Here’s what caught my eye today…5/22/13

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Florida’s Education Budget By The Numbers
StateImpact Florida
Gov. Rick Scott has signed a budget that’s very different than the one he’s been paying for since he authorized massive education cuts two years ago. Back then, pundits speculated Scott may have sealed his fate as a one term governor when he proposed a few billion dollars worth of cuts to education. Scott, for his part, seemed surprised by the widespread backlash. Ultimately, education lost about $1.3 billion in funding in 2011 – and cuts were necessary in many areas thanks to a multi-billion dollar budget shortfall. The governor has been trying to make up for it since then. Scott was able to get close to a billion dollars put back into education last year and a little more than a billion was added to the budget he signed yesterday. Scott calls it the Florida Families First budget…

  • Florida College System: $20 million in new funds for state college operating costs, $3.9 million for operating and maintenance costs of new facilities opening in FY 2013-14, and $5 million in performance funding based on associated industry certifications.

  • State University System: Restoration of the $300 million in recurring funding to the university system with performance measures and $50 million in performance funding based on performance metrics which will measure a university’s success in helping students obtain high paying jobs affordably.

  • College and University Building Maintenance: $41.7 million in PECO funding for critical deferred maintenance for Florida College system projects and $44.4 million in PECO funding for critical deferred maintenance items for State University system projects.

  • Student Financial Aid: Increases need-based financial aid by $3.3 million.

State University System

Champion family: FAMU band shouldn’t march next year
MyFox Atlanta
On the same day that the last of the suspects charged in the death of a Florida A&M University drum major appears in court, the victim’s parents spoke out about what they think should come next for the school’s band…

Weather alert: South Florida under a flood watch as more storms expected
MiamiHerald.com
The West Miami-Dade campus of Florida International University was pounded with more than five inches of rain and a nearby neighborhood had floodwaters of more than a foot high with impassable roads, according to the National Weather Service…

Defense Department Funds Miami Project To Thwart Cyberattacks
WLRN
In the next few months, Florida International University researchers will be doing their part to prevent the kind of high-tech cyberattacks that could cripple financial institutions, disable major infrastructure or threaten national security…

Class of 2017 Summer Orientations Begin at UCF | Video
KnightNews.com
Summer orientations began on Monday as hundreds of students (and parents) visited the University of Central Florida to tour, learn important information and register for classes…

MetroPlan wants your opinions on transportation
Orlando Sentinel
The Orlando agency is conducting its annual transportation survey in coordination with the University of Central Florida. It uses the research to help it set priorities for transportation planning and funding…

Discovery at Fla. lab confirms Hofstadter butterfly – USA Today
USA TODAY
The first team to publish their findings was led by Columbia University, which included researchers from the City University of New York, the University of Central Florida, Tohoku University and the National Institute for Materials Science in Japan …

UF fares well in Scott’s budget, Machen says
Gainesville Sun
After years of budget cuts, the University of Florida now will have enough money to fix neglected buildings and give faculty and staff raises…

UNF launches new social work degree
Business Journal (blog)
The University of North Florida will begin offering a bachelor’s degree in social work this fall…

Equality Means Business roundtable at UNF touts enhanced diversity
Florida Times-Union
Those concerns were the thrust of a roundtable discussion at the “Equality in Business” forum at the University of North Florida Monday which drew about three dozen corporate representatives from around the Jacksonville area…

InterCollegiate Sailing Association National Championships commence
Sail World
The racing will take place in St. Petersburg, Fla. at the Magnuson Hotel Marina Cove on Tampa Bay hosted by the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg with Eckerd College and St. Petersburg Yacht Club…

State College System

Crosswalks planned at HCC, city parks
Tbo.com
The city is assuring Hillsborough Community College students and officials that crosswalks will soon be installed…

FKCC has new tourism classes
KeysNews.com
Beginning this fall, three new courses relating to the biggest industry in the Keys will be on the menu at Florida Keys Community College…

Valencia: No tuition hike for lower-division courses
Orlando Sentinel
Trustees at Valencia College voted Tuesday morning not to increase tuition or fees for lower-division courses for the coming school year. Tuition and fees for lower-division courses, which are applied toward an associate degree, will remain at $99.06 per credit hour for Florida residents for the third straight year…

Independent Colleges and Universities

Ringling students’ art designs to be featured on bandages sold at Walmart
Bradenton Herald
ASO Corp., one of the world’s largest producers of adhesive bandages, recently launched a design contest for the students of Ringling College of Art and Design to create the look for a new line of decorative bandages.

Yip Yap: Noted and Quoted FLHE Voices from Around the Web

Editorial: Scott errs with CF Levy veto
Ocala
So it is inexplicable that Scott on Monday vetoed $4.25 million in funding for a new Levy County campus for the College of Central Florida as part of an overall $368 million in budget vetoes…

STEM square one
The News Herald
Gulf Coast State College and area elected officials aren’t going to take Gov. Rick Scott’s “no” as a final answer. Nor should they…

William Gerald Hofer
Palm Coast Observer
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office locked down Flagler Palm Coast High School, Matanzas High School and the Palm Coast campus of Daytona State College on Dec. 12, fearing that Hofer might attack one of the campuses…

Mayor reacts to FAU president resigning
Sun-Sentinel
What, if anything will Saunders‘ stepping down mean for the city? For instance, you just met with FAU and you’re embarking on turning the 20th Street corridor into a college-town atmosphere. Do you think this will change anything? I continue to have a great respect for Dr. Saunders and her work in forwarding FAU as an educational institution. Under her direction, FAU and the city have continued to create a strong partnership. FAU is also fortunate to have a number of key senior administrative staff members who will continue to work with us on joint projects and initiatives such as the 20th Street corridor.

FAU receives $2.5 million donation
TCPalm
Florida Atlantic University received a $2.5 million from the estate of the late Thomas Chastain Wednesday. The money came from the sale of a Palm Beach home and land holdings in Martin County, which Chastain had donated…

Coral Reef High students earn summer internship at FIU
MiamiHerald.com
Aliya Moktadier, Kasia Williams, Jayson Plasencia, Ashley Sierra and Hunter Alvarez of Coral Reef Senior High School were selected to participate in the summer agroecology internship hosted by Florida International University.

Biggest python ever captured in Florida caught in Miami-Dade County
New York Daily News
[Jason] Leon, a 23-year-old student at Florida International University from the Miami suburb of Palmetto Bay, spotted some 3 feet of snake sticking out of a bush in a rural area of southeast Miami-Dade County…

Python, more than 18 feet long, sets new record in Florida
Los Angeles Times
The snake was discovered by Jason Leon, 23, a marine biology student at Florida International University. Leon was riding all terrain vehicles with friends in Florida City, about 35 miles south of Miami, when he spotted 3 feet of the python poking out …

Balancing Act: Young entrepreneurs redefining work world
Kansas City Star
Florida International University even has considered making an entrepreneurship course mandatory for all graduates. “We see that it’s very appealing to them control their own future,” said Seema Pissaris, a professor of entrepreneurship at Florida International University. “The technology is available, and innovative ideas are coming their way. Every week something else catching on and it spurs their ideas.”

Lincoln seniors apologize to vandalized schools
Tallahassee Democrat (blog)
Since Florida High is under the jurisdiction of the Florida State University Police Department, additional charges may be forthcoming. Fidel Ibeneme, Edmond Adkins, Danial Ibrahim, all 18, were arrested Friday on charges of vandalism…

New study offers insight into how to best manage workaholics
HealthCanal.com
Wayne Hochwarter, the Jim Moran Professor of Business Administration in Florida State’s College of Business, and research associate Daniel Herrera studied more than 400 employees in professional and administrative occupations and found about 60 percent of these workers identified themselves as workaholics who characteristically “feel guilty when taking time off.”

NIU names Eric A. Weldy vice president for Student Affairs and Enrollment …
NIU Today
Following a 10-month national search, Northern Illinois University announced it has selected Eric A. Weldy, associate vice president for Student Affairs at Florida State University, as its new vice president for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management.

Massive mural gives glimpses of Ybor’s history
MyFox Tampa Bay
Artist Mike Parker worked with dozens of volunteers and a group of students from Hillsborough Community College in Ybor to craft the gigantic canvas…

Undocumented immigrant spared deportation, allowed to remain for one year
MiamiHerald.com
Carlos Rivas, trying to attend Miami Dade College so he can eventually get a business degree, said his father and mother want to see their children prosper. “In Mexico, there’s nothing for us — one pair of old shoes a year,” Carlos Rivas said…

MJHS names board chair
Sun-Sentinel
Wolfson, who is chairman of the Pinnacle Housing Group, is highly regarded for his work over the past 30 years as a trustee of Miami-Dade College, where as chairman of the MDC Foundation he helped build more than $20 million in endowments…

NWF State’s Handy earns positive annual review
The Northwest Florida Daily News
Northwest Florida State College President Ty Handy received a nearly perfect evaluation Tuesday evening from the board of trustees. Read a summary of the evaluation…

Seminole State’s Ann McGee elected to AACC board
Orlando Business Journal
Seminole State College of Florida President E. Ann McGee was elected to the American Association of Community Colleges board of directors…

Is a timeshare a good deal?
MyFox Tampa Bay
Amy Gregory, a professor at the University of Central Florida Rosen College of Hospitality Management, said consumers can expect a less pressured, more straightforward sales presentation than in years past…

University Presidents Say Elitism Can’t Be Part of Plans for Future
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
John Hitt, president of the University of Central Florida, stressed the role of leadership in bringing about institutional change. “If you really want to see systemic change work, you have to have continuity of leadership,” HItt said…

UCF student tries to heal after domestic-violence attack
Orlando Sentinel
Kaylyn Martin and her best friend had rented movies in the University of Central Florida library and grabbed a bite to eat when — as they were walking through a campus parking garage — a black car with its headlights off came screeching toward them. The evening of April 26 would be a blur of screams, blood and fear after, police say, 20-year-old Paul Gomez attempted to kill Martin, his ex-girlfriend who had tried to break up with him weeks earlier…

Florida coach pokes fun at his wacky faces with sons
USA TODAY
Between head coach Will Muschamp‘s questioning of Twitter terminology and the Photoshop projects of assistant Joker Phillips, it appears that the University of Florida is on an offseason quest to be the most (intentionally) goofy football program…

Shands Jacksonville now UF Health Jacksonville – Jacksonville Daily Record
Jacksonville Daily Record
“People here in Jacksonville just don’t know the University of Florida is here. We are just changing our name to recognize that we are a part of the University of Florida. UF Health is that recognition,” said Russell Armistead, CEO of UF Health …

UM tennis assistant earns national honor
MiamiHerald.com
The University of Miami‘s Alex Santos was named the 2013 ITA National Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year for NCAA Division I tennis during a ceremony at the University of Illinois, in conjunction with the NCAA Division I team championships…

Piano competition notable part of Jacksonville Jazz Festival
Florida Times-Union
Lynne Arriale, a jazz pianist and associate professor of jazz piano at the University of North Florida, has seen the piano competition from two perspectives — as a performer (she won in 1993), and as a judge, which she has been on three occasions…

Area unemployment drops to near 5-year low – Jacksonville Daily Record
Jacksonville Daily Record
Unemployment fell to an almost five-year low in April in Duval County and in the five-county metropolitan statistical area, according to state numbers seasonally adjusted by University of North Florida economics professor Paul Mason…

Crist making rounds for Democratic candidates
Tbo.com
Reaction among Democrats to Crist’s defection has varied, with some skeptical that Crist is a genuine Democrat, said Darryl Paulson, a political science professor at University of South Florida-St. Petersburg.

Releases and Web Stories

Beverly Carmichael Appointed Vice President of Institutional Advancement at …
ReadMedia (press release)
AUGUSTINE, FL (05/21/2013)(readMedia)– Dr. Beverly “Bev” Copeland Carmichael has been appointed Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida.

First FAU Med Students Now Hospital Bound
BocaNewsNow.com
The inaugural class members of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University have entered their third year of medical school and are headed to seven South Florida hospitals to begin their clinical clerkships.

Ceremony marks beginning of clinical training for class of 2015
UF College of Medicine News
After two grueling years that included 79 exams, more than 900 lectures and about 30,000 PowerPoint slides, the members of the University of Florida College of Medicine class of 2015 are ready to make the move from the classroom to the clinic.

Here’s what caught my eye today…5/21/13

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Higher Education Capitol Clips:

Governor Scott Signs Florida Families First Budget
New Release
Today, Governor Rick Scott signed the 2013-2014 Florida Families First Budget. Below is Governor Scott’s letter to Secretary Detzner, followed by links to budget highlights. To view the full veto letter, click HERE. Additionally, Governor Scott today signed 16 bills to implement the budget. For a list of the bills signed today, click HERE.

Budget Reax and Coverage...

Governor’s veto pen spares Embry-Riddle wind tunnel
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Scott vetoed $3 million for Daytona State College to begin work on transforming the theater on the main campus into a new student services/classroom building. The college originally requested $24 million for that project.

Scott vetoes nearly $400 million from budget
Gainesville Sun
Gov. Rick Scott, who had a tough time winning cooperation this past year from the Republican-led Legislature, struck back on Monday by vetoing nearly $400 million from the state’s new budget. Area leaders breathed a sigh of relief, however, as few area projects were among the governor’s vetoes — but among those vetoed were $625,000 for the Tumblin’ Creek stormwater project, $305,000 for the rehabilitation of sanitary sewer line segments in Williston and $500,000 for a University of Florida-produced documentary film on St. Augustine…

Gov. Scott vetoes hundreds of millions from state budget
MiamiHerald.com
…As expected, Scott vetoed a 3 percent tuition increase for state colleges, universities and workforce education. His letter included comments of support from three community college presidents and University of Florida President Bernie Machen. “As a result of the additional funds contained in the budget, the University of Florida will not be seeking a tuition increase for next year,” Machen said. Scott had hoped all 12 state university presidents would collectively sign a letter rejecting any tuition revenue increases, but they refused. Although Scott said his intent is to maintain tuition and fees at current levels, state law requires tuition to rise at minimum to keep up with the rate of inflation, which is 1.7 percent this year. Universities have already said they won’t ask the state Board of Governors to raise tuition up to 15 percent, as allowed by state law. But none have committed to refusing the inflation adjustment. Scott said Monday he hopes they will, but he avoided the question of whether it’s legally possible…

FGCU, Edison anticipated governor’s veto of 3 percent tuition hike
Naples Daily News
“Edison State College recognizes the importance of striking that critical balance between affordability and still providing the necessary services and opportunity to our students locally,” Morgenstern said in a statement.

Gov. Scott’s veto of FGCU research park money surprises local leaders
Naples Daily News
Florida Gulf Coast University officials were confident the $7.5 million they requested for the school’s Innovation Hub was a done deal. The university received $4.9 million last year when Gov. Rick Scott signed the fiscal 2012-13 budget; state lawmakers supported putting the remaining $7.5 million in the fiscal 2013-14 budget; and school officials spent the weekend answering the governor’s questions.

CF funding cut for Levy campus
Ocala
For the fourth time in five years, funding for the College of Central Florida’s Levy campus has been vetoed by the governor…

Gov. Scott to veto 3 percent tuition increase
Orlando Sentinel
…The University of Central Florida accounts for a majority of the county’s haul — $273 million for “general activities,” the medical school, a classroom building, an autism program, and other projects…

No tuition increase? It could go up 1.7 percent at UCF and other …
Orlando Sentinel
Even though Gov. Rick Scott on Monday vetoed a 3-percent tuition hike by the Legislature, there’s still a chance that rates could go up 1.7 percent at public universities. That’s because of a provision that might allow tuition rates to automatically increase with inflation if lawmakers don’t hike the rates on their own. There’s still uncertainty, however, if the 1.7 percent increase will happen. Even though Gov. Rick Scott on Monday vetoed a 3-percent tuition hike by the Legislature, there’s still a chance that rates could go up 1.7 percent at public universities. That’s because of a provision that might allow tuition rates to automatically increase with inflation if lawmakers don’t hike the rates on their own. There’s still uncertainty, however, if the 1.7 percent increase will happen…

Gov. Scott to veto 3% hike in college tuition
South Florida Business Journal (blog)
The increase could have brought an additional $18 million in revenue to the state’s 12 universities, including Florida International University in Miami and Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, according to the Herald.

Scott vetoes $368 million from budget, including Palm Beach State money
Sunshine State News
…Erased with the vetoes was $6.5 million sought by Palm Beach State College for a new campus in Loxahatchee Groves — the third time such funding has been wiped out by a Florida governor…

Scott signs budget, vetoes $368 million in projects
Tallahassee.com
From courthouse renovations and water infrastructure upgrades in rural areas to funding for building maintenance at Florida State University, Scott eliminated dozens of projects from what had been a $74.5 billion spending plan.

Governor kills two Pinellas projects, others survive veto pen
Tampabay.com
And Rouson said that several of his projects had also gone through, including $5 million for the University of South Florida’s St. Petersburg College of Business building…

Gov. Scott vetoes 3% tuition increase
Tbo.com
Students at the University of South Florida and other state colleges got a giftMonday from Gov. Rick Scott – a veto of the 3-percent tuition hike in this year’s state budget…

Indian River Lagoon cleanup among local projects Scott vetoed
TCPalm
Rick Scott nixed millions of dollars to clean up the Indian River Lagoon and revamp an Indian River State College campus on Monday — the two biggest Treasure Coast projects that fell to his veto pen.

Scott signs budget but vetoes $368 million in spending first
The Florida Current
Senate President Don Gaetz, who saw his plans for a $14 million building at Gulf Coast State Collegein his Panhandle district to promote science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) graduates and jobs vetoed by Scott gave a measured response…

Scott Vetoes 9 Polk Projects From State Budget
The Ledger
The two largest local projects rejected were $2.5 million for construction of the University of South Florida/Lakeland Regional Medical Center graduate medical program, and $2 million for Peace River Center’s planned crisis stabilization unit and Baker Act Triage Center in Lakeland.

Gov. Scott signs budget, vetoes $370 million in spending
The News-Press
For Southwest Florida, Scott vetoed $7.5 million for Florida Gulf Coast University’s Renewable Energy Institute (Innovation Hub Research) because of little demand by area companies.

Scott signs budget, restoring funding and vetoing tuition
The Oracle
…The budget also includes more than $40 million in new funds to USF, according to the statement, which will be used for new projects, such as the new College of Business building in St. Pete and the USF Heart Health Institute…

Gov. Scott Vetoes Funding For FGCU’s Renewable Energy Institute
WGCU News
Among the cuts: millions of dollars for Florida Gulf Coast University’s unfinished Renewable Energy Research Institute. FGCU has been working to get the research institute up and running. It is supposed to be a partnership between the school, the community and private industry. Scott and the Florida Legislature awarded FGCU $4.9 million last year to plan what the school calls its “Innovation Hub.” The “I-Hub” is aimed at fostering research and creating internships for students in the renewable energy sector in Southwest Florida…

Scott Vetoes $30 Million From State Budget for Panhandle Projects – WJHG.com
WJHG-TV
The biggest of the cuts, $14 million for a new STEM building at Gulf Coast State College in Panama City.

State University System

Another coup for the Mag Lab: Researchers confirm Hofstadter butterfly
Tallahassee.com
Two teams of international scientists, employing the unique magnets and other research tools at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State University, recently were able to solve the puzzle and prove that the Hofstadter butterfly is ..

Aspiring teachers learn from their avatars
The Hechinger Report
…Started ten years ago, the so-called TeachLivE lab was developed by faculty in the education school at UCF, and at least 22 other universities across the country have opened their own labs using TeachLivE technology. Much like a flight simulator trains pilots, faculty use the virtual classroom to train teachers-to-be by helping them isolate and master strategies like higher-level questioning or behavior management…

Shands Jacksonville has been renamed UF Health Jacksonville
Florida Times-Union
Shands Jacksonville has been renamed UF Health Jacksonville to make clearer the hospital’s affiliation with the University of Florida, officials announced Monday afternoon…

UNF now offers a bachelor’s in social work
Florida Times-Union (blog)
The University of North Florida will offer students a bachelor’s degree in social work starting this fall. UNF will admit 40 students in the initial cohort and they will study under the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.

USF researchers find far-reaching, microvascular damage in uninjured side of brain after stroke
Science Codex
…Now, a new study by the University of South Florida reports that within a week of a stroke caused by a blood clot in one side of the brain, the opposite side of the brain shows signs of microvascular injury…

State College System

Sneak Peek Into Advanced Technology Center Wows Visitors – WJHG
WJHG-TV
Sneak Peek Into Advanced Technology Center Wows Visitors. While the inside of the Advanced Technology Center on the Gulf Coast State College campus is bare, it hasn’t stopped visitors from seeing the potential in where it’s going…

Independent Colleges and Universities

Let’s Make a Deal
Inside Higher Ed
Sure, Aramark may be able to provide delicious sandwiches, brew a mean cup of coffee, cater important university functions, and do it all at the lowest price. But can it help a sophomore get a job in two years? That is a consideration Barry University, a private university in Miami, might weigh after administrators rework the university’s process of issuing requests for proposals and evaluating the bids of potential contractors for everything from dining services to office supplies to accounting. Barry’s administrators see the hundreds of relationships the university has with suppliers of goods and services as an untapped resource to give their students job preparation while they’re in college and potential avenues to postgraduate employment…

Top collegiate sailors to see action in Tampa Bay
Gant Daily
USF St. Petersburg, Eckerd College and the St. Petersburg Yacht Club will host the event that showcases the best in collegiate sailing…

Newly renovated solarium at Flagler College opens after 40 years
ActionNewsJax.com
The room is known as the centerpiece of Flagler College, perched on the fourth floor of the historic building once known as the Ponce de Leon Hotel.

Gas leak at Rollins College repaired
Central Florida News 13
Three buildings at Rollins College were evacuated for around two hours Mondaymorning after a construction crew hit a gas line at a construction site near the Archibald Greenville Bush Science Center.

Yip Yap: Noted and Quoted FLHE Voices from Around the State

Editorial: Budget lacks long-term vision
Tampabay.com
Gov. Rick Scott signed into law on Monday a $74.1 billion state budget for 2013-14 that makes few waves thanks to an improving economy and a predictable list of vetoes totaling $368 million. Florida finally has returned to at least modestly investing in education and the environment. But Scott’s veto of a 3 percent tuition increase for state colleges and universities is shortsighted, and his clumsy effort to extort promises from university presidents and others is inappropriate…

Rein in pay and perks for Florida college presidents
Orlando Sentinel
Start with a six-figure base salary for state college presidents. Add five figures for their retirement, another five for deferred compensation and another …

Ave Maria University president emeritus helps start up college in …
Naples Daily News
President Emeritus Nick Healy of Ave Maria University (AMU), who worked with founder Tom Monaghan during the school’s fledgling years, has set his sights on a new project: helping to start up a Catholic college in Ireland largely structured on the AMU model…

Teacher Training Programs Grapple With Recruitment
StateImpact Florida
“If they want to make [admissions] harder, I’m all for it,” said Les Potter, chair of the School of Education at Daytona State College.

Last of FAMU suspects in court
MiamiHerald.com
The last of the suspects to be charged with the death of a Florida A & M University drum major during a hazing ritual has a date in court. Darryl Cearnel has an arraignment Tuesday in state court in Orlando…

Teacher training programs grapple with recruitment
The Hechinger Report
Somewhere midway through his sophomore year of college at Florida Atlantic University, Christopher Clevenger started to question his aeronautical engineering major…

FAU president’s new salary as a professor to cost taxpayers more
South Florida Business Journal (blog)
Mary Jane Saunders‘ new salary as a professor at Florida Atlantic University will cost taxpayers $76,000 more, following her resignation as the school’s president, the Sun Sentinel reports…

Why I invested in Caffeine Spaces to help build a Startup Community
Network World
Last week, my partners and I in The CISO Group invested as lifetime members in Caffeine Spaces, a new co-working space that opened in the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) R&D Park here in Boca Raton, Florida. Caffeine Spaces is the brainchild of Mark Laymon, who is seeking to build a strong startup community here in South Florida…

Palmetto Bay man wrestles, kills 128-pound python
MiamiHerald.com
Jason Leon said he has two regrets about slicing the head off the longest Burmese python recorded in Florida: He wishes he didn’t have to slay the beast, and he wishes his bedroom walls were big enough to mount the snake’s skin…Leon, a part-time marine biology student at Florida International University and a former owner of pet snakes, jumped off his ride and grabbed the python behind its head, dragging it into the roadway.

FIU, Sweetwater unveil José Martí statue on Cuban Independence Day
MiamiHerald.com
In commemoration of the 111th anniversary of Cuba’s independence from Spain, Florida International University’s Honors College has donated the more than life-size statue of Cuban writer José Martí, sculpted by the late artist Tony Lopez…

Florida high court refuses to grant stay of execution for condemned killer Van …
Palm Beach Post
On Friday, both the association and D’Alemberte, a former state lawmaker and past president and law school dean of Florida State University, said they wanted to explain problems with the death penalty process that has led to confusion in Van Poyck’s case…

Gov. Rick Scott speeding up Florida inmate execution process
Tampabay.com
Cantero’s article was co-written by Mark Schlakman, senior program director for the Center for Advancement of Human Rights at Florida State University…

Ladies in White leader receives MDC award
7Online WSVN-TV
Berta Soler, the leader of the anti-Castro group Ladies in White, visited the Freedom Tower Monday to receive the Miami-Dade College Presidential Medal.

Dr. Donald Warren honored for his work with Palm Beach Atlantic …
Palm Beach Post
Dr. Donald Warren remembers when he and his co-founders mapped out the land in the late 1960s for what today is Palm Beach Atlantic University.  “We put green dots on 110 buildings” near downtown West Palm Beach, Warren told nearly 500 people gathered Monday morning to honor him at the Palm Beach County Convention Center. Over the years PBAU has acquired almost all of those buildings. As for the ones that remain: “We’ll get those too someday,” Dr. Warren, a cardiologist, said…

Tampa Bay Speakers Advocate For STEM, STEAM In Education
83degreesmedia
Another panelist, Larry Thompson, the president of the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, is a strong proponent of STEAM…

Public university instructs students on how to build genital models out of play-doh
Campus Reform (blog)
…In a statement, UCF Spokesman Chad Binette, said the language used to promote the event reflected a “lack of judgement.” “This event and the email promoting it clearly demonstrate a lack of judgment,” he said. “Housing and Residence Life will be reviewing its approval process for events and event promotions. “The email was sent and approved by the Apollo community staff, and the event was scheduled by Apollo community staff,” he concluded, referring to the on-campus dorm that organized the event…

University of Florida honors architect William Morgan with a Lifetime …
Florida Times-Union
Jacksonville architect William Morgan (right) is presented with a lifetime achievement award by Martin Gold, the director of the school of architecture at the University of Florida…

Citing thin bench for start-ups, high-level boot camp never opens its doors
Tampabay.com
“It is a disappointment,” says one of the standby mentors, Rebecca White, a management professor who holds the James W. Walter distinguished chair of entrepreneurship at The University of Tampa…

Here’s what caught my eye over the weekend…5/20/13

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Florida Higher Education Capitol Clips:

Fla. Gov. will veto 3 percent college tuition hike
AP
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who has maintained a steadfast opposition in the last year to raising the cost of college for students, will veto a proposed 3 percent tuition hike. Despite the governor’s earlier warnings the Republican-led Florida Legislature included the hike in a $74.5 billion budget passed earlier this month. Scott planned to sign the budget into law on Monday, but he is expected to veto numerous spending items, including the proposed tuition hike. The hike was expected to generate close to $50 million for the state’s public universities and 28 colleges. In a copy of his veto message first obtained by The Associated Press, Scott writes that Floridians should be “proud to keep tuition low.”

State Universities Celebrate Lucrative Legislative Session
WFSU
Florida’s public university administrators are celebrating after the legislative session. Lawmakers restored funding they’d lost in the recent past. And, higher ed officials say, things like “preeminent” status for Florida State University and the University of Florida should help keep more Florida high-schoolers in state for college.

State University System

Substance abuse treatment facility leases at FAU Research Park
South Florida Business Journal
A substance abuse treatment facility signed a 6,000-square-foot lease at the Research Park at Florida Atlantic University. Life of Purpose opened this month in the Boca Raton location. It helps young adults who had their academic careers disrupted by substance abuse and uses different treatment methods than for the general population…

New Survey Highlights Optimism And Challenges For Lee County’s Economy
WGCU News
According to a survey of about a hundred executives conducted by Florida Gulf Coast University and the Horizon Council, optimism about the future of the local economy among industry leaders in Lee County has greatly increased.

Teacher-training programs’ success under scrutiny
MiamiHerald.com
…UCF is the largest producers of teachers in the state; the university’s education school enrolls more than 2,000 students. It prides itself on being one of the strongest teacher training program in Florida, a position it has gained, school officials say, by nimbly responding to changes in the profession…

UCF med students graduate debt free
NBC Nightly News
Four years ago when UCF had just broken ground on its medical school, it offered free tuition and a stipend for living expenses to lure the best and brightest students. Now those students are graduating and heading off to prestigious residency programs. NBC’s Kerry Sanders reports…

The doctors are in: UCF College of Medicine graduates charter class (Video)
Orlando Business Journal
A who’s who in Central Florida business showed up on May 17 as the University of Central Florida College of Medicine graduated its charter class of 36 students…

UCF Medical School graduates its first class today
Orlando Sentinel
The first class of medical students graduated from University of Central Florida College of Medicine this morning, during a ceremony at the main university campus…

UCF School of Medicine graduates charter class
WFTV Orlando
Of the more than 235,000 degrees awarded by the University of Central Florida, 36 were awarded Friday to the UCF School of Medicine charter class. The Florida Legislature approved the program in 2006, and $70 million in donations built the 170,000-square-foot facility at Lake Nona…

A license plate for every cause, but how much is raised?
Sun-Sentinel
…By contrast, just 13,309 drivers bought University of Central Florida plates, providing more than $330,000 for the school…

City narrowly OKs higher parking fees for renters
Gainesville Sun
Renters in residential areas near the University of Florida campus will pay significantly more for parking permits. On Thursday, the City Commission narrowly approved a plan to increase the cost for an annual on-street residential parking decal…

Two women held up at gunpoint in separate robberies
Gainesville Sun
Gainesville police were in the midst of an active manhunt on Friday afternoon just after 5 p.m. for two men suspected in two separate armed robberies within blocks of each other near the University of Florida campus.

A Florida first: UF offering cheaper online degrees
Sun-Sentinel
The University of Florida, the state’s top-ranked public college, soon will offer 20-25 bachelor’s degree programs fully online, at a cost cheaper than on-campus classes. It’s the first such program offered by a Florida public university

Update: Bomb Threat Reported at USF’s Beta Hall
Patch.com
A possible bomb threat at the University of South Florida’s Beta Hall has sparked an investigation on campus. According to The Oracle, the USF Police Department has confirmed a bomb threat. Domingo said the police department received an anonymous threat around 3 p.m. Sunday, May 19, and immediately set up a perimeter around the building. The threat also led to a full search inside and outside of Beta Hall, which is currently unoccupied for the summer term…

USF, Eckerd host sailing championships
Tampabay.com
Hundreds of the country’s top collegiate sailors will compete on the waters of Tampa Bay this week and next as USF St. Petersburg, Eckerd College and the …

Summit encourages girls to pursue science
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
The University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee hosts the event to encourage girls to enter fields stereotyped as “male” domains. Nationwide, 22 percent of engineers are women, according to the Florida Commission on the Status of Women…

State College System

High School Students Look to Dual Enrollment to Boost Employment Prospects
WMFE
In April the Florida department of education gave the College of Central Florida a $100,000 grant to run a statewide website as a one stop resource for dual enrollment…

FGC to host Common Core Standards conference this Saturday
Lake City Journal
Florida Gateway College will host a conference on Saturday, May 18, on the college campus to train teachers for the upcoming statewide implementation…

Haney, GCSC sign transfer agreement
The News Herald
Heads of Gulf Coast State College and Haney Technical Center signed articulation agreements that will offer Haney students a shortcut to earning an associate’s degree of science and gain more support for future employment…

GCSC Voodoo Jet Scheduled For Removal
wmbb
Panama City will remove the remaining Voodoo fighter jet located at Gulf Coast State College on June 5th. For almost four decades, these military jets made their mark on Bay County. Now it’s their legacy that will be remembered.

Guinness World Records collection on display at Santa Fe College
Gainesville Sun
A Guinness World Records certificate sits on top of a sample of the 5000 letter openers on display at Santa Fe College…

Independent Colleges and Universities

Flagler College’s fourth floor Solarium is almost completed
St. Augustine Record
The scaffolding is coming down and the Windex is doing overtime duty in the domed solarium at Flagler College as workers with A.D. Davis Construction finish up a $2.3 million renovation…

FIT wants state funds to launch new lab
Florida Today
As he did a year ago, Gov. Rick Scott will soon decide whether state funds should launch a new space research center at Florida Tech. The Melbourne university says its Space Exploration Research Laboratory would position the state to grow its meager share of NASA science research grants, create jobs and benefit students…

Hunger “Summit” In Fort Myers
Southwest Florida
The 2013 Hunger Summit will be held May 31 at Hodges University in Fort Myers…

Lynn edges Nova Southeastern for D-2 title – Golf Week
Golfweek.com
Lynn University took home the big prize defeating Nova Southeastern by three shots at LPGA International’s Legends Course…

Sykes partners with Saint Leo for degree programs
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Saint Leo University will open an education center on the premises of the Sykes Enterprises contact center in Lakeland near Interstate 4…

University of Miami Hospital sends team to Panama to save NCIS agent’s life
MiamiHerald.com
Avid runner Noel Zuniga had just finished his daily run, when he began experiencing chest pains. It was 6:30 p.m. on March 17, and Zuniga an NCIS agent in charge for the U. S. Embassy in Panama, had returned days earlier from a snorkeling trip…

University of Miami research park leasing up – slideshow
South Florida Business Journal (blog)
The occupancy rate at the University of Miami Life Science & Technology Park is now at 75 percent following its lease for 20,000 square feet with DaVita, the nation’s largest dialysis provider…

Yip Yap: Noted and Quoted FLHE Voices from Around the State

Editorial: Rein in outsized perks given Florida’s college presidents
Sun-Sentinel
Start with a six-figure base salary for state college presidents. Add five figures for a retirement package, another five for deferred compensation and another five for a housing allowance. In some cases, add another five figures for a vehicle and another five for major medical. Now, throw in a host of “other compensation benefits” and pretty soon you’re talking real money…

Accounting for pay
The News Herald
You know you have a problem when state auditors cannot tell the governor exactly how much some public college presidents are paid in salary and benefits…

CF president is a bargain
Ocala
When the trustees at the College of Central Florida hired Jim Henningsen last year as the college’s new president, it was the culmination of a lengthy national search that had the trustees gushing…

Stein: FAU’s Saunders puts blame in wrong place
Sun-Sentinel
There were two things very unsurprising about the resignation last week of Florida Atlantic University president Mary Jane Saunders. Not surprising thing No. 1: That Saunders resigned. It would have been surprising only if she had tried to stay in her job.

Guest column: Backed into a corner
Florida Today
Let me add my own analysis to Florida Institute of Technology professor Dr. Wanfa Zhang’s comments in Matt Reed’s recent column, “How much to fear North Korea.” A healthy country must possess two things: a strong vision of the future and an accurate …

Denton: The better FSCJ story
Florida Times-Union
This is the story of the real Florida State College at Jacksonville, where eager, hardworking students can take affordable advantage of caring faculty members to build their lives, often through great adversity.

Letter: Outstanding theater productions at Indian River State College deserve …
TCPalm
Letter: Outstanding theater productions deserve wide audience. It was my pleasure to attend the Indian River State College McAlpin Theatre production of “Annie Get Your Gun.” As always it was a wonderful show…

Pell grants for poor students can change lives so let’s fix the system not …
MiamiHerald.com
We read a great deal lately about the high cost of education, and as sequestration goes into effect the discussion often turns to eliminating taxpayers’ dollars from education…Eduardo J. Padrón is the president of Miami Dade College.

Editorial: USFSP business school deserves state support
Tampabay.com
The business school at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg has succeeded despite its physical constraints. Spread across seven locations on the campus, the school’s 1,900 students and faculty have never had a place to call their own, yet they have still managed to launch an entrepreneurial program that’s garnering national attention. It’s time the school had its own facility, and a single $5 million line item in the state budget for 2013-14 could start the process. Gov. Rick Scott should approve the money as a smart investment in a higher education program that’s already impacting Tampa Bay’s economy for the better…

Cassel: Seeking VC funds? Get creative
MiamiHerald.com
…Florida International University, Florida Atlantic University, Nova Southeastern University and the University of Miami, for example, offer a broad range of opportunities, including everything from business plan competitions to access to funding…

AMU President Towey: “It was an ‘extraordinary’ year!”
The Ave Herald
The 2012-2013 academic year at Ave Maria University ended two major announcements: The closing of the Latin American campus and the pronouncement by Standard and Poor’s that the university’s financial outlook was “stable,” enabling the school to save “millions” through consolidation of debt by floating investment-grade bonds…

Judge to decide if former B-CU football coach was fired over age
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Alvin Wyatt, the winningest football coach in Bethune-Cookman history, will learn next week whether he will add another “W” to his win column — only this time it would be against his old university which he is suing for $1.2 million, accusing it of breach of contract. Wyatt, 65, is suing B-CU, accusing it of breach of contract and age discrimination after he was fired in 2009 and replaced by then-39-year-old Brian Jenkins. Circuit Judge Terence R. Perkins said he would issue a ruling on Wednesday after the nonjury trial this week at the City Island Courthouse Annex…

Student beaten, car stolen after stopping to help woman he hit
Tbo.com
After he got out of his car to help a woman he had accidentally hit with his car, an Eckerd College student was beaten by a small crowd early this morning in South St. Petersburg, according to police. Connor Gallagher, 20, was left lying in the road while someone rode off with his car, said St. Petersburg police spokesman Mike Puetz…

Florida mandate will cost school districts
The News-Press
Maggie Helms, a graduating senior from Southwest Florida Christian Academy, credits the dual enrollment program between her school and Edison State College for exposing her to teaching styles of college professors…

Robinson delivers state of FAMU: calls alumni to recruit new students …
Tallahassee.com
FAMU, a historically black university, has been has seen its funding source through state budget reduced as has had all of the state-funded schools…

FAU president’s new salary to cost taxpayers more
Sun-Sentinel
Mary Jane Saunders may be stepping down as president of Florida Atlantic University, but she will remain as one of the school’s highest paid employees. And her new $276,000 salary will actually cost taxpayers $76,000 more…

Florida State police find spray-painted messages on Florida High campus
Tallahassee.com
Three Lincoln High School seniors were arrested today for their role in spray painting on numerous Leon County high schools. Fidel Ibeneme, Edmond Adkins, Danial Ibrahim, all 18, now face charges of trespassing on school grounds and criminal mischief for causing several thousand dollars worth of damage to Lincoln, Leon, Chiles, Godby and Rickards high schools, according to Lt. James McQuaig, public information officer for the Leon County Sheriff’s Office.

Bay unemployment down, but so are jobs
The News Herald
That’s not unusual, said Florida State University Economics Department Chairman Robert Mark Isaac. “The employment rate only applies to those people who are in the job market,” Isaac said.

STEM Building Makes Turkey List
wmbb
Dr. Jim Kerley, president of Gulf Coast State College, says the current science facilities were built in the 1950′s and are significantly outdated. He says there are some safety concerns, and they are not ADA compliant…

The New Innovation Of A College Education
CBS Local
“Most people do very well as long as they are in class and one of the advantages of college is that it gives you structure,” said Dr. Rene Garcia, Miami-Dade College Enrollment Director…

Polk’s Unemployment Rate Falls
The Ledger
“Clearly, businesses continue to struggle in a challenging economic environment,” said Gordon Kettle, an economics professor at Polk State College…

Alexander leaves Stetson to take Lipscomb job
Fox News
Casey Alexander resigned after two seasons as head coach of the Stetson University men’s basketball team to take a similar job with Lipscomb, another Atlantic Sun Conference squad…

UCF Rosen Instructor Reinstated Following Suspension for “Killing Spree …
KnightNews.com
An instructor at the University of Cenrtal Florida’s Rosen Campus was reinstated after being placed on administrative leave following a reference he made to “a killing spree” during one of his class sessions, the Orlando Sentinel reports. According to the Orlando Sentienl, a university spokesman said Dr. Hyung-il Jung, a lecturer at UCF’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, has been cleared and will teach a class this summer.

UCF student’s blood tested for alcohol after crash kills Orlando man
Orlando Sentinel
A University of Central Florida student’s blood was tested for alcohol after she was accused of causing a fatal head-on crash early Saturday. Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Kim Montes said the test was ordered after first responders to the 5:30 a.m. crash in east Orange County suspected driver Dana McKinnon was impaired. McKinnon 22, of Oviedo was driving eastbound on Lake Pickett Road near Tanner Road when her two-door Mitsubishi crossed into the westbound lane, crashing into a Toyota van and killing its driver, Montes said. The van driver, Vinh Vo, 42, of Orlando, died at the scene, officials said.

Volusia, Flagler unemployment rates keep improving
Daytona Beach News-Journal
“There’s still a long ways to go,” said Sean Snaith, with the University of Central Florida.

Rare drop in healthcare hiring brings Miami-Dade its slowest job growth in …
MiamiHerald.com
Sean Snaith, an economist at the University of Central Florida, cautioned against reading too much into recent hiring data for healthcare. “It’s probably reflective of where we are with healthcare reform, and trying to digest what it’s going to mean for premiums and insurance companies and how hospitals and caregivers are going to be paid,’’ Snaith said. “Until some of the smoke clears from healthcare reform, it probably makes sense that people would pause and get their bearings.”

Student Gets 3 Years In Jail For DUI Crash That Killed A Grandmother
CBS Local
Villanueva, a University of Miami student, faced multiple charges for the accident. Villanueva faced up to 20 years in prison had she been convicted of all of the charges she was facing…

First Coast home sales, prices way up, jobless figures dip down
Florida Times-Union
University of North Florida economist Paul Mason has been tracking figures that impact the First Coast economy for 12 years, but he’s never seen the housing market jump like it did between March and April. “We saw a monumental increase in the housing …

Sumter detectives ask public for help in identifying body found near I-75 and …
Orlando Sentinel
Detectives have been working with Erin Kimmerle, a forensic anthropologist with the University of South Florida, to find out about the murder victim, reading her life history through the few clues left by her remains…

Best way to work out your core muscles?
Boston Globe
“There’s a vast array of things that people recommend,” says John Mayer, a biomechanical and chiropractic researcher at University of South Florida, yet there hasn’t been much research to support one exercise over another…

Troubled kids need more help – expert
3News NZ
Professor Bill Evans of the University of West Florida says with the right help, these students can become productive members of society. “These kids manifest lots of behavioural issues that impair their ability to interact with the school curriculum …

Releases and Web Stories

Keiser University partners with Aerotech Golf
TCPalm
By news release The Keiser University College of Golf & Sport Management announced a new partnership with Aerotech Golf…

Victory! Women’s Golf Fights to the Finish to Claim 2013 NCAA Division II National Championship
Lynn University
Daytona Beach, Fla.- Lynn University’s women’s golf team captured the 2013 NCAA Division II National Championship on Saturday afternoon, edging four-time defending national champions and top-ranked Nova Southeastern by three strokes with a 1,187 team score in the four-round tournament held at the LPGA International Legends Course.  Lynn shot a 305 on the final day to finish the tournament +35 on the 6,228-yard par-72 course.  This is the second NCAA title for the women’s program, and fourth overall, and gives Lynn University 21 national championships in its illustrious history…

Transcript: Spring 2013 President’s Report: A Video Message for the USF Community
USF News
Hello, this is Judy Genshaft, President of the University of South Florida System. We’ve wrapped up another academic year and celebrated more than six thousand new degrees in the USF System this semester alone…

Here’s what caught my eye today…5/17/13

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Florida Higher Ed Capitol Clips:

House Speaker Weatherford defends health care votes in Bradenton
Bradenton Herald
Weatherford defended approving $30 million in “pre-eminence” funding to help the University of Florida and Florida State University improve their national rankings among research universities.

“Sad to say, I would call our university system an average system compared to other parts of the county — but we have a chance to be great. And we just have to be sure we invest our resources the right way to get there.”

Polk Legislators Tout Benefits to Polk In This Year’s Legislature
The Ledger
…Education was the big winner in the session, McKeel said, referring to a $1.8 billion increase for education, teacher pay raises and money repaid to the university system. Locally, Lakeland did well, thanks to the state’s increased revenues. After a flap, the money for Florida Polytechnic University was restored and funds were allocated to repair and connect the Skyview utility system to the Lakeland sewer system, along with money going to a graduate medical program teaming Lakeland Regional Medical Center and the University of South Florida…

FL Tax Watch issues Annual Budget Turkey List:

Budget Vetoes Sought
Capitol News Service
Governor Rick Scott has until next Friday to sign off on the state’s 74 billion dollar budget. His staff has been sending letters to organizations set to receive state money, asking for justifications. And government watchdog says at least one hundred million of spending ought to be axed…On the list is 9 million for  Embry Riddle, a private aeronautical university in Daytona Beach.14 million for a building at Gulf Coast State college in Panama City that ranked low on a priority list, and four million for a film project in Clearwater. “This is a hundred million dollars that could have gone to things like schools or healthcare. “, adds Weissert.

Slimmed down budget ‘turkey’ list still catches Senate leader’s wrath
Florida Times-Union
The biggest project that made the list was $14 million for Gulf Coast State College in Panama City. There was originally $300,000 in the Senate’s budget for the school, which is in Senate President Don Gaetz’s district…

Florida TaxWatch bags 107 budget ‘turkeys’ worth $107 million
MiamiHerald.com
Florida TaxWatch finds 107 line-item projects in the new state budget totaling $107 million that it says Gov. Rick Scott should veto because they bypassed the Legislature’s own standards for transparency and competitiveness….Among the projects that made the statewide list: * $14 million for a science and technology building at Gulf Coast State College in Bay County…

Annual ‘budget turkey’ list draws flak
Sun-Sentinel
…And a $14 million grant for a Gulf Coast State College Panama City campus was the biggest single item on the list…

One Polk Project on TaxWatch ‘Turkey’ List
The Ledger
Scott vetoed both of them, plus an appropriation for Florida Southern College’s Frank Lloyd Wright education and tourism center…

GCSC has top tax ‘turkey’ // DOCUMENTS
The News Herald
Gulf Coast State College gets top-turkey honors. The watchdog group Florida TaxWatch released its annual list of “turkeys” Thursday, naming 107 projects totaling $106.8 million, in the state budget…

Panhandle Projects on the “Turkey” Watch List
WJHG-TV
The proposed $14 million science and technology building at Gulf Coast State College made the 2013 turkey watch list…

State University System

Shooting Near FAMU Campus [SLIDE SHOW]
WCTV
At approximately 12 a.m., the Tallahassee Police Department received a call that a male had been shot in the area of 2800 Wahnish Way near FAMU. TPD says they responded and found a black male in his 30′s with gunshot wounds.

New survey shows Lee County business leaders more bullish about economy
The News-Press
Florida Gulf Coast University and the Fort Myers Regional Partnership – Lee County’s economic development office – shared these and other results in the Second Quarter 2013 Business Climate Survey Report.

UCF College of Medicine’s first graduates to walk May 17
Orlando Business Journal (blog)
May 17 is going to be a big day: The University of Central Florida will graduate its first class of 36 doctors from the College of Medicine…

UCF reports more aggravated assaults, fewer burglaries and vehicle thefts in 2012
Orlando Sentinel (blog)
The number of aggravated assaults and rapes reported at the University of Central Florida rose slightly in 2012 while the school saw fewer burglaries, robberies, larcenies and vehicle thefts, according to crime data released this afternoon…

The College Competition Is On
CBS Local
The University of Florida had a record 29,300 applicants last year and 11,800 were accepted…

UF management of St. Augustine now producing historical dividends
Gainesville Sun
Visitors to the country’s oldest continuously occupied city founded by European settlers can now see the impact of the University of Florida’s stewardship of two dozen state-owned properties here. Three years after taking over the management of 38 buildings on 23 parcels in the historic downtown quarter, UF can point to the opening of the Colonial Quarter, a historically accurate tourist attraction with live re-enactors in colonial garb that has been operating for two months…

Moffitt Cancer Center researchers analyze how Spanish smoking relapse booklets are distributed
Science Codex
Researchers from Moffitt Cancer Center and the University of South Florida have evaluated how Florida health care and social service agencies distribute “Libres para Siempre” (“Forever Free®”), a Spanish smoking relapse prevention booklet series…

USF Sarasota-Manatee sponsors STEM summit for middle-school girls
Bradenton Herald
…The USF Sarasota-Manatee campus will host its fourth- annual STEM Summit on Saturday. The summit is free and open to all middle-school girls in Manatee and Sarasota counties. The day-long program will offer the girls an opportunity to research and explore the four core fields…

State College System

BCC’s Last Graduating Class Receives Diplomas
SpaceCoastDaily.com
About 1,900 students were eligible to receive their degrees Thursday as the last graduating class from Brevard Community College walked across the stage at the King Center for the Performing Arts…

Graduation season gets going
Ocala
Meanwhile, 38 of West Port High’s nearly 500 graduates have already graduated from the College of Central Florida with associate’s degrees…

A better economy for college graduates
Florida Courier
Daytona State College held two commencement ceremonies on Monday at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach…

DSC captures national JUCO golf title
Daytona Beach News-Journal
With a great run of consistency and a nine-shot lead entering the final round of the National Junior College golf championship, a certain level of comfort might’ve been expected for Daytona State College…

IRSC respiratory care program earns award
TCPalm
The Indian River State College Respiratory Care program is among a select group of respiratory care programs being recognized by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC) with the Distinguished RRT Credentialing Success Award…

Independent Colleges and Universities

SBA to offer help to Edward Waters, surrounding area
Florida Times-Union
Edward Waters College signed an agreement Thursday afternoon with the federal government to bring more business help to its students and the neighborhood that surrounds the college…

Fashionable Shoes Step Out at Lynn University’s 2013 Commencement
Huffington Post (blog)
Every graduate needs to step out into the “real world” in style, and at Lynn University all styles are welcome as you’ll see from the many styles of shoes that made their red carpet appearance at our 2013 commencement ceremony.

682 receive degrees from Stetson University
Daytona Times
Stetson University conferred bachelor’s and master’s degrees to 682 graduates on May 11, during two commencement ceremonies at the Edmunds Center, 143 E. Pennsylvania Ave…

Yip Yap: Noted and Quoted FLHE Voices from Around the State

Opinion: Florida taxpayers need accounting of college pay
Daytona Beach News-Journal
You know you have a problem when state auditors cannot tell the governor exactly how much some public college presidents are paid in salary and benefits…

Does FAU board of trustees need an overhaul?
South Florida Business Journal (blog)
With Mary Jane Saunders resigning as president of Florida Atlantic University, a question remains regarding whether some of the board members should go, too…

Letters: Next administration at FAU should be leaner, more open
Palm Beach Post
Regardless of the post-mortem to follow, I thank Mary Jane Saunders for making the courageous decision to step down as Florida Atlantic University’s president. Hopefully, the administration now will begin to think of students as more than data in an Excel table…RAMASWAMY NARAYANAN – Boca Raton

Lowe: FAU’s Saunders resigns
Sun-Sentinel
Over the course of my journalistic career, I’ve witnessed a number of good reporters get promoted to management positions because that was the natural next step for them in their careers. Except that it was unnatural because sometimes they turned out to be disasters as editors…

Stein: Can FAU restore its image?
Sun-Sentinel
Can Florida Atlantic University restore its image? Absolutely. Thankfully Mary Jane Saunders has resigned as president of the university which had become a late-night TV joke favorite. That’s not what you are looking for when you are considering donating to a university, or sending your child there. You want to be proud of the university. While many good things have happened at FAU, the blunders during the past few months under Saunders obscured any of the good. It was time for her to be gone. She knew it. Everyone knew it…

FAU editorial was good obituary
Sun-Sentinel
Regarding the May 16 editorial, “What’s next for FAU:” I filed this editorial under: “How to write a kind obituary for a victim.” It was sappy and supercilious, but the tone was just right; ironically, so was its vague conclusion.…Richard Dea, Delray Beach

Letter: Jesus exercise did not come from ‘textbook’
Sun-Sentinel
In Mike Mayo’s May 16 column about Florida Atlantic University’s President Mary Jane Saunders’ resignation, he wrote “Religious conservatives and Gov. Scott got mad when they heard about a classroom exercise that called for Jesus’ name to be stepped on, even though the professor got the exercise from a textbook and it had been done numerous times before.”…Chris Christensen, Margate

Nick Healy Helping to Start New Catholic College in Ireland
The Ave Herald
Former Ave Maria University President Nick Healy is somber as he cites example after example of how Ireland is slipping farther and farther away from its Catholic heritage. “Ireland once supplied priests, missionaries and educators all over the world …

Journalist Soledad O’Brien to speak at Broward youth event
MiamiHerald.com
Award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien, known for her Black In America documentary series as well as being a former CNN Anchor, will be the keynote speaker at the #IamCHANGE Youth Town Hall at 7 p.m. Friday at Broward College South Campus.

Interim President of FAU Pushed Chick-fil-A Stadium Naming Deal, Former A.D. …
New Times Broward-Palm Beach (blog)
Hapless Florida Atlantic University president Mary Jane Saunders resigned yesterday, and with their usual talent for due diligence and public relations savvy, the board of trustees filled the still-stinking seat with Dennis Crudele, who reportedly was go-between in the school’s effort to sell naming rights to its football stadium to the notoriously homophobic fast-food chain Chick-fil-A. Crudele is better known for supporting maximum tuition hikes last summer, at a time when governor Rick Scott opposed them. Crudele argued hikes were necessary because FAU faced cuts of $24.8 million in state funds and might have to close campuses in downtown Fort Lauderdale and Port St. Lucie. (The former is still open; the latter is not.)

Famed NCAA coach Andy Enfield shares his ‘second act’ with Slate
DigitalJournal.com
In the second installment of Slate magazine’s Second Acts crowd-sourcing and editorial series, Florida Gulf Coast University‘s basketball coach Andy Enfield provides perspective on how his original experiences in his “first act” working as a vice president at a technology start-up provided the legs for his “second act” as an NCAA basketball coach for one of the most exciting teams to make it to the Sweet 16.

Miami Artist Turns Body Fat Into Soap After Surgery
WLRN
Miami artist Orestes De La Paz has an unusual piece of performance art on display at the Frost Art Museum on the campus Florida International University…

Taylor named director of undergraduate admissions
University at Buffalo Reporter
Barry Taylor, director of undergraduate admissions at Florida International University, has been appointed director of undergraduate admissions at UB, effective June 19…

Rise in Roadkill Requires New Solutions
Scientific American
In February of 2000 Matt Aresco, then a PhD student at The Florida State University in Tallahassee, drove through and was stunned at the sight of dozens of crushed turtles. For the next five weeks he patrolled the road between the lakes, once counting 343 dead turtles in 10 days. “It was so heartbreaking to see dozens of turtles, animals that could be 50 or 60 years old, smashed before they make it two feet onto the road,” he says…

Crime rate down in state, county Number of arrests in county rise
St. Augustine Record
Bill Bales, professor in the College of Criminology & Criminal Justice at Florida State University, said crime has been declining in Florida for around 20 years, and Florida is not alone…

Internet cafe law may have unintended targets
Tampabay.com
That word — skill — “from a legal standpoint, is a huge, huge change,” said Marc Dunbar, an adjunct law professor at Florida State University and an attorney who focuses on gaming and governmental law…

Online database shows how much pharmaceutical companies are paying …
WPTV
“There is a legitimate fear,” said Dr Craig Hanson, a professor and medical ethics expert at Palm Beach Atlantic University.

3 Ringling graduate students win Student Academy Awards
WWSB ABC 7
Three graduate students from Ringling College of Art and Design have been selected as winners in the 2013 Student Academy Awards…

Feds say students can bring pets to college dorm rooms – WOGX.com
WOGX
Stetson University senior Brenton Alloway says he likes the fact that pets are allowed in his dorm, Stetson Cove Apartments — one of two dorms on campus that is pet friendly. “You can choose when you sign up…

FDLE report shows crime down across central Florida
WFTV Orlando
But despite the jump in sex crimes, experts told Heath that the study shows a much safer central Florida. ”For the most part, it’s a tricky business to interpret crime statics,” said Kenneth Adams, criminal justice professor at the University of Central Florida…

Florida coach calls Nick Saban ‘the devil himself’
Examiner.com
Tim Davis, an assistant coach for the University of Florida Gators football team, is not a fan of University of Alabama coach Nick Saban. At a recent event Davis referred to Saban as “the devil himself,”…

Harris employee honored by University of Florida
Florida Today
Cindy Kane, director of corporate relations for Melbourne-based Harris Corp., has been named a 2013 Alumna of Distinction by the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications…

African American Baby Boomers And Retirement: It’s A Challenge
WJCT NEWS
Dr. JeffriAnne Wilder, a professor of sociology at the University of North Florida, says the same black Baby Boomers who lived through the Jim Crow era and the turmoil of the Civil Rights movement often find they don’t have the skills to successfully navigate the vagaries of retirement. ”You know there are definitely racial gaps as far as access to technology,” says Wilder. “And so African Americans in particular have less access to to computers and technology.  And even if they do have access to it, they’re a lot more resistant to embrace all the different things that the technological advances have brought.”

Pre-med student arrested for tricking girlfriend into taking abortion pill
WTSP 10 News
According to his Facebook page, [Andrew] Welden was a pre-med student at the University of South Florida…

How USF engages in education
MyFox Tampa Bay
Jenna Withrow has helped build the University of South Florida’s social media empire from the ground up. It started with just one Facebook page. “From there it just kind of grew organically,” Withrow said.

Releases and Web Stories

FGCU Claims the 2013 A-Sun All-Sports Championship
FGCU Athletics
MACON, Ga. – Florida Gulf Coast University is the Bill Bibb Trophy winner for the first time in the school’s history, edging ETSU to claim the 2012-13 Atlantic Sun All-Sports championship…

Study: Oil Dispersants May Make Oil Sink Deeper Into Sand
WCTV
Tallahassee, FLA — A Florida State University researcher working as part of the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) investigated the effects of dispersants on the movement of crude oil through water-saturated marine sand and found that dispersants potentially facilitate penetration of oil components into the seabed, where oxygen concentrations may affect the degradation of the oil.

Peekaboo Photo Booth Present in Rollins College Senior Sendoff Celebration
DigitalJournal.com (press release)
Andrew Birr, owner of Peekaboo Photo Booth states, “Over the last few years, we’ve done many events for Rollins College and this event is the most rewarding each year.

SF Digital Media Students Receive Scholarships
Santa Fe College
The Digital Media Technology department at Santa Fe College held the 2013 Student Showcase Thursday, May 2 with a gala opening and awards ceremony…

Here’s what caught my eye today…5/16/13

Posted on by

State University System

Growth Engines
Florida Weekly
Florida Gulf Coast University, in its seminal teenage year, has exploded onto the national stage, and is also considering an opportunity to expand the campus to nearly double its size…

‘US News’ Top Law Schools Fall Short on Diversity
The National Law Journal
…Florida International University College of Law (ranked No. 105 by U.S. News);…

Israel trip canceled due to Syrian conflict
Tallahassee.com
Plodding along on dunes of Israeli desert on camelback, Florida State University students absorb the nuances of a foreign nation’s landscape beneath an unfamiliar sun. Each summer, FSU’s study abroad program allows students the opportunity both to travel abroad and travel by camel in Israel. Due to conflict in the region, however, the 2013 Israel trip has been canceled, meaning camels will go unridden. Despite program claims that Israel is statistically safer than Tallahassee, Florida State University called off its summer 2013 international program in Israel earlier this month among growing concerns about the country’s conflict with Syria…

Local Leaders Say 2013 Legislative Session Was Good For Leon County
WFSU
…And representatives from Leon County Schools and Florida State University say they’re pleased with increased funding this session. FSU got a recurring $15 million for being designated a preeminent university…

University partnership combines teaching with arts in Manatee and Sarasota
Bradenton Herald
Leaders of three local schools have signed on to a new “artist-to-teacher” program. Educational leaders and administrators from USF Sarasota-Manatee, State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota and Ringling College of Art and Design signed memos of understanding creating the program, which allows students to enroll in participating schools for further education…

A History of Bay County
The News Herald
…The University of West Florida’s PC branch campus began classes in the old shipyard buildings in 1972. Florida State University at Panama City replaced UWF in 1987…

SPECIAL SECTION: FAU President’s Resignation – Coverage and Reax

Controversial president of Florida Atlantic University resigns
BizPac Review
Mary Jane Saunders Beleaguered president of Florida Atlantic University, Mary Jane Saunders, has resigned, according to a statement released by the university Wednesday…

Florida Atlantic U. Chief Cites Crushing Media Scrutiny in Resignation
Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription)
Mary Jane Saunders, who announced her resignation as Florida Atlantic University’s president on Wednesday, said she was not ready for the intense media scrutiny that came with the job and fears other public-university presidents are similarly unprepared…

‘A sad day’
FAU Owl Access
Florida Atlantic Athletic Director Pat Chun called it “A sad day” after FAU announced the resignation of President Mary Jane Saunders on Wednesday.

FAU President Mary Jane Saunders Resigns Suddenly!
Gossip Extra
Mary Jane Saunders, the embattled president of the Boca Raton-based Florida Atlantic University, is resigning her post — two years before her contract ends…

Mary Jane Saunders Resigns As Florida Atlantic University President
Huffington Post
Florida Atlantic University president Mary Jane Saunders tendered her resignation late Tuesday, May 14, 2013, after months of controversies at the public college…

Controversy-Scarred Florida Atlantic President Says She’ll Resign
Inside Higher Ed
Florida Atlantic University has had more than its share of controversies in the last several months, over the naming of its football stadium for a private prison company owned by an alumnus and a professor’s in-class exercise in which he invited students to step on a piece of paper with “Jesus” written on it, among others. (The university took heat from many in the public for the professor’s actions, and from many faculty members for failing to defend his academic freedom to their satisfaction.)…

FAU President Mary Jane Saunders resigns
MiamiHerald.com
After months of controversy, Florida Atlantic University President Mary Jane Saunders has resigned — though she’ll still retain a job on campus and most of her salary. In a resignation letter submitted to the university late Tuesday, Saunders highlighted FAU’s progress in academics and student success, but also noted “there is no doubt the recent controversies have been significant and distracting to all members of the University community.”…

President of ‘Jesus Stomping’ Florida University Quits – Newsmax.com
Newsmax.com
Florida Atlantic University President Mary Jane Saunders has resigned in the wake of students being asked to stomp on Jesus’ name. The school announced that she resigned late Tuesday and that FAU Board of Trustees Chairman Anthony Barbar had accepted the resignation. Saunders will remain at FAU to take a faculty position, where she will be assigned a special research project to assess the feasibility of developing a physician’s assistant program at the university…

Embattled FAU president quits after series of controversies
Palm Beach Post
Florida Atlantic University President Mary Jane Saunders is resigning, citing the “fiercely negative media coverage” the school has received this year after a series of high-profile controversies…

FAU President Mary Jane Saunders resigns after controversies
South Florida Business Journal
Saying that recent controversies “have been significant and distracting,” Mary Jane Saunders has resigned as president of Florida Atlantic University after only three years in office…

Saunders accomplishments at FAU listed
South Florida Business Journal
Mary Jane Saunders had a relatively short three-year stint as leader of Florida Atlantic University, but the announcement of her resignation listed a lot of accomplishments…

FAU president resigns
St. Augustine Record
The embattled president of Florida Atlantic University has resigned. On its website the school released a statement saying Florida Atlantic University Board of Trustees Chair Anthony K. G. Barbar accepted the resignation of Mary Jane Saunders late Tuesday…

FAU searches for new leader, new image after Saunders resigns
Sun-Sentinel
Florida Atlantic University is looking for a new leader  — and a new public image — after a series of controversies prompted President Mary Jane Saunders to step down on Tuesday night. For the next few months, Dennis Crudele, senior vice president for financial affairs, will serve as acting president, although Saunders will continue to hold the title of president, said Anthony Barbar, chairman of the Board of Trustees. Crudele has been an FAU administrator in some capacity since 1987.

FAU student plans to sue Saunders after being injured by car
Sun-Sentinel
FAU student plans to sue Saunders after being injured by car…

Turmoil at Florida Atlantic
Sun-Sentinel
FAU has received attention for several recent controversies, including: January: James Tracy, an associate communications professor, questions in his private blog whether the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre in Connecticut happened as reported, or whether it happened at all. He made similar comments about the Boston Marathon bombing. FAU issues him a reprimand, saying he hadn’t properly distanced FAU from his comments…

Dogged by controversy, FAU President Saunders steps down
Tampabay.com (blog)
Florida Atlantic University President Mary Jane Saunders was dogged by a series of controversies in the past year, including defending a professor who asked students to stomp on a paper after writing the name “Jesus” and a failed attempt to name the football stadium after jail contractor Geo Group…

Embattled FAU president resigns
The Florida Current
Florida Atlantic University President Mary Jane Saunders is stepping down. The Boca Raton school Wednesday announced Saunders’s resignation…

FAU President Mary Jane Saunders resigns
University Press
When she resigned, her salary was $200,000 flat, according to the Florida State University System payroll information. Chair Barbar, who volunteers on the BOT and receives no salary, “regretfully” accepted her resignation letter…

FAU President Saunders resigns
UPI
BOCA RATON, Fla., May 15 (UPI) – The president of Florida Atlantic University has resigned amid controversy to rename the school’s football stadium for a private prison company. Mary Jane Saunders sent a letter Tuesday saying she would step down and return to the FAU faculty, The Miami Herald reported…

FAU President Resigns After ‘Significant Controversies’
WLRN
FAU President Mary Jane Saunders resigned effective immediately from her top post at the university. She’ll stay on as a member of the faculty. Mary Jane Saunders has resigned…

FAU President Mary Jane Saunders has resigned – WPTV.com
WPTV
Florida Atlantic University President Mary Jane Saunders, who has had to deal with several controversies over the past year, has resigned…

Students react to FAU President’s departure
WPTV
There are mixed reactions among students to the news that President Mary Jane Saunders has resigned from her position as President of FAU…

Can FAU attract a top-tier replacement?
WPTV
The president of FAU‘s resignation amidst several public relations nightmares leaves big questions hovering over campus. Who’s next? And what impact will the incidents that led to her resignation have on the search?

State College System

School board stands firm
Florida Today
As is their protocol, they did not respond. Astronaut High School teacher Debbie Sandstrom pushed officials to fund the schools instead of the dual-enrollment program, which gives high school students a free college education at Brevard Community College.

Lox Groves files to block residents resisting PBSC campus
Palm Beach Post
In response to an April lawsuit filed by a group of residents trying to stop Palm Beach State College from building a campus in this rural community, the town in court papers filed Tuesday said the petition to block the campus is without merit and should be rejected by the court…

Independent Colleges and Universities

Ave Maria students in India on mission trip
The News-Press
Ave Maria University President Jim Towey and a dozen Ave Maria students are in Calcutta, India, for a weeklong mission helping the religious order that was the focus for much of Mother Teresa’s work.

Center for Nonprofit Excellence moving to Hodges University
Naples Daily News
The Community Foundation of Collier County and Hodges University announced Wednesday that the Center for Nonprofit Excellence (CNE), established at the Community Foundation in 1997, is moving to Hodges University this summer. The Community Foundation has awarded a three-year grant to Hodges, totaling $150,000, to help establish the training program at the university…

Education Combo Meal: Undergraduate and Law Degree in 6 Years
JDJournal.com
Recently, Stetson University College of Law has tried to do its part to help in its partnership with the University of South Florida, by offering combined undergraduate and graduate law programs that can be completed in six years…

‘Raising Canes’ documentary to continue at UM
Sun-Sentinel
The University of Miami and 3 Penny Films announced an extension of their soon expiring two-year contract that’ll continue their relationship.

Yip Yap: Noted and Quoted FLHE Voices from Around the State

Editorial: Saunders resignation right move for FAU and for her
Palm Beach Post
Florida Atlantic University President Mary Jane Saunders’ surprising resignation Wednesday shows that her “traditional academic background” didn’t prepare her for the political issues that go with the job.

Will resignation of FAU President Saunders end recent controversy?
Palm Beach Post
FAU President Mary Jane Saunders has had a bad couple of months. And that means Florida Atlantic University has had a bad couple of months. The university blundered into a controversy when it struck a deal with GEO Group, a private prison company, for naming rights to its football stadium. Critics immediately dubbed the edifice “Owlcatraz,” a combination of the team’s mascot and the infamous prison…

Editorial: What’s next for FAU, given its president’s resignation
Sun-Sentinel
No one likes to see a smart and capable person nudged out of a job, but FAU President Mary Jane Saunders made the right call Wednesday in announcing her decision to resign and step back into a faculty role. By all accounts, Saunders is a brilliant scientist and a delightful person who gave her heart — and her all — to the university she led for three years…

Mayo: FAU president’s resignation no surprise
Sun-Sentinel
Given the semester from hell she just endured, it’s not surprising that Florida Atlantic University president Mary Jane Saunders quit this week. In the end, Saunders couldn’t please anyone and alienated just about everyone: trustees, students, faculty, donors and alumni. Saunders, a plant cell biologist, simply got tired of being under a microscope…

Can’t You Put Down Your Phone When You’re With Someone Else?
Huffington Post
Many of us do it — we pay more attention to our phones than even our own family, friends or pets. Some students even seem to be addicted to their cell phones because right after class they immediately pull out their phone to check their texts or make a call…UCF Forum columnist Heather Waymouth, a recent University of Central Florida graduate who majored in advertising/public relations and English writing…

Column: To cut college cost, finish on time
Tampabay.com (blog)
With students busy finalizing their fall college plans, parents would do well to talk to their seniors this spring about ways to hold down the cost of a college degree. The higher education price tag continues to soar. It is more important than ever to find ways to contain costs…Catherine Chastain-Elliott is an associate dean of the baccalaureate experience at the University of Tampa.

CF’s Ryskamp resigns
Ocala
The College of Central Florida is looking for a new softball coach. Kerri Ryskamp, who just finished leading the Patriots to one of their most successful seasons this month, resigned Wednesday…

FAMU football coach Earl Holmes eager to restore pride in Rattlers
Orlando Sentinel
Holmes, a Tallahassee native who played at FAMU before spending 10 seasons in the NFL, took over as the Rattlers’ new head football coach in January…

Men’s basketball: Taking a look at new coach Joe Dooley’s contract
Naples Daily News
New Florida Gulf Coast University men’s basketball coach Joe Dooley has not yet signed his contract, but the Daily News received a copy of the amended one through a public records request.

Music therapy brings multiple benefits
Florida Today
Jamie Youngkin, a music professor at Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, is working closely with The Scott Center for Autism to better understand how music helps autistic children improve their social and communication skills.

Report: FKCC’s Gueverra No. 27 on salary chart
KeysNet
The president of Florida Keys Community College receives the second-lowest salary among the state’s 28 community college presidents but he and a college board member say don’t read too much into it. Monday, the Florida Office of the Chief Inspector General released a report detailing the presidential salaries, a report requested by Gov. Rick Scott. FKCC President Jonathan Gueverra comes in at $198,492, including benefits…

Class Notes For Sale. Student-Run Marketplace Expects $500000 In Revenue
WFSU
Selling class notes online is paying off for thousands of college students, and for the Florida State University students who run the study guide marketplace Moolaguides.com. The two-year-old company has buyers and sellers on more than twenty campuses, and the owners expect to bring in half a million dollars this year…That’s according to Moolaguides co-founder and CEO Thomas Brady, who’s still a semester shy of graduating from FSU…

Florida State names new Undergraduate Studies assistant dean
Florida Flambeau
Freshman and sophomore Florida State University students will soon be greeted by a new face when seeking advising for their academic careers. The university has just appointed Dr. Nicole Raimondi as the new assistant dean of Undergraduate Studies.

Inmates urge Scott to veto Timely Justice Act
Bradenton Herald
Mark Schlackman, senior program director for Florida State University’s Center for Advancement of Human Rights, said the bill was ill-conceived but has also been mischaracterized by some advocacy groups…

Mayor Buckhorn Dedicating Mural in Ybor City on Tuesday
Patch.com
Michael Parker, a local artist overseeing the project, taught a class at Hillsborough Community College specifically for the mural, and researched the neighborhood by interviewing residents…

High-Demand Degrees That Matter
WBFS
“There’s a reason why they are in demand, it’s hard to get a degree in that area, those are hard classes, a lot of math a lot of science, those aren’t always people’s favorites,” said Miami-Dade College enrollment director Dr. Rene Garcia…

Climate change brings disease threat for polar bears
New Scientist
…Diana Weber, who works at both the New College of Florida, Sarasota, and the American Museum of Natural History in New York, led a team that sequenced DNA from 98 polar bears in Canada. They looked specifically for genes coding the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) – a molecule found on the surface of cells that acts as a crucial component of the immune systems of most vertebrates…

Following hackings, students and admins tighten security
USA TODAY
…Cyber hacking, or the practice of breaking into computer networks to gain information, is becoming increasingly common, according to Greg Eller, the chief information officer at Northwest Florida State College…

Florida college presidents’ base salary vs. total compensation
Tampa Bay Business Journal
A recent report from the Florida Office of the Chief Inspector General found that the president of St. Petersburg College had the largest total compensation package, $449,031, out of the five colleges in the Tampa Bay area…

They can help grow your business
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Cameron Ford, director of the University of Central Florida’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, is a believer in the economic gardening philosophy that is the basis for GrowFL…

Gorgeous, but Highly Poisonous Snake Species Discovered in Honduras
Sci-News.com
A team of biologists headed by Dr James Austin from the University of Florida in Gainesville has described a new species of green palm-pitviper from a threatened cloud forest reserve in northern Honduras…

Lovebugs: The bugs we love to hate
Florida Weekly
First things first: Florida lovebugs are not genetically engineered — the result of a University of Florida experiment gone freakishly, Frankensteinally wrong. “Maybe we can finally dispel that myth,” said lovebug expert James Cuda…

UF’s Machen 9th, USF’s Genshaft 22nd on List of Highest Paid University …
WUSF News
The Chronicle of Higher Education has compiled its list of the highest paid public university presidents for fiscal 2011-12, and the University of Florida‘s Bernie Machen is again the top earner in Florida. The head Gator placed 9th among the 214 public university presidents ranked, with a total compensation package of $834,562. About 62 percent of that came from his base salary, the rest from a combination of bonuses, allowances and other compensation…

Man convicted in UM computer lab child porn case
MiamiHerald.com
When a man walked into a small private room of a computer lab at the University of Miami in February 2006, lab monitor Alejandro Laza grew suspicious. Using special software, Laza on his own computer saw in shocking real-time what former teacher Robert DeNapoli was doing: searching the Internet for “topless preteens” and “underage topless.”

Cuban dissident says racism remains a grave problem
MiamiHerald.com
“As long as the race problem is not resolved, we don’t believe that the problems of the nation can be resolved,” Cuesta Morua, who is black, said during an appearance at the University of Miami’sInstitute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies…

MLB, Selig lauded in Racial and Gender Report Card
MLB.com
The 2013 Racial and Gender Report Card, issued annually by The Institute of Diversity and Ethics in Sports (TIDES) at the University of South Florida, gave Major League Baseball a grade equal to its highest ever on the issue of racial hiring practices: A. Richard Lapchick, the director of the institute and the primary author of the study, saluted Commissioner Bud Selig for his efforts in this area. ”As he nears retirement, one of the legacies of [Selig] is that he recognized the need for diversity in baseball long ago,” Lapchick wrote in the report, which was released Tuesday. “MLB continues to make real progress in the areas of inclusion and diversity.”

New dean of USF’s College of Education
Tampabay.com (blog)
The University of South Florida has a new dean of the College of Education, which is the academic home to more than 3,000 students. Vasti Torres, who comes from education leadership roles at Indiana University Bloomington, will helm the college…

Living with autism: Grandin shares story, gives tips at conference
Pensacola News Journal
[Temple] Grandin, 65, was the keynote speaker for the second day of the three-day Flying High With Autism conference, which features dozens of speakers and breakout sessions at the University of West Florida Conference Center…

Environmental attorney kicks off last day of autism conference
Pensacola News Journal
Environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. kicked off the last day of the Flying High With Autism conference at the University of West Florida today. n his presentation, “Autism and America’s Future,” Kennedy spoke about how levels of the preservative thimerosal in vaccines are dangerous to children and connected to autism…

Releases and Web Stories

FAU President Announces Resignation
Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University Board of Trustees Chair Anthony K. G. Barbar accepted FAU President Mary Jane Saunders’ letter of resignation late yesterday, responding with a letter expressing regret and praising her for her many accomplishments. “On behalf of the Florida Atlantic University Board of Trustees, I regretfully accept your resignation,” he said in his letter.  “The Board respects your desire to return to the faculty, a decision we know you made in the best interest of the University.”…

Lynn’s youngest commencement speaker provides guidance for more than 500 graduates
Lynn University
Lynn University’s 48th commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 10 and Saturday, May 11 came at the end of a marquee year for the institution that saw the hosting of the final 2012 presidential debate, celebration of the school’s 50th anniversary and two major groundbreakings, one for its new International Business Center and the other for the new Bobby Campbell Stadium…

St. Thomas University, Konica Minolta replaces entire print operations
CR80News
St. Thomas University, located in Miami Gardens, Fla., has overhauled its entire print operations with a new complete desktop to print shop solution…

Researcher receives $1.4 million grant to study nutrition in low birth weight …
University of Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A University of Florida nursing researcher has received a $1.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to determine how to best and most safely nourish very low birth weight infants, who weigh less than 3.3 pounds. The funding will allow researchers to study a standard clinical treatment used to assess these infants’ nutritional status to determine if it is beneficial or risky to the baby…

Here’s what caught my eye today…5/15/13

Posted on by

State University System

All 93 FAU accounting grads get jobs
Sun-Sentinel
Florida Atlantic University’s ”honors” accounting graduates don’t have to worry about finding a job. Since 2009, FAU‘s accounting scholars program has achieved a 100 percent job placement rate. In the 2013 program, 23 students graduated with master’s degrees in accounting and are starting jobs with annual salaries averaging more than $55,000, according to FAU…

FAU, city agree to agree on off-campus housing
Sun-Sentinel
City officials and staff sat down with Florida Atlantic University over plans to revamp the Northwest 20th Street corridor into an off-campus college town and came away with an agreement to cooperate from now on…

FGCU foundation declines developer’s offer of 600-acre land donation
Naples Daily News
Florida Gulf Coast University has backed away from a developer’s offer to donate more than 600 acres for a future expansion of its sprawling campus in Estero. The developer, O.J. Buigas, CEO of Private Equity Group in Fort Myers, expected the university’s foundation to approve the donation at its next meeting, June 5…

How A Florida Medical School Cares For Communities In Need
NPR (blog)
If it’s a Monday, you can usually find Dr. David Brown parked next to a lake in Miami, spending the day inside a 36-foot-long RV. He’s not on vacation. Brown is chief of family medicine at Florida International University‘s medical school. The RV is the school’s mobile health clinic…

Tuition Discount Alert: 50 Great Colleges Desperately Seeking Students
Forbes
Noted institutions like Lewis & Clark College in Portland Oregon, the University of Maryland at College Park and Sarasota’s New College of Florida are on NACAC’s “we need students” list…

With new luxury dorm, Orlando philanthropists offer Hillel evergreen funding model
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
It’s a $60 million, 600,000-square-foot luxury dormitory at the nation’s second-largest college campus, the University of Central Florida in this city. When it opens in August, the new dorm will push the bounds of cushiness.

UCF med students help treat patients at free clinic
WFTV Orlando
Students at the University of Central Florida’s medical school will get some valuable experience and help the community by treating uninsured patients at a new free clinic…

Expansion OK’d for Fanatics Inc. office space in Southpoint
Jacksonville Daily Record
The St. Johns River Water Management District is reviewing plans for The Arc Village on almost 17 acres along Hodges Boulevard in South Jacksonville. It has been described on other plans as a community at 3615 and 3631 Hodges Blvd. The village is designed as an affordable rental community for adults, age 18 and older, with intellectual and development disabilities…The five group homes are within Arlington, where there are two, St. Nicholas, West Jacksonville and Mandarin. A college program for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities is on the campus of the University of North Florida, the site says…

Jolie praised for writing about preventive double mastectomy
Tbo.com
That ability to better inform women and men about their risk is the focus of a $2.8 million grant issued last week to the University of South Florida. The five-year study will track 5,000 breast cancer patients nationwide who have Aetna health insurance…

State College System

$10K 4-year degree being offered at College of Central Florida
WFTV Orlando
The College of Central Florida in Marion County is offering a four-year bachelor’s degree for $10,000 this fall.

Edison College considered leasing castle
Fox 4
During the height of the recession in Southwest Florida, Edison State College, funded by your tax dollars, considered leasing a castle in France. The college discussed using tax dollars to open a branch campus in northern France…

FSCJ downsizes, eliminates seven vice president positions and two divisions
Florida Times-Union
The Florida State College at Jacksonville board approved a new organization chart for the college Tuesday that eliminates two free-standing divisions and drops seven vice presidents down to lower-pay positions…

Retired jets may have new mission at sea
The News Herald
The two F-101 Voodoo aircraft recently removed from the Panama City Marina and Gulf Coast State College are now being proposed for use as artificial reefs …

Economic Council of PBC enjoys legislative success
BizPac Review
One of the shared priorities included appropriations of $6.5 million to Palm Beach State College for its planned Loxahatchee Grove campus which will bring much needed job training to the central western section of the county…

Scott gets last-minute sales pitches on spending plan
Palm Beach Post
A similar tactic is being used by Palm Beach State College, which is eager to have Scott endorse $6.5 million in state funding for the school’s Loxahatchee Groves campus…

Friendly competition proves a little bit ‘can’ go a long way
Sun-Sentinel
Participating Canstruction teams are Hedrick Brothers Construction, hughesumbanhowar architects, Leo A Daly/The Weitz Company, architectural students from Palm Beach State College, PGAL/Kaufman Lynn Construction, Suffolk Construction and…

Independent Colleges and Universities

Colleges to watch out for in the future
International Counselor
…While I have not had a chance to read the book [College (Un)Bound by Jeff Selingo] yet (it has been just released), I have learned that he singles out 19 colleges which comprise “a short list of forward-thinking universities to keep an eye on…These are just a sampling of colleges that have adopted strategies and programs that will help prove the value of their degree in the years ahead.”

  1. Ball State University
  2. City University of New York
  3. Cornell University
  4. Drexel University
  5. Georgia State University
  6. Goucher College
  7. Lynn University
  8. Northeastern University

Yip Yap: Noted and Quoted FLHE Voices from Around the State

Florida AM University’s legacy is one of improving lives, community
Sun-Sentinel
Over the past 18 months, Florida A&M University has become an institution of national interest for a lot of the wrong reasons. But as the media repeatedly asked what went wrong at FAMU and focused on unflattering news stories, it may have been easy for the general public to miss more prominent yet less told stories of what goes right at FAMU…Dr. Larry Robinson in interim president, Florida A&M University…

Letter: Roberts Academy Great Transitional School for Children With Dyslexia
The Ledger
This year was my granddaughter’s first year at Roberts Academy at Florida Southern College. It has been by far the best year ever for my daughter and for my granddaughter. This academy is such a wonderful treasure in Lakeland…Doug Wimberly – Lakeland, FL

74 years after graduating high school, 91-year-old woman receives college degree
The Republic
Some 74 years after graduating from high school, a 91-year-old woman received a bachelor’s degree from Daytona State College. College officials say Irene Lewis may be the oldest graduate in the school’s 53-year history…

Public forums for KCKCC academic vice-president finalists
The Kansas City Kansan
Dr. Michael Vitale – Senior Vice President, Academic Affairs at Daytona State College in Daytona Beach, Fla., Dr. Vitale previously served as Associate Vice President, College of Arts and Sciences at Daytona State College in Daytona Beach, Fla…

Reaching the big time: Fort Myers film hits Cannes
Florida Weekly
CHASE For grass-roots glory on the silver screen, it’s hard to match Steve Chase, born and raised in Naples, a filmmaker and teacher of fine arts photography at Edison State College…

Take the Aquatic Highway to Florida State Parks
Huffington Post
Southward lies Caladesi Island State Park, with a beach consistently ranked among the world’s Top 10 by Florida International University coastal geologist Stephen Leatherman, also known as Dr. Beach. Leatherman considers 50 criteria when making his picks, including current, sand quality and water clarity. Caladesi scores high in all areas, but the lack of crowds makes it especially appealing…

S. Florida’s housing woes make us one of the most distressed metro areas
Sun-Sentinel
“I think we have become more adept at managing our finances,” said Jorge Salazar-Carrillo, an economics professor who directs the Center of Economic Research at Florida International University…

Baseball improves diversity among senior administrators, employment of women …
Washington Post
While Major League Baseball teams improved racial diversity in hiring senior administrators, the employment of women is still lagging, according to the annual report by Richard Lapchick’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports at the University of Central Florida…

In Miami, more hospital prices may see light of day
MiamiHerald.com
As healthcare reform changes the way consumers pay for insurance coverage, prices will become a bigger factor in consumer decisions, said Steven Ullmann, a professor of health management and policy at the University of Miami…

Speakers, performers, sponsors sought for TEDxJacksonville
Florida Times-Union (blog)
The speakers there included Parvez Ahmed, director of the newly established Center for Sustainable Business Practices at the University of North Florida…

Paintball plan wins business competition
Tbo.com
Undergraduate Casey Henry had to sell a panel of entrepreneurs on her passion. Paintball. “It sounded pretty lame compared to everything else,” the 21-year-old University of South Florida senior said. “But they liked the plan. It was all buttoned down …

PBS Offers Guide to Cord-Cutting and Defense of Piracy
SF Weekly (blog)
The worst part of this section presents the personal musings of some dude named Dan Reimold, an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Tampa and keeper of the blog College Media Matters…

Compelling need to help difficult school kids – expert
Voxy
Professor Bill Evans, Director of the School of Education at the University of West Florida, is a visiting Canterbury Fellow lecturing and researching at UC, looking into issues relating to students with serious problems…

Autism advocate tells story, offers tips
Pensacola News Journal
Autism advocate Temple Grandin spoke this morning at the Flying High With Autism conference at the University of West Florida…

Releases and Web Stories

Carlyon promoted to Flagler College Assistant Director of Alumni Relations
ReadMedia (press release)
AUGUSTINE, FL (05/14/2013)(readMedia)– Flagler College has announced that Kerri Carlyon has been promoted to Assistant Director of Alumni Relations.

Florida Tech Faculty Members Honored for Excellence
SpaceCoastDaily.com
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Three Florida Institute of Technology faculty members recently earned the university’s 2013 Faculty Excellence Awards for outstanding performance.

Fourteen SF Students Graduate from Entrepreneurship Academy
Santa Fe College
Fourteen Santa Fe College students recently graduated from the Entrepreneurship Academy (EA). This group is the fourth class to graduate from the EA…

UF International Center recognizes oustanding area teachers
University of Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida International Center has recognized four area teachers for international endeavors in their classrooms…

University of Miami study: Companies in states with weaker economies provide …
Science Codex
Companies located in more economically-troubled states provide a greater opportunity for investors than companies in other states according to new research by the University of Miami School of Business Administration…

Here’s what caught my eye today…5/14/13

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State University System

Plea Deals In FAMU Hazing Case Raise Questions About Whether Charges Will Stick
WFSU
Four people have reached plea deals in the 2011 hazing death of a Florida A & M University Drum Major and all have settled for less than the maximum penalties of their charges. Experts say hazing is a crime that has proved difficult for prosecutors, but some say they expect others charged in the FAMU case to see stiffer penalties as a trial date nears…

UCF med-school grads are ambassadors
Orlando Sentinel
On Friday, 36 students from the University of Central Florida‘s College of Medicine’s charter class will graduate.

$6 Brochures Help Steer Latinos To Premium Universities
Fox News Latino
Most kids who are high academic achievers but come from low-income families aren’t applying to schools like Harvard or Columbia University, or even the University of Florida…

St. Petersburg co-op welcomes wide range of bike devotees
Tampabay.com
Across town, the student government at University of South Florida St. Petersburg recently voted to allow up to $11,200 from student fees for a bike sharing program after years of lobbying from campus sustainability groups…

SPECIAL SECTION: FL Inspector General’s Report on State College President Pay

Round Up of Compensation Reax & Coverage:

Pay for college presidents vary widely
Bay News 9

Fla. college presidents given expensive perks
Bradenton Herald

Fla. college presidents given expensive perks
Businessweek

State review looks at college president perks
Daytona Beach News-Journal

Florida College Presidents’ Compensation Ranges From $143866 to …
FlaglerLive.com

Inspector General recommends limits to pay for college presidents
Florida Times-Union

Fla. college presidents given expensive perks
Gainesville Sun

Fla. college presidents given expensive perks
MiamiHerald.com

Fla. college presidents given expensive perks
MSN Money

Fla. college presidents given expensive perks
Naples Daily News

Report: PBSC’s Gallon has among highest perks among peers
Palm Beach Post

Florida college presidents given big perks
Pensacola News Journal

Scott releases a report on state college presidential pay plans
Sarasota Herald-Tribune

SCF president’s pay ranks in middle, report finds
Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Salaries Of Florida College Presidents Under Scrutiny
StateImpact Florida

9 Florida colleges violate law on severance pay for presidents …
Sun-Sentinel

College Presidents’ Pay Wide-Ranging, Report Finds
Sunshine State News

SPC president pay tops among local institutions
Tampa Bay Business Journal

Review questions salaries for state college presidents in Florida
Tampabay.com

College presidents’ pay varies widely
The Florida Current

College presidents’ perks put into report
The News-Press

Pay, perks for Florida’s college presidents comes under scrutiny
TCPalm

Probe Uncovers Illegal Payouts At Some Florida Colleges
WCTV

Fla. college presidents given expensive perks
WFLX

State Inspector General Recommends Limits On State College President’s Pay
WJCT NEWS

GCSC President Salary Among the Lowest in the State
WMBB

Area colleges split on report calling for change in President’s pay
WOKV

Fla. college presidents given expensive perks
WPEC

Florida college presidents making millions in salaries and …
WPTV

State College System

Staff cuts underway to plug $9 million hole in FSCJ budget
Florida Times-Union
Layoffs, pay cuts and expense trimming are underway at the Florida State College at Jacksonville, where its leaders are working to plug a projected $9 million shortfall with an overall 6 percent cut to its budget…

Decision day looming on PBSC Loxahatchee Groves suit
Palm Beach Post
… to respond to a lawsuit which compelled the town clerk to show why the controversial Palm Beach State College campus issue shouldn’t come to a vote.

Independent Colleges and Universities

Saint Leo University to Open Center at Sykes Enterprises
The Ledger
A Lakeland business has joined with a private Catholic university to set up an onsite education center to allow employees and local residents to work on associate or bachelor’s degrees. Saint Leo University, located about 30 miles north of Tampa, will offer courses at the Sykes Enterprises Inc. contact center location at 1044 Griffin Road in Lakeland…

Yip Yap: Noted and Quoted FLHE Voices from Around the State

Reed: Why change name, degrees at BCC?
Florida Today
This may be the last time I introduce today’s interview subject as the president of Brevard Community College. No, Dr. Jim Richey isn’t leaving. The institution will change its name this fall to Eastern Florida State College. I asked Richey to explain the name change and new degrees offered by the college. I also asked for his take on Gov. Rick Scott’s challenge for colleges and universities to offer bachelor-degree programs for $10,000…

People on the move
Sun-Sentinel
Kevin Wagner, associate professor and director of graduate studies in Florida Atlantic University‘s Department of Political Science, was chosen to be an academic fellow on the study of terrorism by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), a non-partisan policy institute headquartered in Washington, D.C. Wagner will  travel to Israel in June for an intensive course on terrorism studies, focusing on how democracies can defeat the worldwide terrorist threat. The 2013 program will be conducted at Tel Aviv University, and includes lectures by academics, military and intelligence officials, and diplomats from Israel, Jordan, India and the United States. It also will include “hands-on” experience through visits to police, customs and immigration facilities, military bases, and border zones to learn the practical side of deterring and defeating terrorists.

Former Harbor Branch managing director to receive honorary doctorate
TCPalm
Marilyn C. Link, a pioneering pilot, educator, philanthropist and former managing director of a FAU Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, will receive an honorary doctorate from Binghamton University, State University of New York at its doctoral hooding ceremony on May 17…

Local business briefs: Tilley honored; Cheddar’s hiring
Florida Today
Scott Tilley, Florida Institute of Technology professor of software engineering, was recently named a distinguished lecturer by the Association for Computing Machinery, the world’s largest scientific computing society…

Rep. Frederica Wilson leads immigration forum tonight with Luis Gutierrez
MiamiHerald.com (blog)
The program will be moderated by Ediberto Roman, Professor of Law at Florida International University. “It’s fitting that we’re having this major policy event in Miami—one of the most diverse, immigrant-rich cities in the world…

The Lectern (May 13) – Corvallis Gazette-Times
Corvallis Gazette Times
Martin Kavka of Florida State University will argue that J.K. Rowling offers her readers a more worldly and life-affirming sort of Christianity than previous British fantasy literature had provided.Tuesday…

MDC president to be honored by Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
MiamiHerald.com
Miami Dade College President Eduardo J. Padrón will be honored next month by the South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Jane Austen’s ‘Guide to Thrift’
WPTV
In fifteen years as friends, Dr. Kathleen Anderson and Dr. Susan Jones, two English professors at Palm Beach Atlantic University, have gone bargain hunting together. Now, they’ve combined their love for books and their love for thrift shopping with inspiration from author Jane Austen. The pair has written the book, “Jane Austen’s Guide to Thrift: An Independent Woman’s Advice on Living.”

Conferences should hire more TV execs like Mike Aresco to run conferences
Orlando Sentinel
Instead, [Mike] Aresco and his team have been busy reinventing the University of Central Florida‘s new home, the American Athletic Conference. He wants to make sure the new logos and marks set to circulate over the next few weeks look great on television…

Road-builder bulldozes one of biggest Maya pyramids in Belize; police open …
Washington Post
Arlen Chase, chairman of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Central Florida, said, “Archaeologists are disturbed when such things occur, but there is only a very limited infrastructure in Belize that can be applied to cultural heritage management.”

Public University Presidents Are Prospering, Annual Compensation Study Finds
New York Times
…Rounding out the top 10 earners were Jo Ann M. Gora of Ball State University ($984,647); Mary Sue Coleman of the University of Michigan system ($918,783); Charles W. Steger of Virginia Tech ($857,749); Mark G. Yudof of the University of California system ($847,149); Bernard J. Machen of the University of Florida ($834,562); and Francisco G. Cigarroa of the University of Texas system ($815,833)…

Harlem Shake video at South Florida Subway turns sour, dancer suing franchise …
WPTV
“It has been embarrassing because people around the community look at me as if, if I’m a criminal,” said Orlando Guapo, the man who is suing the Subway franchise. Guapo said after he refused to take the video down, he started seeing “wanted” signs posted all over town. The signs featured a picture of Guapo with the word “ATTENTION!” on the top of the poster. Below it read, “If you see this person on our premises please call the authorities! He is trespassing and not allowed to be here. Thanks you for your help, management.” Guapo said he did not want to take the video down because he said he did not break any laws, steal anything or break anything. The 22-year-old, who is in his senior year at the University of South Florida, said since he fears his reputation is being ruined, he is suing on the grounds of defamation…

Republicans head to the polls today
Pensacola News Journal
Lewis Bear Jr., president of the Lewis Bear Co. and chairman of the University of West Florida board of trustees, and his family have steered about $3,500 toward Gray’s campaign.

Noted speaker on autism in Escambia County
WEAR
…Dr. Temple Grandin is one of the most well known people with autism in the world. The best selling author struggled to overcome “Asperger Syndrome” since childhood and has gone on to lead in autism advocacy…She’s in town for the “Flying High with Autism” conference at the University of West Florida and will speak there tomorrow morning.

Releases and Web Stories

Bartoshuk to receive lifetime achievement award
University of Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida professor Linda Bartoshuk wants you to taste a better tomato. She wants you to taste the best and most delicious tomato you have ever eaten…

How to Predict Stock Returns: Location, Location, Location!
Wall Street Journal (blog)
Forget earnings growth or valuation metrics, investors should use geography when deciding which stocks to buy, sell or short, according to a new research paper to be published next month from the University of Miami.