University System News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
5 things to know about Georgia State University’s new president
By Eric Stirgus
The Georgia Board of Regents on Thursday selected M. Brian Blake to become Georgia State University’s next president. Blake, previously the provost at George Washington University, will be Georgia State’s first Black president. Here are five things to know about him:
See also:
GPB
Georgia State Names First Black President In School History
University News HQ
Dr. M. Brian Blake Named President of Georgia State University
Grady Newsource
The Balancing Act: How One UGA Student Juggles Being Full-Time Student And Entrepreneur
It’s 10 a.m., and Abbie Alf heads to her kitchen with a list detailing orders for the week. Dressed in her favorite baking attire, an oversized white T-shirt and black leggings, she pulls back her long, brown hair into a ponytail. A cheerful smile flushes across her face despite her busy week ahead. Easter Sunday is this weekend, and Alf just found out she sold out on her limited-edition cookie. She prepares the dough just before I arrive. She lets me know that she’s already prepared it as she welcomes me in the door.
“What’s your recipe?” “Sorry, I won’t be able to share,” she says, smiling. “It’s a secret.” Abbie Alf, owner of Abbie Bakes in her home kitchen located in Alpharetta. She grabbed a tray of custom cookies to package that have finished their two hour cooling time. (Photo/Abbie Alf) Alf’s secret recipe is the basis of each cookie she creates for her blooming business she conducts from her shared apartment in Athens. The University of Georgia junior, who is majoring in interior design, is learning to build her own brand as she pursues an entrepreneurial certificate for her business, Abbie Bakes. Right now, her business account garners over 1,000 followers on Instagram, and she has her own online shop for customers to place orders. On average, Alf gets anywhere between two to five orders a week while she juggles being a full-time student.
Athens CEO
UGA Part of $40M Grant for NMR Network
Researchers all over the world will have access to the University of Georgia’s expertise in nuclear magnetic resonance, or NMR, thanks to a new infrastructure funded by a $40 million grant from the National Science Foundation. The Network for Advanced Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, or NAN, will allow researchers to access ultra-high field nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers to study the structure, dynamics and interactions of biological systems and small molecules. The project is led by the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in partnership with UGA and the University of Wisconsin.
The Augusta Chronicle
Aging is inevitable but these medical students want to make it easier for everyone
Tom Corwin
Jean Martinez was completing his first year of medical school in Puerto Rico when he began to think about treating elderly patients. “I didn’t envision myself working in aging probably ever,” he said. But, “I had an open mind.” Martinez and nine other medical students from schools in Puerto Rico, as well as a student from Mercer University, are part of a special summer training program at Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. The students will shadow clinicians who treat diseases that impact the elderly and also conduct research into age-related conditions. It is an attempt to begin to address a big need in Georgia and across the country, said Dr. Carlos Isales, clinical director of the Center for Healthy Aging and a co-principal investigator on the training grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Science and Technology News
Visualizing brain activity, researching humor as emotion
Whether it’s sarcasm, a punchline or a comical accident, humor is ubiquitous around the world. No matter the culture or language, humor involves substantial high-level mental processing. A new meta-analysis by University of Georgia psychology researchers shows humor also exhibits a surprising amount of brain activity associated with emotional processes – findings that suggest humor provides its own kind of reward. While a great deal of neuroimaging for brain research has focused on risk/reward scenarios to understand emotional processing, humor has been largely understudied in the context of neuroimaging and fMRI. But with the power of one of the most widely used modern techniques, activation likelihood estimation, or ALE, psychologists can visualize the regions where humor is processed in the brain – opening up intriguing possibilities for therapeutics and interventions for improved health.
WFXG
AU Health AirCare program launching soon
By Abby Bradshaw
Augusta University Health is getting closer to launching its new air medical program, AU Health AirCare. It’s a hospital based air ambulance service. Training is underway to get personnel ready to take flight this summer. AU Health will have two helicopters for this program. At last check, one is ready now. The completed helicopter is being used for training. It will later serve as transport for adult patients and as backup. The two helicopters are distinguished by color. The helicopter currently in use is primarily gray, whereas the main helicopter will feature the shades of blue often featured in various AU marketing.
13WMAZ
In-person recruiting resumes after NCAA dead period ends
High school athletes hoping to play college football can now make in-person visits to coaches and colleges
Author: Avery Braxton
June 1st marked the end of the NCAA dead period for Division I football. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the dead period lasted over a year so that recruits couldn’t visit schools, but now the game has changed for high school athletes trying to get to the next level. After 15 long months the NCAA dead period has finally ended meaning high school recruits can now go back to in person recruiting and some local prospects have already seen their recruitment pick up. …Since June 1st, Burley visited top schools like the University of Georgia, University of Florida and Clemson University. He’s only a junior so there’s still plenty of time to choose. …Ricks has a handful offers including Georgia State University and Georgia Southern University, …Figuring out where he wants to go means seeing through recruiting smoke and mirrors.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated June 16)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 18,348 | 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: 900,067 | Cases have been confirmed in every county.
WSAV
CDC lists Delta variant as ’cause for concern’
by: Archith Seshadri
The CDC says a new Delta variant is a “cause for concern” because it spreads the coronavirus easily from person-to-person. The CDC’s director is now urging everyone eligible, to get the COVID-19 vaccine and says it is the only “ticket out of this pandemic.” Health experts say 1 out of 10 new infections in the U.S. is the new Delta variant
Higher Education News:
Albany Herald
GERALD GREENE: High school, college students impacted by education legislation
By Gerald Greene
As the school year has drawn to a close across the state, our 2021 graduating seniors and their families have turned their attention to what the fall may bring. For many Georgia seniors, fall will bring a new home on a campus far from their families and childhood communities. Others will stay closer to home and seek out educational and work opportunities there. Regardless, this fall will bring exciting new changes for these recent graduates and their families, and I wish them all the best in whatever their next step may be. During the session this year, we passed several pieces of legislation that may affect the path that Georgia students take to graduation and their experience as a college student if that is the path they choose after graduating. House Bill 617, sponsored by Rep. Chuck Martin, the chairman of the House Higher Education Committee, will expand options for student-athletes at Georgia colleges and universities to receive compensation for the use of their name, image or likeness. Historically, student-athletes have not been allowed to receive any such payments.
Inside Higher Ed
Supporting Mental Well-Being for Students of Color
The JED Foundation and the Steve Fund took their recommendations around supporting mental health for students of color to 18 campuses. Here’s what they learned.
By Lilah Burke
The past year has brought both mental health and racial justice to the forefront for many college leaders. A November 2020 survey of college presidents from the American Council on Education found that more respondents rated the mental health of students as a pressing issue than said the same about spring enrollment numbers.
Inside Higher Ed
Questioning Colleges’ Role in Bad Loans for Boot Camps
The colleges appear to be leading students to risky loan providers, raising questions about the relationship between the institutions and lenders and how much information they’re disclosing to students.
By Alexis Gravely
A report released last week by the Student Borrower Protection Center shed light on public colleges and universities that have been promoting high-risk loans for short-term programs, but in several respects, the report prompted just as many questions as it offered answers. Using publicly available data, SBPC showed that some colleges have been encouraging students to take out “shadow debt” — which it defines as the loans and credit outside the traditional private student loan market — that is marked by high interest rates and excessive fees, according to the report.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
by Liann Herder
In September, a global cohort of Black MBA students will begin an eight-month long fellowship that ends with direct work placement at Marsh McLennan, a risk, insurance, and consulting company. The fellowship, called Racial Injustice and Social Equity (RISE), is a first-of-its-kind program developed in a partnership between Marsh McLennan, Fisk University, and the National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA). In 2020, a study by the Graduate Management Admission Council revealed that Black MBA candidates still make up only about 10% of the workforce.
Inside Higher Ed
A National Center on Education Statistics report documents the impact of the pandemic on student enrollment and financial stability across demographic categories and institution types.
By Elizabeth Redden
About 40 percent of undergraduates experienced a financial disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and 8.2 percent either withdrew (4.4 percent) or took a leave of absence (3.8 percent) from their institution, according to a new report from the National Center for Education Statistics on the ways the pandemic affected undergraduate student finances, housing and enrollment. Overall, 87.5 percent of students reported experiencing a disruption or change in their enrollment due to COVID-19, with 84.1 percent saying that some or all of their classes moved to online-only formats. The report, which NCES says provides “the first national estimates of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on postsecondary students,” highlights the disparate experiences of students across racial, gender, economic, institutional and other lines in spring 2020. Data collection for the survey ended on June 30 of last year.