University System News:
Atlanta Jewish Times
Georgia Colleges Return, In-Person
As Georgia college students prepare to return to campus this fall, they will face a variety of precautions and requirements as in-person classes return to normal.
By Nathan Posner
As Georgia colleges prepare for a return to in-person classes next month, a variety of protocols and rules are being put in place to help keep administrators and students safe. Some schools are requiring students and faculty to be vaccinated for the fall semester, while others are asking that those that are unvaccinated wear masks when in contact with others.
WGAU Radio
UNG sets dates for fall move-in
August 19-22
By JK Devine, UNG
Paul Nickles remembers the huge welcome he received upon arrival at a University of North Georgia residence hall to begin his freshman year. Nickles, now in his second year as a resident assistant (RA), is poised to provide students a similar welcome after COVID-19 protocols limited interactions last year. “When I moved in, several people welcomed me and grabbed my stuff to help me,” the rising junior pursuing a degree in graphic design said. “Last fall, we couldn’t touch people’s things because of the COVID restrictions.” Now, all RAs along with other UNG faculty, staff and volunteers are primed to give incoming freshmen, transfers and other residents an enthusiastic welcome this fall as UNG resumes student activities and in-person instruction. UNG has nine residence halls, all located on the Dahlonega Campus, that will house more than 2,600 civilian and cadet students this fall for an occupancy rate of 98.41%.
Tifton CEO
ABAC Transitions to Regular Hours for Fall Semester
After utilizing a four-day work week during the summer, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College has returned to its regular hours to prepare for the beginning of the fall semester on Aug. 10. The college is now open from 8 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Friday. Fall semester classes extend through Nov. 19.
The Times-Georgian
Faculty and staff moving into UWG’s newest building this weekend
By Dan Minish
Faculty and staff will begin moving in this weekend to Richards Hall, home of UWG’s Richards College of Business. Classes for the 2021 Fall Semester at the University of West Georgia won’t begin until Aug. 11, but faculty and staff for UWG’s Richard’s College of Business will get an up-close look at their new home this weekend. Those who will be working in Richard’s Hall, the most recent addition to the sprawling 665-acre campus will start moving into the building, well in advance of the Aug. 11 start of classes.
WRDW
AU Health restricts access as COVID cases rise again
By Staff
Days after reinstating a mask mandate in Augusta University Health facilities, the hospital system is restricting non-patient access again. The restrictions come as COVID-19 cases rise across the country as the highly contagious delta variant sweeps through the population, leading to talk of new mask mandates and other measures. Most of those being sickened are not vaccinated.
The Augusta Chronicle
Celebrated doctor credits success to long experience at Medical College of Georgia
Tom Corwin
Dr. Stanton Royer came up through Augusta University and its health system so now he is looking to extend that experience to the next generation. Royer, 30, was named the Resident of the Year in receiving Medical College of Georgia’s Walter J. Moore Outstanding Housestaff Award. Not that he was expecting it. …Part of what the 2009 Evans High School graduate brings to the table is his long relationship with the university and the health system.
EurekAlert!
Compounds that inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication identified by biomedical sciences researchers
Compounds targeting enzymes that control key processes such as fatty acid metabolism and functions related to cell membranes that are required to efficiently produce infectious viruses are potent inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a study led by the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University.
Lab Manager
Project Profile: Georgia Southern Center for Engineering and Research
The Georgia Southern Center for Engineering and Research is the visible center for all engineering programs on campus
Marybeth Didonna
The Georgia Southern Center for Engineering and Research (CEaR) is a 140,000 gsf facility at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, GA, built at a cost of $46 million and completed in January 2021. The project team consisted of SmithGroup (design architect, programming, design engineering, fire and life safety engineering, interior design, lab planning and design, sustainability), SSOE (formerly Stevens and Wilkinson; architect of record, structural engineering, design collaboration, exterior detailing, construction administration), Dulohery Weeks Engineers Inc (MEP), Thomas and Hutton (civil engineering and landscape architecture), BDR Partners (program manager), and JE Dunn (construction manager). Lab Manager speaks with SmithGroup’s Doug Dahlkemper, AIA, LEED AP, lead designer-design principal higher education; and Christopher Vanneste, lab planner, about the CEaR.
Q: How did the plan for this building start? What kinds of programs is it housing?
WABE
Rose Scott
47:55 | Play story Add to My List
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s extended moratorium on evictions will expire at the end of the month. Elora Raymond, an assistant professor of City & Regional Planning at Georgia Tech, discusses what this will mean for people in Georgia. Plus, LaVonda Reed was recently appointed as the seventh dean of the Georgia State College of Law. She joins “Closer Look” to reflect on her career journey, discuss her new role and share her vision for the law school.
Patch
Georgia Southern University’s Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) student chapter received a 2020-21 Superior Merit designation from the national SHRM organization for providing superior growth and development opportunities to its student members. SHRM student chapters have the opportunity to earn an award based on the number of activities they complete during the merit award cycle, the most recent one of which lasted from May 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021.
Popular Science
Inside the surprisingly complex engineering process that creates an Olympic torch
A torch like the one in the Tokyo games is so much more than just a simple vessel for flame. This is how they spark into being.
By Erin Fennessy
The Olympic torch relay represents an iconic beginning to the games. Former Olympians and members of the public carry the Olympic flame from Athens all the way to the opening ceremony, signifying the official commencement of the games. Beginning with the Berlin 1936 summer games and the 1952 Oslo winter games, each iteration has featured a novel torch design that reflects the identity of the host country in addition to displaying the Olympic flame throughout the torch relay. …Creating a unique, functional torch is a massive undertaking. Identical torches must be manufactured for each runner in the relay before the initial lighting of the Olympic flame in Greece. The entire process of designing, modeling, prototyping, testing, and manufacturing actually begins years before the games themselves begin. …The torch for the 2002 Salt Lake City winter games incorporated an aged metal finish to signify the American West and copper to represent the history of Utah. After the initial concept was finalized, the 2002 torch was handed off to a team at the Georgia Institute of Technology for 3D modeling and prototype development. Tim Purdy, senior lecturer of industrial design, led the modeling team.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated July 27)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED CASES: 924,292
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 18,680 | 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.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The CDC issued new mask guidance, but Kemp’s pandemic approach hasn’t changed
POLITICAL INSIDER
By Greg Bluestein
Gov. Brian Kemp has long opposed mask requirements to combat the spread of coronavirus. And his stance isn’t changing after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged Americans to return to wearing masks indoors in areas where the disease is surging. The governor’s office said Kemp, who has pushed Georgians to get vaccinated, will continue to urge residents to wear masks where appropriate but oppose any mandate for them to do so. That lines up with his approach throughout the pandemic, one that included a legal battle with Atlanta officials over an effort to require masks in the capital city.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UPDATE: CDC reverses course on indoor mask requirements as delta variant surges
CORONAVIRUS
By Tim Darnell – Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Associated Press
Indoor masks recommended for teachers, staff, students regardless of vaccination status
The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reversed course Tuesday on some masking guidelines, recommending even vaccinated people return to wearing masks indoors in parts of the U.S. where the coronavirus is surging. Citing new information about the ability of the delta variant to spread among vaccinated people, the CDC also recommended indoor masks for all teachers, staff, students and visitors to schools, regardless of vaccination status.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
CDC now sides with pediatricians: Everybody should mask up in schools
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
Most Georgia districts never mandated masks amid COVID and are unlikely to do so
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offered new guidance today that aligns with the recommendation last week from the nation’s pediatricians: Staff and students should return to schools in masks, even if they are vaccinated against COVID-19.
Higher Education News:
AP News
The Rise in Applications Will Make This Upcoming Admissions Cycle More Competitive Than Ever
This time last year, the coming school year seemed very much in question. During the most difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic, students transitioned to remote learning and testing centers shut down as the SAT and ACT became optional. Now that the tide is turning on the pandemic, and life is slowly returning back to normal for many of us, the focus has once again returned to college admissions. For that reason, 2021 is sure to be one of the most competitive years when it comes to getting into top colleges and universities. With the SAT going test optional and the SAT Subject Tests no longer required, the barrier to entry is now lower to apply – and last year the number of applications increased by as much as 30-40 percent as select universities.
CBS News
As online education grows, the business of cheating is booming
Nairobi — The growth of online college degrees has created more opportunities for American students to outsource their schoolwork, resulting in a booming billion-dollar cheating industry centered in the East African country of Kenya. Many impoverished young people in Kenya invest heavily in their educations but find it difficult to find work after they finish their studies. Looking for a way to support themselves after school, they go into the business of helping American students cheat. “You can’t steal. You have to find something to do for yourself,” William, a young man in Kenya who works in the cheating industry told CBS News. He requested that we not use his real name in our report. William pays U.S. websites for accounts to connect with American students and then subcontracts the cheating work out to other Kenyan writers. He makes over $2,000 a month but says he’s ashamed of working in the “essays-for-hire” industry. How does it work? Reputable U.S. websites with names like “Essay JedII” offer legitimate services like academic assistance, tutoring or research. Some American students, however, use these sites to connect with writers in Kenya who they hire to do their schoolwork for them, from one-off essays to completing entire college degrees.
Forbes
Adam S. Minsky, Senior Contributor
Personal Finance
Leading congressional Democrats held a press conference this afternoon, urging President Biden to cancel student loan debt. “Tick tock, tick tock,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), noting that 30 million Americans will have student loan bills due by October as the current moratorium on federal student loan payments comes to an end. “The payment pause is running out, and the size of these payments for many borrowers is the size of their rent or car payment,” which will lead to “hard choices” for borrowers. Warren called on Biden to extend the moratorium on student loan payments and use executive action to cancel $50,000 or more in student loan debt. …Warren was joined by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who donned a “cancel student debt” face mask at the press conference.
Inside Higher Ed
Post-COVID Optimism on College Finances
By Doug Lederman
The world looked pretty bleak last spring and summer, as the COVID-19 pandemic upended most aspects of society and no clear end was in sight. College and university business officers were not immune, as respondents to Inside Higher Ed’s annual survey of chief business officers last summer expressed far less confidence about their colleges’ five-year financial outlook than they had in previous years. They cited sharp drops in revenue and unexpected spending on health, safety and learning technology as a painful combination. A year later, with COVID-19 loosening its grip on campuses, the economy and American psyches, and many institutions’ budgets boosted by a major infusion of federal funds, it’s not surprising to find campus financial managers in a better place. Three-quarters of respondents to Inside Higher Ed’s 2021 Survey of College and University Business Officers, conducted this month with Hanover Research, express confidence in their institution’s financial stability over the next decade. The same proportion says their college or university is in better financial shape than it was a year ago, and two-thirds say it is stronger than it was in 2019.
Los Angeles Times
CSU to require COVID-19 vaccinations for students, faculty, staff on campus this fall
By Colleen Shalby, Staff Writer
California State University — the nation’s largest four-year public university system — will require students, faculty and staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to campus for the fall semester. Medical and religious exemptions will be allowed, with unvaccinated students having to undergo frequent coronavirus testing. The decision announced Tuesday was prompted by the ongoing rise in the Delta variant throughout California. It came one day after state officials announced that government and healthcare workers would be required to show proof of vaccination, and more than a week after the University of California mandated vaccines for students and employees. …It’s unclear what type of disciplinary action could be taken against someone who did not adhere to the requirement, but at this point the policy includes a warning that any student or employee who does not provide certification “may be denied access to Campus/Programs.” All certifications must be completed no later than Sept. 30, but the deadline may be sooner for some campuses because not all 23 universities have the same semester start date.
Forbes
More Universities Offer Vaccination Incentives. Will They Work?
Michael T. Nietzel, Senior Contributor
Education
Over the past week, several more major universities have announced incentive programs to encourage their students to get vaccinated against Covid-19. As concerns grow that the rapid spread of the Delta variant of the virus poses new and serious threats to a safe return to live instruction and normal campus life this fall, scores of institutions are offering lotteries, prizes, payments, free parking, discounts, gift certificates and other giveaways to persuade as many students as possible to get vaccinated before the start of the semester. Many institutions have done so as they respond to a call from the White House and the U.S. Department of Education to join what’s known as the “COVID-19 College Vaccine Challenge.” They commit to three actions to increase campus vaccination rates: engaging every student, faculty, and staff member; organizing their college communities; and delivering vaccine access for all. A common component of these efforts has been campus-based incentives for students who are vaccinated. … Will They Work? The new incentive programs have often come in lieu of vaccine mandates, which most public universities – particularly those in states with Republican governors and legislatures – have been reluctant to pursue. How effective they will be remains a question.