Griffin Daily News
GSC Club Golf Competes in National Championship in its First Year
Gordon State Club Golf team Vice President Trey Smith represented the college at the National Collegiate Club Golf Association Fall National Championship tournament in Las Vegas at the Paiute Golf Resort. Smith placed within the top 200 in the United States among more than 10,000 golfers ranking from JUCO to D1 Club teams. The National Championship tournament was a two-day and 36-hole stroke play event last weekend. Smith competed at Paiute Dunes on both days. On Saturday, Smith played the Wolf course and shot a 91 with 20 mph constant winds and narrow fairways. On Sunday, he played on the Snow Mountain course and dropped 10 strokes to shoot 81. Smith’s current handicap is 0.6.
Marietta Daily Journal
Albany Under 40 category winners announced
The Albany Area Chamber of Commerce recognized the finalists and announced the category winners of the 2022 Albany Under 40 Awards this week, a program that celebrates the Albany Area’s emerging leaders and professionals in a variety of business sectors, each representing a component of the area’s diversified talent pool and economy. “The Albany area is home to young leaders who are making their mark through excellence in their professions, through their innovation and through their commitment to building a stronger region,” Barbara Rivera Holmes, president and CEO of the Albany Area Chamber, the region’s leading business advocacy organization, said. …Albany Under 40 2022 is presented by Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center and Express Disposal: Part of the CE Family, and further supported by Albany Area Primary Health Care, Albany State University and Eagle Cleaners.
WSB Radio
Georgia Gwinnett College researchers studying food insecurity in metro Atlanta
By Sabrina Cupit
Georgia Gwinnett College researchers are looking into food insecurity in metro Atlanta. Dr. Jenna Andrews-Swann says food insecurity among families has accelerated in recent years. Student researchers interning with local nonprofits, like the Lawrenceville Coop Ministry, have been conducting ethnographic research. They have reportedly been observing behaviors of people who use the services and those who volunteer.
WGAU Radio
Fall semester graduation today at UGA
By Tim Bryant
Today is graduation day at UGA: fall semester commencement exercises are underway at 9:30 this morning in the University of Georgia’s Stegeman Coliseum, with Georgia Power Company CEO Chris Womack addressing the graduating Class of 2022. The University says nearly 17 hundred undergrads are eligible to take part.
From the University of Georgia…
The University of Georgia will welcome its newest alumni on Dec. 16 as 1,681 undergraduates and 1,521 graduate students—a total of 3,202—have met requirements to participate in the university’s fall Commencement ceremonies.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
21 Georgia Tech athletes graduating this weekend
By Ken Sugiura
Georgia Tech will convene commencement exercises this weekend for the winter term, and among graduates are 21 current and former Yellow Jackets athletes. They include 12 members of the football team, with wide receiver Malachi Carter, tight end Dylan Leonard, running back Dontae Smith and cornerback Zamari Walton among the more recognized. Tech athletes’ performance in the classroom has been on an upward trend, this year setting a new school record for their NCAA-measured Graduation Success Rate with a 91% score. Graduation exercises take place Friday and Saturday at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Athens CEO
$3M pledged for UGA Poultry Science Building
Jordan Powers
The Luther and Susie Harrison Foundation has pledged $3 million in support of the Poultry Science Building project at the University of Georgia. The pledge — the largest single gift to the building to date — will fund the lobby of the Poultry Science Building. “We deeply appreciate the Luther and Susie Harrison Foundation’s remarkable generosity and the wonderful example they have set for other UGA partners in the agriculture industry,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “Their investment in the new Poultry Science Building will help ensure the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences remains a global leader in poultry science.” The Luther and Susie Harrison Foundation was established by R. Harold Harrison in 1994 to honor his parents, Luther and Susie Harrison. Luther Harrison, a farmer, and Susie Tanner Harrison, an educator, instilled in their son the importance of education, perseverance and community giving.
Bariatric News
Subcutaneous fat protects females’ brains
Females’ propensity to deposit more subcutaneous fat in places like their hips, buttocks and the backs of their arms, is protective against brain inflammation, which can result in problems like dementia and stroke, at least until menopause, according to researchers from the Department of Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.
Athens CEO
New Weather Radar a game-changer, Should Improve Forecasting in Georgia
Alan Flurry
A weather radar system purchased by the University of Georgia and the Georgia Institute of Technology could lead to improved weather forecasting in North Georgia – and provide both expanded educational opportunities for students and enhanced research capabilities for the two institutions. “The acquisition of this radar is a game-changer for our state,” said Marshall Shepherd, director of UGA’s Atmospheric Sciences Program. “Not only does it provide a potentially lifesaving service for Georgians, it is a unique teaching and research tool for students at both institutions.” The radar will enable new research opportunities related to severe weather observations, winter weather forecasting, urban flood assessment, birds and even insects, Shepherd said.
The Daily News
University of Georgia researchers study plastic pollution in Galveston
By José Mendiola
Trash can be found anywhere on the planet. But students from the University of Georgia are trying to find the source of that trash, where it came from and how it got there by conducting a two-week long study in Galveston. Those students on Thursday arrived in Galveston to conduct a circulatory assessment protocol in support of a nonprofit organization that’s trying to eliminate the use of single-use plastic on the island. The assessment is meant to get a snapshot of how trash circulates in the city. Information gleaned from the assessment is meant to provide data for local, regional or national decision-making that could reduce the amount of waste entering the environment, the University of Georgia’s Circularity Informatics Lab said.
Bollyinside
Illicit money trade in Europe may be being fueled by aggressive law enforcement
By Patrick Huston
According to study that was published in the journal Applied Economics, criminals use legal EU trade routes to launder money worth up to 1.8 trillion dollars annually. …The 10-year study is the first to offer a thorough assessment of the scope of this unlawful activity, with up to 11% of all EU trade being used to transfer illegal funds for anything from drug trades to terrorism within a year. According to the study, the strict law enforcement tactics utilised by EU nations to combat financial crime may potentially be encouraging this type of money laundering. The figures provide a preliminary benchmark for the magnitude of TBML for the European Union, according to Dr. Saenz, who is based at Georgia Southern University’s Department of Economics and Parker College of Business. The study’s authors, Dr. Mariana Saenz, an associate professor of economics at Georgia Southern University, and Dr. Joshua Lewer, a professor at Bradley University, both in the United States, argue that a better approach to combating TBML would be for policymakers to increase tax evasion detection and money-laundering conviction rates. This is because TBML is more difficult to detect.
WKRC
Report shows thousands of deaths are linked to long COVID
by Liz Bonis
A report released by the CDC says the aftermath of COVID-19 is now linked to thousands of deaths in the US. This new report says not only is long COVID often debilitating for those who struggle with it, but it can also be deadly. That deadly risk can come from everything, from complications of treatment such as breathing problems. … The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics has just made its first attempt to find out just how many people have deaths linked to long COVID. The numbers are likely under-reported. … “I think a lot of people don’t know that it can infect different parts of your brain, different organs like your heart, lungs, these are all really vital to your day-to-day functioning,” said Dr. Elizabeth Rutkowski, associate professor of neurology at Augusta University. That day-to-day functioning likely contributed to long COVID deaths in a number of ways from loss of income to loss of socialization, which is only likely to grow as it leads to mental and physical decline. “We are seeing patients a year plus down the line that are still heavily disabled by COVID,” said Dr. Rutkowski.
Higher Education News:
Higher Ed Dive
Colleges’ expenses rose 5.2% in FY22, the biggest increase since 2001
Laura Spitalniak, Associate Editor
Dive Brief:
The cost of running a college jumped 5.2% in the 2022 fiscal year, according to data from Commonfund, an asset management firm that tracks inflation in the higher education sector. That’s the highest rate of inflation the Higher Education Price Index, or HEPI, has tracked since 2001, when it hit 6%. It’s also a sharp increase from 2021, when the college inflation rate was 2.7%. But the HEPI increase was outpaced by inflation more broadly in the U.S., a rare occurrence according to Commonfund. The Consumer Price Index, or CPI, reached 7.2% in fiscal 2022.
Higher Ed Dive
New NACAC committee will add students to discussion of admissions practices
Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Senior Reporter
Dive Brief:
The National Association for College Admission Counseling, or NACAC, will create a new advisory group focused on folding student perspectives into the creation of admissions policies, it announced Thursday. This group — the Ad Hoc Committee on Centering Students in the Development of Equitable Admission Practices — will draft a framework colleges can use to bring students into this type of decision making. It was created with a $50,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation, a prominent philanthropic organization.
Inside Higher Ed
Deciding When and How to Count Students
Oregon community college leaders are discussing how useful state preliminary enrollment data are to their institutions. Tracking enrollment trends at community colleges has proven to be challenging across the country.
By Sara Weissman
Blue Mountain Community College president J. Mark Browning raised eyebrows recently when he expressed concern to a local news outlet about preliminary enrollment numbers released by the state. He said the data in a November report issued by the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) differed from his institution’s current data and painted an overly rosy picture of some state higher ed institutions’ recovery from the pandemic. His comments have prompted a larger discussion about the unique challenges of when and how to collect community college data and track enrollment trends at a state level. Browning told the East Oregonian that his college’s enrollment is trending downward this fall, but the preliminary head count in the report indicated that it was increasing. Data from the HECC list BMCC student head count as 1,685 in fall 2022, up from about 1,531 the year before, a nearly 10.1 percent increase.
Inside Higher Ed
Harvard Hires Its First Black President
The university’s next president is Claudine Gay, the daughter of Haitian immigrants and first Black woman to lead the university. Gay is set to begin her presidency next summer.
By Josh Moody
Harvard University announced its 30th president Thursday, drawing from within to hire Claudine Gay, the first Black president in the institution’s nearly 400-year history. The daughter of Haitian immigrants, Gay will officially assume the position next summer. Gay, currently the Edgerley Family Dean of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, was hired after a search that began in July to replace Lawrence S. Bacow, who announced in June that he would step down next year. Though Gay has not previously held a presidency, she has a long history with Harvard. She earned her Ph.D. in government at the university in 1998 and in 2008 joined the faculty in the Department of African and African-American Studies, where she first taught before later climbing the administrative ranks. Prior to Harvard, she taught at Stanford University, where she earned her undergraduate degree in economics.
Inside Higher Ed
Institutions issue recommendations on when and how departments should make political statements, if at all. This guidance generally urges caution, citing academic freedom risks.
By Colleen Flaherty
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Academic Senate approved guidelines for departmental statements on political subjects earlier this month. The guidance doesn’t—and, as mere advice, can’t—ban statements about social or political issues. But it doesn’t endorse such statements, either. “Departments as such should avoid statements on what we call here ‘external’ matters (state, national, or international policy matters),” the guidelines say. Any such declarations, where deemed necessary, should instead be signed by specific professors. Those in the department with dissenting views should be able to express them in the same forum, the guidance also says. The guidelines are friendlier to departmental utterances about internal matters, namely the unit’s core academic research, teaching and university policy.
Inside Higher Ed
Utah Governor Eases Degree Requirements for State Jobs
By Josh Moody
Utah governor Spencer Cox announced that the state is moving to eliminate requirements for bachelor’s degrees for state jobs. Instead, state hiring managers will emphasize experiences and competencies over degrees, according to a statement from the governor’s office released earlier this week. Utah’s executive branch “has 1,080 different classified jobs,” according to the statement. Of those jobs, an estimated 98 percent, or 1,058, do not require a degree, the Republican governor announced. “Degrees have become a blanketed barrier-to-entry in too many jobs,” Cox said. “Instead of focusing on demonstrated competence, the focus too often has been on a piece of paper. We are changing that.”
Inside Higher Ed
U of Minn. Students Call for Resignation of Regent
By Safia Abdulahi
Student leaders at the University of Minnesota called for Regent Steve Sviggum to resign Wednesday after he questioned whether the institution’s Morris campus had become “too diverse,” even after he apologized, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The students voiced concerns in an open letter to Sviggum about whether his presence on the Board of Regents would create a hostile attitude toward diversity and scare prospective students from attending one of the five campuses at the university. During a public meeting in October, Sviggum asked if it was possible the Morris campus had become “too diverse” and said he was speaking from a “marketing standpoint.” He issued a public apology after receiving backlash from students, faculty and some fellow regents.
Inside Higher Ed
E-Scooters Spark New Safety Concerns Across Campuses
College administrators are increasingly banning e-scooters and other electric and motorized equipment on campuses due to safety concerns.
By Safia Abdulahi
Scooters, hoverboards and other battery-powered devices have become favored modes of transportation for getting students quickly across sometimes sprawling campuses, but critics say the micromobility devices have become so ubiquitous—and are often driven so recklessly—that they pose a safety hazard to pedestrians as well as the students and others using them. After a spate of bans on the equipment when they first started proliferating on campuses several years ago, college officials have recently begun banning them again after the electric or motorized devices resulted in student injuries and deaths.
Inside Higher Ed
Bomb Threat Targets Tufts for ‘Anti-White Racism’
By Liam Knox
An email containing multiple bomb threats prompted evacuations at Tufts University in Medford, Mass., Wednesday afternoon, according to Boston.com. “We placed several bombs in Tufts university, we don’t want anyone to die, we are just here to send a message,” the anonymous senders wrote in an email, naming four locations on campus where they said they’d placed bombs. A few hours later, campus police tweeted that they had searched the buildings and areas mentioned and did not find any evidence the threat was real. They urged students to “resume normal activity” and said the incident would remain under investigation. The threat was emailed directly to the university’s office of diversity, as well as to Boston.com.
Inside Higher Ed
Temple President to Live Alongside Students
By Josh Moody
Temple University has been working for more than a year to address safety concerns after a student was shot and killed last fall in a neighborhood adjacent to the Philadelphia campus; now its president will take up residence in the area. Amid the ongoing safety concerns of students and parents, President Jason Wingard and his family are moving from Chestnut Hill to a university-owned house a block away from campus. Wingard will live alongside a large contingent of students who rent in the neighborhood. The reason for the move, the university announced Tuesday, is to enhance community engagement.
Inside Higher Ed
Mother and Son Die in Possible Murder-Suicide at UC Irvine
By Johanna Alonso
A 36-year-old man threw his 77-year-old mother off the roof of a building at the University of California, Irvine, on Tuesday afternoon, before jumping from the structure himself, according to the Irvine Police Department. The bodies were found in the university’s Social Science Plaza. The police are investigating the incident as a murder-suicide. The Los Angeles Times reported that the man was a former UCI student who attended the institution from 2017 to 2019 but never graduated. The motive for the murder is not known, although the former student, Andrew Nguyen Doan, had a criminal record and had previously been contacted by the police over mental health concerns.
Inside Higher Ed
UC Regents Let UCLA Join Big Ten but Attach Conditions
By Scott Jaschik
The University of California Board of Regents voted 11 to 5 to allow UCLA to join the Big Ten, but the board attached conditions that will cost UCLA millions of dollars a year, The New York Times reported. The vote followed a closed meeting to discuss the proposal. The vote followed nearly six months of debate about the UCLA Big Ten deal. To accept the deal, UCLA will leave the Pac-12, the conference of UC’s Berkeley campus. UCLA is expected to gain at least $60 million a year when it joins the Big Ten. Berkeley is expected to lose money, as the Pac-12 television deal, currently being negotiated, is expected to be worth less than it has been in the past, with the loss of UCLA and the University of Southern California, which is also joining the Big Ten.