Forsyth County News
How UNG alumni are becoming cultural ambassadors through the Fulbright program
Sabrina Kerns
Anna Caitlyn Anderson couldn’t quite believe it when she first got the letter from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program saying she had been accepted for a scholarship to teach English in Madrid, Spain. …The University of North Georgia graduate had briefly visited the country years before when she didn’t know the language well, but after studying political science and Spanish in Dahlonega through last spring, she was more than ready to head back to learn more about the culture. …Anderson is one of many UNG graduates accepted into the Fulbright program as the school has been named a national top producer of Fulbright students by the U.S. Department of State for the past six years. UNG, the University of Georgia and Emory University are the only universities in Georgia on this year’s list of four-year institutions sending the most students abroad through the program.
Times Higher Education
What’s next for university admissions?
With the impact of AI on applications as yet unknown and affirmative action in the US at risk, Rick Clark speculates on the future of college admissions. His hope? That the student voice finds new ways to be heard
Rick Clark
Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities
In January, I had the opportunity to answer this prompt in a Higher Ed Dive article, along with a few friends and colleagues around the US: “In 150 to 200 words, what is one admissions trend you expect to see in 2023?” This was my take: In the year ahead, due to the emergence and prevalence of artificial intelligence [AI] software such as ChatGPT, I expect more colleges to either drop their admission essay altogether or expand the format through which students can convey their voice and demonstrate their ability to articulate their opinions and interest.
yahoo!
Costco worker saves GA college student choking on hot dog at store’s food court
WSBTV.com News Staff
For Audrey Jacobs, it was her first time inside a Costco Wholesale. Last Thursday, the 19-year-old Georgia Southern University went with a friend to the store in Pooler, Georgia, and her visit turned out to be anything but ordinary. “I had never been before, and it was on my bucket list. I don’t know why; it was just something I always just kind of wanted to do because I thought it was cool,” Jacobs told WSAV-TV. “I was so impressed, you know, I hadn’t seen a store that big.” Among the things Costco is known for, is their inexpensive hot dog combo at their little food court inside their stores.
Patch
Guest Speaker: Dr. Volodymyr Dubovyk
Jessica Manahan, Neighbor
The Political Science Department at Georgia Gwinnett College is hosting an upcoming discussion with Dr. Volodymyr Dubovyk, an Associate Professor for the Department of International Relations at Mechnikov National University in Odesa, Ukraine. He will be discussing “The Hardest Year Ever: Where Russia’s War on Ukraine is Going”.
Pharmacy Times
Lower Income Communities Have Worse Cardiovascular Health Disparities
Erin Hunter, Assistant Editor
Increasing interventions for affordable housing and food security could contribute to reduced rates of heart disease in lower income communities. Rural counties with a higher percentage of Black residents have higher rates of heart disease, despite a general decline in heart disease between 2009 and 2018, according to a paper by researchers at the University of Georgia published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Housing instability was an important factor that contributed to death from cardiovascular disease (CVD), as was food insecurity.
MedicalXpress
Researchers advance knowledge on debilitating genetic disease
by Jake Strickland, University of Georgia
A team of researchers at the University of Georgia has identified the source of several symptoms in patients suffering from familial dysautonomia (FD), a rare and debilitating genetic disease that primarily affects children. This new knowledge could lead to improved treatments to mitigate symptoms and improve the overall quality of life for patients.
Fox Weather
Will the lack of cold weather impact the peach harvest?
California annually produces the majority of the peaches in the U.S. In 2017, the Golden State produced 56 percent of the county’s fresh peach crop and more than 96 percent of processed peaches. South Carolina, Georgia and New Jersey are also significant producers.
By Andrew Wulfeck
A fruit that many consider a southern delicacy has faced the challenges of a warm winter across Georgia, but agriculture experts believe due to production in other regions and increasing adaptations by farmers that the upcoming harvest should not feel drastic impacts from the climate. Similar to apples, pears and other flowering trees, peaches require a sizable amount of cold weather in order to produce flowers and yield fruit. Agricultural experts refer to time spent under a temperature threshold as chill hours, and many varieties of peaches require hundreds of hours below 45 °F to flourish. Aside from an arctic front in December that brought a record chill, Georgia and much of the South have seen a warmer-than-average season with fewer than-normal chill hours. According to the University of Georgia’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, many communities around the Peach State are 100 to 200 hours below last season’s levels, with no sight of winter’s return.
EurekAlert!
Racial stereotypes vary in digital interactions
Study shows racial stereotypes of Black AI can lead to more positive outcomes in negotiations
Racial stereotypes were upended during a recent study that involved artificial intelligence. New research from the University of Georgia found that Black bots were considered more competent and more human than White or Asian bots used in the same study. This contrasts with past research on human-to-human interactions.
The Georgia Sun
UGA researchers find a surprising tool to combat foodborne illness: The power of the sun
Jennifer L. Reynolds | CAES News
The World Health Organization estimates that there are 600 million cases of foodborne illness every year. One way harmful pathogens can enter the food supply is through irrigation water, but researchers are using precision agriculture to create a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to combat the bacteria that makes us sick. And the tool they are using is available to everyone — the sun. In recent years, researchers have begun to examine the effects of light on microorganisms. Antimicrobial blue light is used in hospital settings to reduce pathogens, and current research is underway at the University of Georgia to determine the viability of its use in food production.
WSAV
‘Weeping Time’ commemoration set for March 2-6
by: Kim Gusby
The Weeping Time Commemoration Committee is hosting its 2023 commemoration honoring the 429 people who were sold during what has been documented as the largest sale of enslaved Africans in U.S. history. Learn about the history of the event that occurred on March 2 and 3, 1859 in Savannah. The five-day event begins at the Beach Institute on Thursday, Mar. 2 at 5:30 PM. The commemoration ceremony will be held on March 4 at 10 a.m. on the Otis J. Brock III Elementary School campus. The event concludes on Sunday, March 6, at 1 p.m. in Savannah State University’s Asa Gordon Library.
Higher Education News:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Opinion: Skeptics aside, college degrees pay off for workers, nation
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
J.H. Cullum Clark is the director of the Bush Institute-Southern Methodist University Economic Growth Initiative. In this guest column, Clark dispels myths about whether a college degree pays off. It does, he says. Distributed by InsideSources.com, a longer version of this essay originally appeared in “The Catalyst: A Journal of Ideas from the Bush Institute.”
By J.H. Cullum Clark
Like the film “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” today’s narratives on higher education contain both happy and unhappy elements, five of which can be summarized as “four myths and a truth.” Myth number one is that most college students major in esoteric fields that do little to enhance their career prospects. The truth: More than 60% of 2021 four-year college graduates majored in STEM, business or other technical fields associated with in-demand, high-paying jobs, based on Bush Institute analysis of U.S. Department of Education statistics.
Inside Higher Ed
A Supreme Showdown Over Debt Relief
The legal battle over President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program has reached the Supreme Court, which will decide whether the administration has the authority to forgive the loans and whether the plaintiffs have standing to sue.
By Katherine Knott
Six months after President Biden announced his plan to forgive up to $20,000 in federal student loans for eligible Americans, the administration will defend that plan before the Supreme Court Tuesday. The legal fight could doom the debt-relief plan and also curtail the authority of the executive branch, depending on the final opinion. At issue will be whether the administration has the authority to forgive the loans and whether the plaintiffs who challenged the plan have standing to sue.
Inside Higher Ed
The Worsening Teen Mental Health Crisis: Academic Minute
By Doug Lederman
Today on the Academic Minute: Toria Herd, postdoctoral research fellow at Pennsylvania State University, discusses the mental health issues facing one key group.
Inside Higher Ed
House Republicans Want Information on Foreign Gifts
By Katherine Knott
House Republicans want more information from the Education Department about its enforcement of the federal law that requires the reporting of foreign gifts to universities. North Carolina representative Virginia Foxx, the Republican who chairs the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, wrote in a letter signed by several other lawmakers that she was concerned about the department’s decision to shift enforcement of the law, known as Section 117, from the Office of General Counsel to Federal Student Aid. “FSA was never designed to handle such serious matters and it does not have the capability or expertise needed to do so,” the letter says.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Students: African American Studies class opens eyes to rich history
Get Schooled with Maureen Downey
When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis looked at the Advanced Placement’s new African American Studies class, he complained that it seeks to radicalize students. Maynard Jackson High School teacher Rashad Brown, who is teaching one of the 60 pilots of the class underway nationwide this year, hopes the governor is right. Brown wants the 50 Atlanta students in his two sections of the class to embrace the radical concept that Black history did not begin with the arrival of slave ships to Gadsden’s Wharf in Charleston, that preceding the familiar story of Black oppression and struggle in America is the seldom-told story of centuries of African culture, wealth and achievements including ancient centers of learning. And Brown wants to disrupt the portrayal of enslaved Africans as complacent and content and reveal resilient people who, despite chains, never stopped fighting for their freedom. …The college-level course addresses the slave trade, the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, segregation and the civil rights movement, but it also leads the students deep into the African diaspora, including the medieval empire of Mali and its wealthy king Mansa Musa.
Inside Higher Ed
ACE, PEN Produce Guide for Defending Academic Freedom
By Scott Jaschik
The American Council on Education and PEN America have produced a guide on defending academic freedom in tense political times. “This new resource guide helps higher education leaders make the case against elected officials not imposing restrictions on what is taught and how, and emphasizes the importance of ensuring that all members of the campus community feel comfortable airing varying perspectives across campus and in the classroom,” said an announcement of the guide.
Cybersecurity Dive:
Stressed much? It’s chronic in cybersecurity
Naomi Eide, Lead Editor
Dive Brief:
Half of security leaders will change jobs by 2025, Gartner predicts, spurred by a sectorwide cycle of burnout. Of those, one-quarter are expected to move into entirely different roles. “Some will move workplaces, while others will take on different roles — for example, taking up creative roles or becoming an evangelist,” Deepti Gopal, director analyst at Gartner, said in an email. Gartner blames “unsustainable levels of stress” in cybersecurity for the expected job changes. The psychological toll of the field can also affect the quality of decisions and impede on performance, too, Gopal said in the research statement.
Inside Higher Ed
DeSantis Higher Ed Bill Heads for the Legislature
Florida governor Ron DeSantis promised major reforms for higher education last month. Now a bill looks to turn those aims into law.
By Josh Moody
Florida governor Ron DeSantis promised sweeping reforms earlier this year to, he claims, rescue higher education in his state from “woke activism.” Last week, the Legislature took the first step toward realizing DeSantis’s vision with the introduction of HB 999, which aims to dramatically reshape higher education in the Sunshine State. The bill, prefiled in the Florida House before the legislative session begins in March, looks to defund diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at state institutions; concentrate hiring power in the hands of trustees; allow for posttenure faculty review at any time; eliminate majors in certain subjects focused on race and gender; and create new general education requirements.
Inside Higher Ed
University of California System Bans Fully Online Degrees
The 10-campus system closes a loophole that could have let undergraduates piece together a degree. Experts and some inside the system say that in justifying its decision, UC perpetuated outdated claims about online learning.
By Susan D’Agostino
The University of California system has never had any fully online undergraduate degree programs at any of its 10 campuses. But a loophole existed in which a student or department could have crafted—either inadvertently or intentionally—a stealth, fully online undergraduate degree through individually approved online courses. That loophole was closed this month when the University of California Academic Senate approved Senate Regulations 610 and 630, which instituted an undergraduate residency requirement. Students must now earn a minimum of six course credits per quarter (or semester) for three quarters (or two semesters) in courses where at least half of the instruction is in person on a UC campus, according to the Senate document.
Inside Higher Ed
Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Against Jacksonville
By Jaime Adame
This article contains explicit and potentially offensive terms that are essential to reporting on this situation. Jacksonville University ignored pleas for help from a student with a learning disability who died by suicide two months after being dismissed from the Florida institution’s cross-country team, according to a wrongful death lawsuit. Julia Pernsteiner, 23, died in her dorm room Nov. 8, 2021, according to the lawsuit filed this month by her parents against the university and its former cross-country coach, Ronald E. Grigg Jr., who the lawsuit alleges referred to Pernsteiner as “retarded” and also “attacked her about her weight.”
Inside Higher Ed
U of Idaho Will Demolish House Where Students Were Murdered
By Scott Jaschik
The University of Idaho was given ownership of the house where four students were murdered in November. Scott Green, president of the university, announced in a memo to the campus Friday that the house will be demolished.