SaportaReport
Georgia leaders going all in to attract new federal health agency
Maria Saporta
Georgia leaders have united in a quest to land the headquarters of a new federal health-related agency — an effort that would solidify the state’s role as the epicenter for global health. The administration of President Joe Biden already has allocated $1 billion for the new Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to improve the nation’s ability to speed biomedical and health research on ways to cure cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes and other afflictions through national and international research partnerships. The big question is where the agency will be based. Leaders in metro Atlanta and Georgia understand ARPA-H can be a life-changing opportunity for the state, similar to how Georgia was able to become the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s why people have galvanized throughout the state to convince federal officials that Georgia is the ideal location for the new agency. …Dr. Bruner pointed to all the Georgia research universities and major health institutions — Emory, Georgia Tech, Augusta University, University of Georgia, Georgia State University, Mercer University, Morehouse School of Medicine and Grady Hospital among others. Georgia also is home to leading bio-medical companies that are part of the state’s ecosystem.
The Griffin Daily News
GSC Foundation appoints new chair
By Karolina Philmon Marketing Manager
Alumnus of Gordon Junior College, Robert L. Harris was named chair of the Gordon State College Foundation for the academic year effective July 1. The GSC Foundation is a non-profit that supports the mission and strategic plan of the institution. The 30-member foundation board is primarily dedicated to raising scholarship funds to assist Gordon’s diverse student body with the cost of tuition and support for higher education.
Albany Herald
UGA expert’s Senate testimony calls for predictable, equitable trade policies
By Jordan Powers
When visualizing the daily life of farmers, we often think of green fields, hard-working families and harvest time. Often missing from the picture of the modern American farmer are their daily concerns about fuel and fertilizer prices, crop yields and trade issues. Gopinath “Gopi” Munisamy, a distinguished professor of Agricultural Marketing and interim head of the University of Georgia Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, shared the impact of these issues last month with the Senate Subcommittee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, chaired by U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia, in a hearing focused on agricultural trade priorities and issues.
WALB
Tifton Wiregrass Freedom Festival draws tourists and locals
By Anthony Bordanaro
The Wiregrass Freedom Festival, an annual tradition, drew hundreds of locals and tourists Saturday. The Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) Museum of Agriculture hosts multiple single-day events every year. Saturday’s event was a celebration of America and South Georgia. …It’s not just people from South Georgia who visited. Catherine Wilson, Historical Interpreter at the ABAC Museum of Agriculture said she’s met people from thousands of miles away. …The next event at the ABAC Georgia Museum of Agriculture will be their sugar cane-making demonstration in November.
The Herald-Gazette
Gordon Grammar School reunion is July 30
By Walter Geiger
The highly-popular Gordon Grammar School reunion, delayed nearly a year by COVID, has been set for Saturday, July 30 from 5-10 p.m. at the Gordon dining hall. The reunion is for all former students, teachers and staff at the historic school which stood majestically where the Barnesville Library is today. Those desiring to attend must pre-register by July 15 and admission is $25 per person. Online registration is available at www.gordonstate.edu/alumni. …Organizers are seeking photos of anything related to the school for display during the reunion. They can be uploaded to the GGS Alumni Facebook page.
Science Magazine
Putting the brakes on a bacterium that is a major cause of GI distress
As we head outdoors this summer, scientists are working to clip the long, flexible appendages that enable the common bacterium Campylobacter jejuni to make its way from undercooked poultry and natural waterways into our intestinal tract where it makes millions of us sick each year. Campylobacter jejuni is the most common cause of diarrhea, vomiting and stomach pain in the United States and the world, with about 140 million cases worldwide and more than 30,000 deaths each year, primarily in children under age 5. Motility is the “magic bullet” for this bacterium which uses its long, thin, flexible arm-like flagella to maneuver the thick mucus in our gastrointestinal tract, power its way inside our intestinal cells, then wrap itself in a protective biofilm when threatened, says Dr. Stuart A. Thompson, microbiologist in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.
Southeast Agent Radio Network
GCC, UGA Caution Growers to Scout for Insects
By Clint Thompson
The Georgia Cotton Commission (GCC) and University of Georgia (UGA) Extension Cotton Team remind producers about the importance of scouting for insect pests. This is especially key early in the season and in an ideal environment for insect infestations, says University of Georgia Extension cotton entomologist Phillip Roberts.
13WMAZ
They found 60% of first generation farmers have thought about dying by suicide in the past year, and 9% were thinking about it daily.
Author: Raime Cohen
Agriculture is one of Georgia’s largest industries. 1 in 7 Georgians works in agriculture, and it contributes nearly $70 billion annually. We know it’s a physically-tough job, but a new survey finds it’s mentally taxing, too. Farmers across Georgia found an alarmingly-high amount of stress in the industry, especially with first generation farmers. …Mercer’s Georgia Rural Health Innovation Center conducted a survey with more than 1,600 responses. They found 60% of first generation farmers have thought about dying by suicide in the past year, and 9% were thinking about it daily. Stephanie Basey, a PhD candidate at Mercer University, says, “The biggest takeaway from this study is that first generation farmers are stressed.” …Basey says they partnered with the Georgia Foundation for Agriculture, a part of Georgia Farm Bureau, to develop farmer-informed, farmer-specific interventions. She says they’re still in the planning stage for those right now. Basey also says there are Georgia Farm Bureau offices in every county, and UGA’s extensions office also has resources.
ScienceDaily
New flood maps clarify the risk homeowners face
Maps more realistically depict flood zones with less effort, lower costs
Flooding in urban areas cost Americans more than $106 billion between 1960 and 2016, damaging property, disrupting businesses and claiming lives in the process. Determining which areas are most likely to flood amid ever-changing land use and shifting rainfall and climate patterns can be expensive and complicated — and past methods of drawing flood maps fail to capture the inherent uncertainty in flood predictions. Now, new research from the University of Georgia outlines a simplified, cost-effective method for developing flood maps that reflects the uncertainty in flood predictions. Published in the journal Water, the study was led by engineering professor Brian Bledsoe, director of UGA’s Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS), and Tim Stephens, a UGA and IRIS alumnus now with Dynamic Solutions LLC, an engineering, planning and research firm that specializes in water resources. The study offers what the researchers describe as “a practical, simplified approach for quantifying uncertainty in flood hazard estimates” by modeling flooding in two urban watersheds: Proctor Creek in Atlanta and Bronx Wash in Tucson, Arizona.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Opinion: No accountability for Georgia students, no autonomy for teachers
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
In a guest column, longtime Georgia educator Jim Arnold talks about his growing concerns over the lack of accountability for everyone in schools except teachers. The former superintendent of Pelham City Schools, Arnold has his own education blog. In his 48 years in public education, Arnold also served as a classroom teacher, assistant principal and principal, and he is now an adjunct professor at Columbus State University. He lives in Midland, Georgia.
Higher Education News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Opinion: Education and training after high school are keys to recovery
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
A decline in students seeking education and training beyond high school worries Stephen L. Pruitt, president of the Southern Regional Education Board. “We hold to the belief that postsecondary education — anything past 12th grade — is the engine to the recovery. Right now, we don’t see enough fuel in that engine,” said Pruitt. An interstate education compact of 16 Southern states, the nonprofit SREB helps direct educational policy and drive economic development. SREB recently released its latest Fact Book on Higher Education, which found overall education levels of the South’s population rose on the strength of four-year degrees. But there was an ominous decline in the number of two-year college students.
Atlanta Business Chronicle
Higher education isn’t immune to inflation. Here’s where it will hurt the most.
By Joshua Mann – Editor, The National Observer: Higher Education Edition
Colleges and universities in the U.S. have had to deal with the impact of shrinking student populations and the Covid-19 pandemic, and now rapid rates of inflation. Institutions in higher education tend to work with thin financial operating margins, said John Griffith, endowment specialist at Hirtle Callaghan & Co. Griffith is also the former CFO of Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania. That leaves very little flexibility when the financial situation takes a turn for the worse, Griffith said. While the wealthiest institutions do have some wiggle room in how much they pull from their larger endowments, there is very little flexibility in the financial situations of most schools when things take a turn for the worse. And inflation hurts universities on both sides of the balance sheet. …
College costs
The other side of the balance sheet, inflation increases a school’s costs. Wages make up around 75% of the budget for most institutions in the space, and Griffith said the reports he’s seeing indicate that schools need to increase their salary budgets by about 7-8%. But most schools can only afford to pay for a 4-5% increase, which is resulting in attrition rates three times higher than they normally are, he said. At the same time, universities are having to compete for talent with employers that are now offering attractive flexibility in the form of remote work. …At the same time, net tuition per student has gone down, falling 3.2% at public universities in fiscal year 2021, according to a report by the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association.
Inside Higher Ed
Moody’s Sees Positive News (and Some Risks) for Public Colleges
Scott Jaschik
Moody’s finds good news and some risks in a new report on public college and university finances. “Improved state support and one-time federal pandemic relief along with expense cuts underpinned stronger operating performance for public universities in fiscal 2021,” according to Moody’s. “However, a combination of pandemic related impacts, including enrollment declines, reduced auxiliary operations and increased financial aid led to a notable reduction in student-generated revenues.
Inside Higher Ed
It remains unclear just how many professors are leaving their jobs during the Great Resignation, but stories about who is leaving, and why, abound. Will institutions be forced to respond with real change?
Colleen Flaherty
…It’s still too soon to determine to what extent the COVID-19–era Great Resignation has impacted the higher education faculty: there’s no national survey to reflect current faculty departures or the reasons behind them. Bureau of Labor Statistics data do show a decline in postsecondary instructor employment between May 2020 and May 2021 (1,369,930 versus 1,340,560, respectively), but 2022 data aren’t yet available. The American Association of University Professors’ annual faculty salary survey report shows a slight 0.6 percent dip in overall faculty head counts between fall 2019 and fall 2021, with bigger declines at associate and master’s degree–granting institutions, but of course this doesn’t reflect faculty departures happening now. There is also another possible explanation for the 2021 numbers: pandemic-era layoffs, which are still happening on some campuses.
Inside Higher Ed
Insider Status as a Researcher: Academic Minute
Doug Lederman
Today on the Academic Minute: TaLisa J. Carter, assistant professor in the department of justice, law and criminology at American University, looks at how insider status can affect one’s research outcomes.