University System News:
The West Georgian
UWG PEER TUTORING AND THE UNIVERSITY WRITING CENTER: UTILIZING STUDENT RESOURCES
By Kinadi Dill
As an undergraduate student at The University of West Georgia, there are various resources and tools that are put into place to support student success. Tutoring services and writing services are available on campus, both are free of charge and available to students virtually and face to face. Both departments allow appointments for students with specific needs, which can be accessed through the UWG website along with information about what to bring and what to expect during a session. The peer tutoring program is designed to service all UWG core curriculum, which includes up to 140 courses as well as upper-level courses.
Tech Briefs
Intelligent Robots Pick, Prune in the Peach Orchard
Billy Hurley, Digital Editorial Manager
For Georgia to produce its over 130 million pounds of peaches ever year, farmers and workers around the orchard are tasked with a set of important responsibilities: pruning, thinning, and picking. Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) are testing out a new idea on the University of Georgia’s Griffin campus.: Have a robot do all three. An intelligent robot being developed at The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) uses artificial intelligence and sophisticated navigation to handle the tasks of removing branches, finding good peaches, and removing them from a tree. The automated, non-human approach could result in significant cost savings for peach farms in Georgia, according to the researchers.
WJBF
MCG scientists see results treating psoriasis with glycerin
by: Chloe Salsameda
Researchers at the Medical College of Georgia are finding promising results when using glycerin to treat psoriasis, an inflammatory condition in which cells build up and create dry, scaly patches on skin. Dr. Wendy Bollag and her team have found glycerin stages a “four-pronged attack” against psoriasis.
WTOC
Georgia Southern fires Head Coach Chad Lunsford
By Lyndsey Gough
After a 1 and 3 start in 2021 in what would have been his fourth full season as the Georgia Southern Head Football Coach, Chad Lunsford has been fired. …The release from Georgia Southern doesn’t indicate if Lunsford was fired “for cause” or “without cause.” “For cause” would mean he broke a rule listed in the contract. If he was fired “without cause,” it would leave the university and the Georgia Southern University Athletic Foundation on the hook for his buyout.
See also:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Chad Lunsford out as Georgia Southern coach
13WMAZ
Georgia Southern fires head football coach Chad Lunsford
Lunsford exits in his fourth full season with an overall record of 28-21.
Health Thoroughfare
Scientists Discover When Earth’s Oxygen Will Run Out – Should We Worry?
by Cristian Antonescu ·
They say you can’t live without love, but oxygen could be even more important. Even the chemical element generated by plants that we all need every second will run out someday, leaving the planet inhabitable. Once again, we have to realize that nothing lasts forever. TweakTown.com now speaks about a new study that found out when our planet will run out of all its oxygen. The results may leave you speechless.
Earth will run out of oxygen in the next one billion years
The scientists found out that our planet’s oxygen levels will be thoroughly gone in about one billion years. This will obviously result in our planet becoming inhabitable for any life forms that need oxygen to survive, including us. Let’s look at the bright side: it’s exhilarating to know that our planet will keep providing oxygen for such a huge amount of time unless you somehow plan to live forever. To come to a new conclusion, Christopher Reinhard (associate professor at Georgia Institute of Technology) along with Kazumi Ozaki (assistant professor at Toho University) modeled Earth’s climate and its biochemical processes.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Tech experts: Online learning doesn’t have to be inferior
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
In new book, two computer scientists say technology can expand reach of classrooms
Two prominent Georgia Tech computer scientists maintain online classes can be as effective as face-to-face instruction and urge expansion of opportunities that liberate students from the confines of a classroom and an 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily schedule. The ambitious vision of online education in the new book “The Distributed Classroom” by David A. Joyner and Charles Isbell could be a tough sell. Along with hearing from lots of K-12 parents this year about their children’s disappointing virtual experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, many parents in Georgia Tech forums bemoaned the migration to remote learning and contended their college kids were essentially teaching themselves.
The Red & Black
UHC to offer Pfizer booster shots to UGA community
Lucinda Warnke
On Friday, University Health Center announced that it will be offering COVID-19 booster shots for fully vaccinated individuals who received the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and meet other eligibility requirements starting Monday, according to an Archnews email. UHC will offer appointments for the Pfizer booster shot to university students, faculty, staff, retirees and dependents. Those who wish to receive a booster shot must also meet the requirements outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and the Georgia Department of Health, which include people 65 and over, people aged 50-64 with underlying health conditions, people aged 18-49 with underlying health conditions based on their individual benefits and risks and people aged 18-64 who have increased chance of contracting or transmitting COVID-19 due to occupational or institutional settings. People who received vaccines other than the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are not eligible for the booster shot, according to the email.
The Epoch Times
Nasal Irrigation May Help Prevent Severe COVID-19: Study
Because of the way viruses invade the body, direct interventions can help combat infection
By Joseph Mercola September 24, 2021 Updated: September 24, 2021biggersmaller Print
A recent preprint study by researchers at Augusta University and Edinburgh Napier University demonstrates that people who used normal saline nasal irrigation were 19 times less likely to require hospitalization for treatment of COVID-19 than the national rate for hospitalizations.
WFXG
Inside look at a treatment for the sickest of COVID-19 patients
By Jared Eggleston
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO, is a highly specialized procedure used to support patients during heart surgery or to help lungs heal. It is just one of the COVID-19 treatments that Augusta University Medical Center is using to treat their patients. Jennifer Anderson is Augusta University Medical Center’s director of respiratory therapy. “What we want to do is reserve this for folks where if, given enough chance, their lungs can heal and they can come off a ventilator and come out of the hospital,” she said. So how does the treatment work? “You’re actually pulling your blood out of the body, going into a machine to oxygenate it, or in some cases to help support your circulation. It’s acting as your lungs,” Anderson said. “But when they become better we’re able to use the ventilator again so that the lungs can take over.” The treatment is not an overnight miracle though.
Technique
Tehreem Hussain
With the start of the academic semester across higher education institutions in Georgia, public colleges are offering variations of the residential experience to their students. However, with the widespread transmission of the delta variant and steady incline in COVID-19 cases across the state, many professors and students are concerned about the public health policies enacted by the Board of Regents and University System of Georgia. Prior to the start of the fall semester, Tech announced that the Institute would not be implementing a vaccine mandate, nor requiring masks in indoor spaces. Last week, many Tech professors collaborated with the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) to challenge and protest the lack of COVID-19 safety guidelines present on Georgia college campuses.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Opinion: Regents and Gov. Kemp on wrong side of history and science on COVID
Failure to require masks on state campuses puts politics before public health
This is one of two editorials from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Editorial Board to appear on the main Opinion page to spotlight important issues about the coronavirus outbreak in the Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021, edition.
In a new public service spot about fighting COVID-19, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp proclaims, “Let’s take the politics out of it.” We agree. With hospitals filled with COVID-19 patients and state fatalities above 21,000, Kemp can start by mandating masks at Georgia’s 26 public colleges and universities. The governor and the Board of Regents have resisted requiring masks this year because they fear political fallout, even though masks were required last year on public campuses. The 2020-21 mask policy came after intense pressure from student and faculty groups. …Kemp and the 19 Regents, appointed by governors to 7-year terms, may be willing to gamble with other people’s lives for political gain, but many college professors refuse to be complicit.
Other News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Map: Coronavirus deaths and cases in Georgia (updated Sept. 24)
An updated count of coronavirus deaths and cases reported across the state
CONFIRMED CASES: 1,207,024
CONFIRMED DEATHS: 21,991 | 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
COVID vaccine mandates? A mix of big, small Georgia employers say yes
By Matt Kempner, Andy Peters
At least one requirement is the same whether you want to be a bomb-sniffing dog handler, a video editor at a local Baptist church, a warehouse packer for a metal products maker, a server at a new distillery, a caseworker helping a nonprofit resettle Afghans, or an office staffer for the Atlanta law firm Alston & Bird. Amid notices about drug screenings, ability to lift a bit of weight and being a good collaborator, an array of recent Georgia job postings include a new qualification: You’ll need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The prerequisite is spreading. And more employers may be forced to take similar steps shortly. The Biden administration plans to soon roll out specifics of a rule, announced Sept. 9, requiring that employers with more than 100 workers ensure their staffers are either fully vaccinated or tested weekly.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Will Higher Ed Feel the Effects of a Federal Shutdown?
There’s still time for lawmakers to avoid shutting down the federal government, but if they can’t do it, higher education shouldn’t have much to worry about — as long as the shutdown doesn’t last too long.
By Alexis Gravely
The potential for a government shutdown is growing as the end of the month — and the federal government’s fiscal year — draws closer. But even if Congress is unable to continue funding the government, the impact of a shutdown on higher education over all will be minimal, as long as it’s only for a short period of time. By Sept. 30, Congress has to pass a continuing resolution to approve another year of funding for federal departments and agencies. The House passed the bill last Tuesday with only Democratic votes, and the Senate will take a procedural vote on it today.
Inside Higher Ed
Do Algorithms Lead Admissions in the Wrong Direction?
Do they result in colleges filling their classes but not giving enough aid for a student to succeed?
By Scott Jaschik
An algorithm is a process to follow in solving a problem, often in a mathematical calculation. Most people think of algorithms (if they think of them at all) as involving complicated formulas and computers. In higher education, hundreds of colleges use algorithms in the admissions process. Their primary use is predicting how much money a student will need from the college to enroll. Colleges don’t tell students they ran their information through a computer program, but they tell students what their aid package looks like. The same student will get a different package at different colleges. Only a minority of colleges pledge to meet students’ demonstrated need. And many colleges — public and private — award aid that’s not intended to focus on the lowest-income students.
Inside Higher Ed
‘Connecting College and Careers’: An Inside Higher Ed Report
By Doug Lederman
Colleges and universities are under increasing pressure to ensure that their students thrive in the workplace after they graduate. Many of them are embracing new strategies and tactics for giving their students skills and knowledge that will help them do so, as well as tools to help students share and translate what they’ve learned to employers. A new free report from Inside Higher Ed, “Connecting College and Careers,” aims to shed light on some of the most promising experiments to give graduates a boost as they seek well-paying jobs, particularly students who are women or people of color. The report focuses on efforts to increase work-based learning opportunities, sometimes of the credit-bearing variety, as well as promising new types of nondegree credentials that colleges are developing — typically in partnership with employers — to be paired with bachelor’s degrees.
Inside Higher Ed
Students Worry About Isolation During Remote Work
By Maria Carrasco
Most students are open to the idea of working remotely, though they also have concerns about the isolation that might come with it, a new survey from Universum found. The survey from the employer branding agency found that 75 percent of students would consider remote work, including internships during the school year and full-time jobs after graduation. At the same time, 56 percent said they feared being isolated from co-workers and missing social connections. Forty-three percent also worried that even an employer who permitted remote work might have a bias for in-person workers, and the same share was concerned that remote work might pay less.