University System News:
11Alive
13-year-old ‘genius’ begins first day at Georgia Tech
After years of dreaming of being a yellow jacket, Caleb Anderson started his first day on campus.
Author: Brittany Kleinpeter
At 13 years old, most kids are in the 7th grade studying civics, reading, and writing; but Caleb Anderson is navigating one of the top universities in the country. “The classes try to be intimidating, but they’re really not. They’re just really average classes almost with just a lot more people and more technology,” Caleb explained about his first day as a Yellow Jacket. The Marietta local was the youngest Black boy to be accepted in Mensa, the ‘High IQ Society’ at just 3-years-old. Ten years later, Caleb is now at Georgia Tech, a school he’s been dreaming of going to his entire life.
See also:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
13-year-old becomes youngest student on Georgia Tech’s campus
Fox 5 Atlanta
Georgia college opens free ‘Care Pantry’ for hungry students
By FOX 5 Digital Team
College students can live on a pretty tight budget, but for some who are struggling to pay the bills, they might be deciding between paying for food and paying for utilities. That’s why one metro Atlanta college is stepping in to help. When students at Georgia Gwinnett College walk into the university’s new Care Pantry, it can be an instant relief. …Thanks to the pantry, students can access those meals for free – breakfast, lunch, dinner, or even a snack. …The idea has been in the works for several years, but the COVID-19 pandemic brought the need to the forefront.
WTOC
Donation helping SSU’s community garden flourish
By WTOC Staff
Good news for many deserving students at Savannah State University. The SSU Campus Community Garden was developed as a means for students who face food insecurities to be able to grow healthy foods affordably. Monday, the Center Parc Credit Union donated $2,500 to the garden. The garden also provides hands-on learning experiences and serves as a gathering place for faculty, staff and students to demonstrate a green economy.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Gwinnett professor uses active learning to engage students during pandemic
By Simona Lucchi, Fresh Take Georgia
David Pursell, a chemistry professor at Georgia Gwinnett College, is not often unprepared. As a student and professor at the U.S. Military Academy, he became an advocate of the Thayer method of instruction which he said taught him to always be prepared. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Pursell found himself quite unprepared to teach his hands-on organic chemistry courses online. … Pursell was not alone. A survey by education technology website Course Hero in November 2020 found that 74% of college faculty surveyed reported suffering from significant amounts of stress after having to switch to online learning. However, one year later, Pursell can reflect on his experience while also appreciating returning to the lab with his students.
Valdosta Daily Times
Pippin named Facilitator of the Year
Jessica Pippin with Valdosta State University’s STEAM Center for Applied Creativity and Innovation has earned Georgia Project Learning Tree’s Outstanding Facilitator of the Year Award. Georgia Project Learning Tree’s Outstanding Facilitator of the Year Award recognizes a facilitator who consistently offers high-quality professional development for Georgia’s educators, promotes Project Learning Tree and its mission to advance environmental literacy and stewardship, and continuously looks for ways to provide professional development and resources for educators in the Peach State, university officials said in a statement.
Albany Herald
Here’s how to survive at UGA … or any college
By Sara Freeland
New students at the University of Georgia who plan to hit the ground running must first learn the ropes of being a Bulldog. Eight UGA Amazing Students share their best advice for success on campus. The students range from tour guides to orientation leaders, dancers to doctoral candidates. All have immersed themselves in studies, internships and extracurricular activities.
AP News
Space Pioneers: Astronomy professor and students create stellar map
As intergalactic zombies––that eat their sister stars and wander galaxies like the walking dead––neutron stars and black holes have all the makings of a hit movie. Now, there’s a “first-of-its-kind” map showing exactly where these roaming corpses of stars were born and how far they’ve traveled, thanks to a Georgia College professor and a string of physics students over the past seven years. …Since 2014, four Georgia College students have helped Bodaghee chart neutron stars within the Small Magellanic Cloud. It’s a companion galaxy bound to the Milky Way by gravitational pull. The group just published their map and a research paper on the speed of neutron stars in that galaxy. With the help of senior physics major Cody Cox of Milledgeville, Bodaghee is now updating a map of the Milky Way he created in 2012. Instead of finding neutron stars and black holes the old way––piling through publications and websites––the team uses a computer program Cox created. It instantly pinpoints the location of these roaming dead stars.
Patch
University Of Georgia: Pecan-Enriched Diet Shown To Reduce Cholesterol
University of Georgia study shows that people who are at risk for cardiovascular disease showed improvements in LDL numbers.
University of Georgia study shows that people who are at risk for cardiovascular disease showed improvements in LDL numbers. While the proper pronunciation of pecan remains a subject of debate, University of Georgia researchers have shown the tree nut can dramatically improve a person’s cholesterol levels.
WSAV
by: Chase Justice
A first of its kind program has made its way to the Savannah waterways. The Coastal Awareness and Responsible Ecotourism program (CARE), gives people a chance to learn the best practices when it comes to water based activities in order to ensure the safety of wildlife in the area. …The new program is made possible through the University of Georgia’s Marine Extension grant, aiming to help educate those who spend their time out on the water as tour guides. Georgia’s coast plays a pivotal role in the lives of many species, but most importantly, our barrier islands fuel the migration of shorebirds.
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Wake Forest Plans to Kill Animals for Surgery Training, Doctors File Federal Complaint
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine—a national nonprofit with more than 17,000 doctor members—has filed a federal complaint requesting an investigation into the use of live animals for training general surgery residents at Wake Forest School of Medicine. The next course, which is being sponsored by medical device company Ethicon and scheduled to take place on Aug. 30, will involve removing internal organs and other invasive procedures performed on live pigs before the animals are killed. The Physicians Committee’s complaint emphasizes that, under the Animal Welfare Act, researchers and course instructors must consider alternatives to procedures that may cause more than “momentary or slight pain or distress to an animal.” The organization points out that, nationwide, 200 surgery training programs—including highly ranked regional surgery programs at Emory University, the University of North Carolina, East Carolina University, the Medical College of Georgia, and the University of Virginia—exclusively use nonanimal methods, which confirms that alternative training methods are available and implemented.
WJCL
Police investigating rape at Georgia Southern University’s Armstrong campus
Police are investigating a reported rape on Georgia Southern University’s Armstrong campus in Savannah.
Ansley Christain, Assignment Manager
Police are investigating a reported rape on Georgia Southern University’s Armstrong campus. According to a report from GSU’s police department, the incident happened early Sunday morning at an apartment in Windward Commons, an on-campus student housing complex. University leaders say it appears the victim and suspect knew each other and that “assistance is being offered to the victim.”
Statesboro Herald
SPD/GSU Impact Team arrests 7 in weekend drug sweep
2 more suspects remain wanted
From staff reports
After a months-long investigation, the joint Statesboro Police Department/ Georgia Southern University Impact Team made seven drug arrests over the course of Friday night and Saturday, while warrants were issued for two more suspects, according to SPD Capt. Jared Akins. In a press release late Saturday, Akins said law enforcement had received reports that cocaine was being distributed by patrons, and in one case, staff, of bars located near Georgia Southern University’s campus. The information specifically indicated that staff at Shenanigan’s Bar at 1 University Plaza were participating in these illegal sales. The Impact Team is tasked not only with citywide drug enforcement but also with conducting alcohol and bouncer compliance checks at licensed bars. …“This operation is one of the many examples of efforts by SPD and Georgia Southern University’s Department of Public Safety to keep drug dealers from setting up shop near entertainment venues and preying on the students and residents patronizing those venues.
WJBF
Hundreds of ‘breakthrough’ cases reported in Augusta area
by: Chloe Salsameda
While COVID-19 cases spike once again, the number of fully vaccinated people infected with COVID-19 is slowly increasing. Between January 1 and August 17, 743 “breakthrough” cases were reported in the Augusta area, according to the Department of Public Health. These cases are part of the 18,697 cases in Georgia, which make up less than one percent of the state’s total cases. …Dr. Rodger MacArthur, an infectious diseases physician at the Medical College of Georgia, says breakthrough cases should be expected.
WGAU Radio
UGA president makes another pitch for COVID vaccinations
Mobile vaccine clinic today at Tate Center
By Tim Bryant
The mobile vaccination clinic that opened at UGA’s Tate Center is operating again today, 10 til 2 each day through Friday: the University of Georgia is offering $20 gift cards and t-shirts to students, staff, and faculty who get coronavirus vaccinations.
From UGA Today…
The federal Food and Drug Administration today approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for those 16 years of age and older. With this long-awaited approval in place, senior officials at the University of Georgia renewed their push for students, faculty and staff to be vaccinated. “The FDA’s approval of the vaccine today marks a crucial step as we seek to protect the entire University, as well as those in our surrounding community, from the COVID-19 pandemic,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “I hope this action by the FDA will remove any hesitancy that some might have had before getting vaccinated.”
Athens CEO
UGA Vaccine Clinics Making an Impact
On-campus clinics offer walk-up availability, chance to win incentives
Vaccine clinics offered on the University of Georgia’s campus have provided easy and convenient opportunities for students, faculty and staff to receive COVID-19 vaccinations – and those opportunities are continuing through Sept. 2. The University Health Center and local office of the Georgia Department of Health have partnered to offer the first of several vaccine clinics at the Tate Student Center on campus. In addition to vaccine appointments available at the UHC, these on-campus clinics offer walk-ups for those looking for a timely and practical option. The on-campus clinics with walk-up availability will continue to be held at the Tate Center from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Aug. 23-26, 30-31, and Sept. 2. Vaccinations are also available by appointment at the UHC.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
University of North Georgia lecturers resign instead of teaching in person
By Eric Stirgus
University of North Georgia lecturers Cornelia Lambert and Lorraine Buchbinder were scheduled to begin teaching Monday, the first day of the fall semester, on the school’s Gainesville campus. Instead, they were home. They both resigned because the university’s COVID-19 safety protocols are insufficient to teach in person, they said. Both lecturers were supposed to teach five courses this semester, with a total of about 160 students in those classes. The university said Monday it has assigned other faculty members to teach the courses. The decisions reflect the mounting frustration among many faculty members at public and private colleges and universities across Georgia that their schools do not have enough resources or enforcement guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on their campuses.
See also:
Gainesville Times
Two UNG lecturers resign citing lack of COVID rules
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Aug. 23)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED CASES: 1,036,304
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 19,243 | 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.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
FDA Paves Way for College Vaccine Mandates
Institutions may feel more empowered to enact COVID-19 vaccine mandates now that Pfizer’s FDA approval levels it with other required vaccines — and some colleges have already taken action.
By Alexis Gravely
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced its full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine Monday, opening the door for colleges and universities that have been hesitant to require vaccines for students to begin instituting mandates. The vaccine will now be referred to as “Comirnaty” rather than the Pfizer vaccine and has been approved for individuals 16 years of age and older. It will still be administered in two doses three weeks apart. “While this and other vaccines have met the FDA’s rigorous, scientific standards for emergency use authorization, as the first FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine, the public can be very confident that this vaccine meets the high standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality the FDA requires of an approved product,” Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said in a statement. While hundreds of institutions have already required their faculty, staff and students to get a COVID-19 vaccine, others said they were holding off until at least one of the vaccines received full FDA approval. Monday’s announcement is expected to make colleges and universities more comfortable with having a vaccine mandate, especially since other FDA-approved vaccinations — such as for tuberculosis or hepatitis B — are already required on most campuses.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Full Approval of Covid Vaccine Frees Up Some Colleges to Make Mandates Official
By Oyin Adedoyin
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of one of the Covid-19 vaccines is a game changer for colleges on the fence about whether to require that students or employees be inoculated against the deadly virus. The full approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine places that shot on the same level as other vaccines that colleges and universities regularly require. Experts say they expect to see more colleges moving to mandate Covid vaccines in the coming weeks.