Ledger-Enquirer
University System of Georgia makes historic hire in vote for new Columbus State president
By Mark Rice
After being announced as the sole finalist last week, Stuart Rayfield has been hired as the new president of Columbus State University, where she was a faculty member and administrator from 2006-16. The University System of Georgia Board of Regents voted Thursday to appoint Rayfield, who is interim executive vice chancellor for academic affairs. Starting July 1, she will succeed Chris Markwood, who retired June 30 after seven years as CSU’s fifth president. USG vice chancellor for organizational effectiveness John Fuchko started working full-time on CSU’s campus June 1 and officially became interim president July 1. Rayfield will be the first female president of the institution that was founded in 1958 as Columbus College and gained university status in 1996.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lawmakers OK $105M for Medical College of Georgia records upgrade
By Vanessa McCray
The Georgia Legislature approved spending $105 million in state money on a new electronic medical records system for the Medical College of Georgia, part of Augusta University. Lawmakers finalized the midyear spending plan earlier this week, agreeing to fully fund the amount Gov. Brian Kemp requested for the project. The total $32.5 billion midyear budget now goes to Kemp for his signature. The state Senate in February initially sliced funding for the records system to about $50 million, but the amount was restored to $105 million in the final budget deal between the two chambers.
InsiderAdvantage
Chris Clark on the Georgia Chamber’s Upcoming Future of Talent Event
by IAG Staff
Chris Clark of the Georgia Chamber talks about the organization’s upcoming ‘Future of Talent Event’ to be held on March 13th at the GTRI Conference Center on the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta. Chancellor Sonny Perdue will be participating in this event.
41NBC
Middle Georgia State University teaches students about overdose prevention
Edward Smart
Middle Georgia State University wants to give students tools to save someone from an overdose. The school’s health clinic held a workshop Wednesday to educate students on overdose symptoms. The clinic showed students how to use Narcan and fentanyl strips. They also learned why it’s important to learn about overdose recovery.
Valdosta Daily Times
VSU, VCS expand educational equity
Valdosta State University has earned a $300,000 grant from Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity to transform the standards of teacher preparation with a focus on developing highly effective, compassionate and adaptive teachers. With the support of Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity, VSU will expand its ongoing partnership with Valdosta City Schools to help address the critical issue of educational equity for all students — from the early pre-kindergarten years through high school graduation.
WGAU Radio
Town and gown partnerships benefit from UGA’s Sahm donations
By Tim Bryant
The Athens Area Parkinson’s Support Group, the Athens Area Habitat for Humanity, Alps Road Elementary School, Downtown Ministries, and Farm to Neighborhood are this year’s recipients of grant funding from the University of Georgia Foundation. The Foundation is distributing … nearly $40,000 in awards from an endowment established by Athens native and UGA alumna Bobbi Meeler Sahm. The fund, held by the UGA Foundation, ultimately benefits Athens-Clarke County residents as well as university faculty and students who are focused on service and outreach into the community. … Inspired by the gift and the impact it will have on the local community, UGA President, Jere W. Morehead directed a $100,000 contribution to this fund using discretionary funds provided to him by the UGA Athletic Association.
ABC News
Norfolk Southern unveils safety plan after Ohio train derailment
The company’s CEO is set to testify on Capitol Hill later this week.
By Sasha Pezenik and Morgan Winsor
The rail operator at the center of a hazardous train derailment in Ohio announced Monday its plans to “immediately enhance the safety of its operations.” Norfolk Southern Railway said in a press release that the changes “are based on” the preliminary findings of the National Transportation Safety Board’s ongoing investigation into the Feb. 3 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. …Norfolk Southern said it is also partnering with the Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta to develop more advanced safety inspection technology by using “machine vision and algorithms powered by artificial intelligence to identify defects and needed repairs much more effectively than traditional human inspection.”
Albany Herald
Making food safer — one study at a time
By Jennifer Reynolds UGA/CAES
From studying the way light affects foodborne pathogens to designing innovative technology for data processing, the team at the University of Georgia Center for Food Safety is pushing the boundaries of technology to help protect a safe and secure global food chain. The center, a unit of UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is critical to both domestic and international advances in food safety — an estimated 48 million people in the U.S. alone get sick from contaminated food or beverages each year, and 3,000 die from foodborne illness. CFS is the base of operations for a team of food scientists with a wide variety of backgrounds and areas of expertise working together on the front lines of food safety research.
GPB
Political Rewind: A look at the wage gap and reproductive issues on International Women’s Day
By: Bill Nigut, Natalie Mendenhall, and Chase McGee
The panel
Audrey Haynes, professor of political science University of Georgia
Karen Owen, @ProfKarenOwen, professor of political science and dean of university college, University of West Georgia
Margaret Coker, @mideastmargaret, editor-in-chief, The Current
Tammy Greer, professor of political science Clark Atlanta University
The breakdown
1. On International Women’s Day, we take a look at issues affecting women throughout Georgia and the nation.
West Daily Report
Stronger Bones, Better Health: Habits for Every Stage of Life
By Olivia Jones
…Regardless of one’s starting point or current situation, several habits can be incorporated into one’s daily routine to improve bone health in the long term. Medical professionals recommend four habits to promote bone health at any age. One effective way to ensure optimal bone health is by making deposits in your bone bank. Our bodies cannot produce calcium, and therefore, it is essential to obtain this mineral through food and supplements. According to Dr. Liz Joy, the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for calcium varies by age but is approximately 1300 mg daily, which equates to about four servings of dairy products. “You can get your daily calcium intake from a glass of milk at each meal and a serving of yogurt or a two-ounce slice of cheese,” she advises. However, Emma Laing, PhD, RDN, director of dietetics at the University of Georgia and a national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, recommends alternative sources of calcium such as calcium-fortified soy milk, soybeans, dark green leafy vegetables, and fish like salmon, mackerel, tuna, and sardines.
CBS News
How does the world’s first vaccine for honeybees work? “It’s like magic”
By Ben Tracy
Bee colonies are collapsing all over the world, threatening large parts of our food supply. But there’s good news in the fight to slow their decline: the U.S. government has approved the use of the world’s first vaccine for honeybees. “It’s like magic,” said Annette Kleiser, CEO of Dalan Animal Health, which partnered with the University of Georgia to develop the vaccine. “You vaccinate the queen and she passes it on to the millions of offspring that make the colony.” Bees pollinate one-third of food grown in the United States – essential to producing an estimated $15 billion worth of crops annually. But bee colonies are collapsing due to disease, parasites, pesticides and even climate change-fueled droughts, which dry up the water and flowers they need to survive.
Wired
It’s Time for a Flu Vaccine—for Birds
Avian influenza has killed millions of birds. Shots to prevent it already exist. Why isn’t the entire poultry industry using them?
THE WAVE OF avian influenza H5N1—which so far has hit 76 countries, triggered national emergencies, and created the worst animal-disease outbreak in US history—keeps roaring through wild birds and commercial poultry. More than 140 million poultry worldwide have died from the virus or were slaughtered to keep it from spreading, according to the World Organization for Animal Health. And though they are harder to count, the die-offs among wild birds have been catastrophic. …Officially, therefore, the industry opposes what would be a drastic step. But privately—none would speak on the record—scientists at poultry companies say they see no other exit strategy. And researchers who work alongside the US industry say there may be little choice but to begin vaccination—but also that the US cannot embark on vaccination alone. “Vaccination is being discussed on a global scale, because it would be a global decision,” says Karen Burns Grogan, a veterinarian and clinical associate professor at the University of Georgia’s Poultry Diagnostic and Research Center. (Georgia produces more broilers, or meat chickens, than any other state, about 1.3 billion per year.)
Family Handyman
5 Best Mulches for Vegetable Gardens
Wendy Komancheck ~ The Landscape Writer
Choosing the Best Mulch for Vegetable Gardens
Mulch is vital to a garden because it provides six benefits for growing vegetables throughout the season. You want a mulch that adds a nutritional power punch, protects young plants from frost heave, controls weeds, keeps moisture in the soil, regulates soil temperature and decomposes by the end of the season. …If you live in a farming community, you may find corncob mulch at your local garden center. According to the University of Illinois (UI) Extension, corncob mulch is lightweight and easy to handle. University of Georgia (UGA) Extension says ground corncobs are another excellent mulch for the vegetable garden. …While you can add compost in spring, UGA Extension recommends putting unfinished compost as mulch around garden plants in fall. You can buy compost if you don’t have a compost bin.
Statesboro Herald
Averitt Lecture to feature music, history of Ireland
Free event set for 2 p.m., Sunday at Averitt Center
From staff reports
Two of the most respected practitioners of traditional Irish music will help the Bulloch County Historical Society celebrate 30 years of the Averitt Lecture Series. Colin Farrell and Dave Curley will share their knowledge of the history and repertoire of Irish jigs, reels, hornpipes, waltzes and multiple other genres during the annual Averitt Lecture event on Sunday at 2 p.m. inside the Emma Kelly Theater of the Averitt Center for the Arts in Statesboro. “The Lively Legacies of Traditional Irish Music” lecture and reception are free to the public. …Georgia Southern University’s Center for Irish Research and Teaching is another sponsor of the 2023 event, she said.
Albany Herald
Baldwin Players’ ‘Waiting for Godot’ opens March 30
From staff reports
The Baldwin Players at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College have announced their spring production of “Waiting for Godot” will open March 30 and run through April 1. The Baldwin Players at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College have announced their spring production of “Waiting for Godot” will open March 30 and run through April 1. The production will be under the direction of Brian Ray. The cast consists of Ryan Norton, an ABAC alum from Tifton, as Vladimir; Alena Norton, an ABAC alum from Richmond Hill, as Estragon; Tiftonite Peter Pinnow as Pozzo; Gabriel Zachery, an agriculture education major from Lawrenceville, as Lucky; and Kaitlyn Shields, an engineering major from Monroe County, as the Messenger. In addition, Craig Mark Wells will be the assistant director.
InsiderAdvantage
The Medical College of Georgia’s Radical Turn
by Benita Cotton-Orr
There’s a sickness at Georgia’s biggest medical school. Out of sight of the public eye, the taxpayer-funded Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University is promoting divisive and even discriminatory ideas. Turns out, the same “Critical Race Theory” philosophy that has corrupted K-12 education and led to movements like “Defund the Police” has made its way into medical education, too. As a black woman myself, I am raising the alarm. Every Georgian should be worried because what happens in medical schools ultimately affects all of our health. Do No Harm, the national medical advocacy organization where I am a senior fellow, has been investigating MCG for some time. What we’ve found is disturbing. The medical school, part of the University System of Georgia, is one of the 10 largest in the country by class size and the only publicly funded one in Georgia. And it is engaged in political indoctrination that has nothing do with medicine. Look no further than the radical training it conducted recently.
Higher Education News:
Inside Higher Ed
Transfers From Community College Continue to Fall
Despite the decline in transfers, a new report also says six-year college completion rates among transfer students improved.
By Sara Weissman
Five students wearing masks sit on the steps of a college campus. A new report found transfers from community colleges to four-year universities are still down. (andresr/E+/Getty Images)
Transfers between community colleges and four-year institutions continued to drop last fall, an ongoing trend since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. But the report also contains some good news, including that six-year college completion rates among transfer students improved, despite the disruptive nature of the pandemic. The “Transfer and Progress” report, released today, found that upward transfer—transfers from community colleges to universities—fell 7.5 percent in fall 2022 compared to the prior year and 14.5 percent relative to fall 2020. The number of transfer students over all, including students transferring from universities to community colleges or between four-year institutions, fell at a higher rate than the enrollment declines of nontransfer students, 2.3 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.
Cybersecurity Dive
How will the government enforce the national cyber strategy?
Efforts to enact laws and regulations that impose greater responsibility on the technology sector aren’t likely to come quick or easy.
Matt Kapko, Reporter
The Biden administration’s national cybersecurity strategy, a long-awaited policy vision released almost two years after an executive order called for more resilient infrastructure, lacks key details effecting change. Turning the vision and stated objectives into reality requires more action and follow through, cybersecurity experts said. Laws and regulations that impose greater responsibility on the technology sector aren’t likely to come quick or easy. “The pillars described in the strategy are well and properly defined, but of little use without such legislative support,” John Rostern, SVP and global lead of cloud and infrastructure services at security consultancy NCC Group North America, said via email. “Drafting such legislation in a form that will be acceptable across the House and Senate will be challenging. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that this will move forward quickly,” Rostern said.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Texas Bill Aims to Revamp Funding System for State Community College Districts
Arrman Kyaw
A new bill has been introduced in the Texas legislature that would revamp how the state gives its community colleges money, KXAN reported. House Bill 8 – filed Wednesday by Texas Rep. Gary VanDeaver, would alter the funding formula for money that the state gives its 50 community college districts, effective Sept. 1. This move comes after a recommendation for state funding based on “measurable outcomes” from a 2022 commission the Texas legislature created.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Ivy League to Become Collegiate Outlier in Top Women Leadership
Lois Elfman
Come July 2023, six of the eight Ivy League schools will have women leaders. The Ivy League, with some of the oldest institutions of higher education in the U.S., recently announced bold choices in leadership. Dartmouth College, Harvard University, and Columbia University named new presidents, each to take office in July. For Dartmouth and Columbia, these are the first women presidents in their history, while Harvard welcomes its first African American president.
Inside Higher Ed
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Foxx?
The longtime Republican congresswoman sees an opportunity to finally reauthorize the Higher Education Act of 1965 in her second stint as leader of the House education committee and is pledging oversight of the Biden administration.
By Katherine Knott
Representative Virginia Foxx is planning to leverage the decline in public perception of higher education to usher in a new era of stronger accountability for the nation’s colleges and universities in her role as chairwoman of the House education committee. This is “exactly the right time” to reauthorize the Higher Education Act of 1965, Foxx said in a recent interview with Inside Higher Ed. The last reauthorization was in 2008, and the law is supposed to be renewed every five years. Foxx and other lawmakers have tried over the years to pass comprehensive higher education legislation—only for those efforts to fail—and observers are skeptical that meaningful higher education bills can pass both chambers during this session of Congress. Still, Foxx is hopeful that she can get a bill across the finish line before the end of next year, even though Democrats control the Senate and White House.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Arrman Kyaw
A new Maine legislature bill may make higher education significantly less expensive for Maine high school graduates who choose to go to the University of Maine (UMaine), WMTW reported. The bill – sponsored by Maine Sen. Mike Tipping – would waive half of UMaine tuition up to four years for full-time students who graduate from a state high school in 2023, 2024, or 2025. UMaine’s in-state tuition this year is $11,640. “Enrollment has been down, and student debt has been up,” Tipping said. And this waiver would also apply to students seeking to complete their degree if they’ve lived in Maine for at least five years and have only a year of less of courses left.
Inside Higher Ed
Connecticut College Faculty Vote No Confidence in President
By Scott Jaschik
The faculty of Connecticut College voted that it had no confidence in the performance of President Katherine Bergeron, The Day reported. The vote was 149 in favor, 11 against and eight abstaining. Bergeron has been under fire for weeks at the college over a planned fundraiser that was set to be held at the Everglades Club, one of the oldest and most exclusive country clubs in Palm Beach, Fla. The venue has a history of racial discrimination and antisemitism; it famously barred both Black crooner Sammy Davis Jr. and Jewish fashion mogul Estée Lauder from even entering.
Inside Higher Ed
Temple Restores Health Coverage to Striking Grad Students
By Ryan Quinn
Temple University announced Tuesday that it has restored the health insurance benefit it cut for striking members of the graduate student workers’ union. But the university didn’t say anything about restoring tuition remission for the strikers, who have been asked to pay up by today. Temple’s cutting of their health and tuition benefits drew national media attention. Temple University Graduate Students’ Association (TUGSA) members have been on strike for better pay and benefits since Jan. 31. Negotiations between it and the university resumed Tuesday and continued Wednesday.
Inside Higher Ed
Instructor and Polk State Student Killed in Plane Crash
By Scott Jaschik
A student pilot at Polk State College and his flight instructor were killed Tuesday when their plane collided with another small plane. Killed were Zachary Mace, the student, and Faith Irene Baker, his instructor. Baker worked for Sunrise Aviation, which provided planes and instructors to Polk State.