches working together to build vaccine trust in Black community
Mark Winne
Even with Georgia vaccination numbers increasing every day, there are still many people hesitant to get the COVID-19 vaccine, especially in minority communities. Channel 2′s Mark Winne traveled to Augusta and learned how leaders there are embracing the challenge and succeeding with the help of churches. Augusta University Health System officials say the vaccination site at Broadway Baptist Church is part of a strategy to ensure the area’s Black community is getting a fair share of the COVID-19 vaccine. The numbers show it’s working in a way others might want to copy.
ScienceMag.org
Researchers are testing an arsenal of weapons against the pandemic coronavirus.
…Scientists are trying to shut down other RTC proteins, too. In recent results, two compounds—zotatifin and plitidepsin—appear to block viral replication by interfering with NSP9, the RNA-grabbing enzyme. Plitidepsin is in a phase 2/3 trial by the Spanish drug company PharmaMar. At least three other NSPs are considered good targets, says Tomáš Cihlář, a virologist with Gilead Sciences, maker of remdesivir. Eventually, drugs could target the coronavirus’ RNA, not just its proteins. In Nature Biotechnology in February, Emmeline Blanchard, a biomedical engineer at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and colleagues reported creating a polymer-encased formulation of a gene-editing enzyme called Cas13a that seeks out and chops up snippets of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. The team’s Cas13a enzyme targets highly conserved regions of two viral genes encoding the RdRp enzyme and the nucleocapsid protein. When hamsters infected with SARS-CoV-2 inhaled a vaporized formulation of the drug, it reduced viral replication and disease symptoms.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Virtual Conference to Focus on Race in Education
by Arrman Kyaw
The Summit School Symposium Series and America & MOORE, LLC. are hosting a two-day virtual conference on race and gender in U.S. education on May 7 and 8, 2021. The conference titled, “The Summit on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Building a Community of Cultural and Racial Competence,” will start the evening of May 7. …Speakers include …Dr. Bettina L. Love, the Athletic Association Endowed Professor at University of Georgia;
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Confederate Constitution remains on shelf at University of Georgia
By Jay Reeves, The Associated Press
Since 1939, state’s flagship college has held onto document that launched the Civil War
With the nation locked in debates over Confederate symbols, the very document that laid out the legal framework of a government built to preserve slavery will spend its 160th anniversary where it spends nearly every other day: quietly tucked away in a library at the University of Georgia. The Confederate Constitution is a forgotten relic of an ignoble cause that remains contentious generations after the Civil War ended, yet few people even know of its existence or final resting place. Historians say better knowledge of the document would help people — particularly Southern whites who downplay the role of slavery in the war — understand what was at the core of the Confederacy.
WXFG
Augusta University nurse severely injured by car while riding his bicycle
By Sydni Moore
An Augusta University nurse is in the hospital with multiple life-threatening injuries after he was struck by a vehicle while riding his bike to work two weeks ago. FOX 54 spoke with him from his bed at Augusta University Medical Center. John Hekker has been working at AU Health as a nurse for two years. Considering the extent of his injuries, he says he is thankful for the road to recovery. “Surgery on both my arms… thumbs”
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated March 11)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 15,784 | 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: 832,480 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia last among states in key vaccination category
By Eric Stirgus, J. Scott Trubey
The statistic is troubling. Georgia is vaccinating people at a slower pace than any U.S. state, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Slightly less than 30,000 doses per every 100,000 Georgia adults have been administered as of Thursday, the data show. Alaska, which is first among states, has nearly twice that vaccination rate. New Mexico is not far behind.
Higher Education News:
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Higher Education Organizations Call On Biden Administration to Include Colleges in Refugee
by Sara Weissman
On Tuesday, 52 higher education institutions and organizations sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Acting Secretary of Health and Human Services Norris Cochran, calling on the Biden administration to embrace colleges and universities as a part of expanding sponsorship programs for refugees. The letter – initiated by the Niskanen Center, Every Campus a Refuge and the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration – is in response to President Joe R. Biden’s executive order on February 4, which instructs agencies to submit plans for creating more refugee sponsorship opportunities. “College and university-based sponsorship will improve refugee integration outcomes, expand access to higher education for refugee students, capitalize on the many resources available in and through campus communities, and reaffirm the United States’ role as a leader in helping refugees reach safety,” the letter reads.
Inside Higher Ed
Academic Minute: Mental Health and College Satisfaction
By Doug Lederman
Today on the Academic Minute: Caroline Brackette, associate professor in the college of health professions at Mercer University, examines how hidden mental health disabilities can affect college student satisfaction. Learn more about the Academic Minute here.