State University System
FAMU preparing reply to SACS’ concerns about band, student safety
Tallahassee Democrat (blog)
Larry Robinson’s 10-day plan as interim president of Florida A&M University began crystallizing within hours of his appointment Monday morning. Among the first orders of business: Preparing a reply to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), the primary accrediting body for universities in the Southeast, which is monitoring FAMU’s plans to address student safety and new policies for its band program.
Penn State and FAMU pay for broken promises
Washington Times
The Penn State scandal broke around the same time that a drum major at Florida A&M died at the hands of fellow students in the band as part of a vicious hazing ritual. Several weeks after the incident, police charged four students in the hazing beating death of Robert Champion. The 26-year old drum major’s family said last week ”the rampant culture of hazing found at FAMU would not and could not be eradicated without some major housecleaning of those who turned a blind eye to the problem.”..
FAMU Interim-President Speaks to Students
WCTV
Fresh off his appointment to the position Monday, July 16, 2012 by FAMU‘s Board of Trustees, Robinson fielded questions from students for about 90 minutes during a meet-and-greet here inside the rec center on campus.That meet-and-greet was hosted by FAMU’s Student Government Association.
FAMU Enters into New Marketing Campaign
WCTV
The campaign will focus on increasing FAMU exposure in what were identified as key markets for the school. Those include Charlotte, Atlanta, Jacksonville and Hampton, Virginia.
FAMU STEM Program Helping Local Kids
WCTV
This was the third year that 7th through 12th graders at FAMU’s Developmental Research School go a chance to gear up! The summer :Gear Up” program provides kids a hands on experience while incorporating Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, …
20 Republicans protest Obama outside Century Village as supporters line up …
Palm Beach Post
Obama’s most recent visit was in April when he spoke at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton during a day of South Florida campaign fund-raising stops. He was the second sitting president to visit FAU since Lyndon Johnson spoke at the university’s dedication in 1964. After his visit at FAU, Obama attended a $10,000-a-person fund-raising lunch at the Palm Beach Gardens home of Paula and Hansel Tookes…
Check it out: UCF, Rollins & the Kerouac House
Orlando Sentinel
This Monday kicks off a new monthly night featuring authors from the University of Central Florida, Rollins College and the Kerouac House.
US Senate panel approves citrus disease trust fund
Businessweek
A University of Florida study released earlier this year said citrus greening has cost the state’s industry about $3.6 billion and 6611 jobs since 2006.
UF-Alligator rack fight: Limit on free speech or move to be safer, cleaner?
Gainesville Sun
A mandate to remove orange newspaper racks from the University of Florida campus has ignited concerns about free speech and editorial independence. UF has given the Independent Florida Alligator an Aug. 15 deadline to remove 19 of its signature orange racks from campus. The move is part of a plan to largely replace freestanding newspaper racks with black modular units owned by the university.
UF newspaper in war of words with university over racks
MiamiHerald.com
The Independent Florida Alligator and the University of Florida are in a war over words. The dispute centers on how the newspaper is circulated on campus…
State College System
New Web Portal Gives Statistics, Earnings Data for Prospective Careers
WCTV
Making smart decisions about postsecondary options just got easier with a new tool developed by the Florida Department of Education. The new Smart College Choices web portal allows prospective and current students to view graduation rates, employment statistics and earnings data for graduates of the 28 Florida College System institutions and Florida Public School District Career Centers…
Titusville auction to offer city, college items
Florida Today
Surplus and retired items from the Brevard Community College and the cities of Titusville and Cocoa Beach will be among property auctioned …
Broward College launches manufacturing program
Upstart
Broward College has announced the launch of a manufacturing program at its campus in Coconut Creek. The program will offer an Associate in Science degree in manufacturing, two non-credit certificate programs for professionals in the field and an assessment center…
CF looking for courses, instructors for seniors program
Citrus Daily
The Senior Learning Institute at the College of Central Florida is looking for individuals interested in sharing their knowledge with a community of mature learners…
Duval students to experience college life at FSCJ
Florida Times-Union (blog)
Some Duval County school district students will participate in the Advanced Placement Scholars Summer Academy at Florida State College at Jacksonville.
Florida college must identify complaining student
MyFox Tampa Bay
A Florida appellate court says a college must identify the student who sent the school an email complaining about an instructor. A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal ruled Thursday in Tallahassee that names of students who submit complaints about their teachers are public records. The opinion reversed a trial judge’s dismissal of a lawsuit by former adjunct instructor Darnell Rhea against Santa Fe College in Gainesville.
Court: Florida schools must identify complaining students
Naples Daily News
The identity of students who submit complaints about teachers to public schools, including colleges and universities, are public records and must be disclosed to citizens, a Florida appellate court ruled Thursday. A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal said Gainesville-based Santa Fe College must release the name of a student who sent the school an email complaining about former math instructor Darnell Rhea’s classroom performance…
Florida college must identify complaining student
Orlando Sentinel
The identity of students who submit complaints about teachers to public schools, including colleges and universities, are public records and must be disclosed to citizens, a Florida appellate court ruled Thursday. A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal said Gainesville-based Santa Fe College must release the name of a student who sent the school an email complaining about former math instructor Darnell Rhea’s classroom performance…
Independent Colleges and Universities
Bethune-Cookman to expand athletic programs
Daytona Times
Bethune-Cookman is upgrading its current football practice field. The university also will add track and field practice capability…
Rollins College cleaned, prepped for Obama’s arrival
WFTV Orlando
On Friday afternoon, the president will be speaking at Rollins College in Winter Park after making a stop in Fort Myers in the morning. And to prepare for that speech, the Secret Service began sweeping the entire Rollins College campus Thursday night…
Historic Stover Theater at Stetson to be leveled in August
WOGX
Stetson University on Thursday released a tentative schedule of events leading up to the demolition of the historic Stover Theater. Officials decided to take a wrecking ball to the aging on-campus facility that was built during the Great Depression …
Jackson Health System board votes to escrow UM payment
MiamiHerald.com
Fed up with the slowness of negotiations with the University of Miami, the board of the Jackson Health System voted unanimously Thursday to start putting $3.6 million of its monthly payments to the medical school into an escrow account until a deal …
Yip Yap: Noted and Quoted FLHE Voices from Around the State
GANTT: FAMU needs a high-powered team
The South Florida Times
Talking snakes do not have good reputations. Snake stories have not been pleasing to God since they appeared in the Garden of Eden. And if Florida A&M University hopes to improve its image, it must address the methods it has used to select and hire the modern-day Rattler storyteller. With the resignation of President James Ammons, now is the time to select the best leader for FAMU and also the best media person to keep the university in a positive light…
Florida Board Of Governors Spokeswoman Resigns
StateImpact Florida
The public relations machine for the State University System of Florida Board of Governors (BOG) has resigned. Kelly Layman was, as she often referred to herself, “a shop of one,” handling communications for the State University System during a time of tuition increases, a fatal hazing scandal, and the controversial launch of Florida 12th public university. Now, she’s returning to the private sector as a partner at MedAffinity Corporation, a Tallahassee-based company that provides electronic health records to physicians. Layman’s last day with the university system is July 20.
“Daily NewsMakers with Jeff Lytle” … Jim Towey, president of Ave Maria University
Naples Daily News
They are Jim Towey, president of Ave Maria University, which is leading the national push against Obamacare; Roy Hyman of Estero, a leading casino gambling opponent and former resident of Atlantic City; and Dominic Calabro, CEO of Florida TaxWatch.
Edison faculty member will be on stage with Obama Friday in Ft. Myers
Fox 4
When President Obama takes to the stage Friday morning in Ft. Myers, he’ll have a long-time Edison State College faculty member by his side…For almost 30 years, Fredrick Morgan has been breaking down barriers to higher education…
Edison State College official to join Obama on stage during Fort …
The News-Press
Fredrick Morgan, director of The Project HOPE Scholarship Program at Edison State College, will join President Barack Obama on stage Friday when the president holds a grass-roots rally at the Harborside Event Center in downtown Fort Myers. It feels like a dream come true, Morgan said. “I may have the opportunity to take a professional picture with President Obama,” Morgan said. “I am still floating in disbelief that this could be happening.” Project HOPE – Help One Person Excel – awards academic scholarships at Edison State College for at-risk students. The program, which began in 1992, has helped hundreds of students who never dreamed of getting a college education graduate with a degree. The program is celebrating its 20th year at Edison State College…
Roommate of FAMU hazing victim reveals his last words
The Grio
Florida A&M University (FAMU) student Robert Champion died last year on November 19 after a hazing ritual. The Huffington Post reports, in an interview on HBO’s Real Sports, Champion’s roommate, Frank DeFord. The FAMU band student told Gumbel about the tradition of hazing at FAMU as well as Champion’s last words…
FAMU Alumnus to be on TBS Sitcom
WTXL ABC 27
Florida A&M University alumnus and comedian Roy Wood Jr. will make his acting debut in the new TBS sitcom, “Sullivan & Son.” “For me, this seemed like a fun comedic role,” said Wood, a native of Birmingham, Ala. “With this project, it’s such a blessing to be working with so many comedic veterans.” “Sullivan and Son” airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. (ET/PT), beginning with a one-hour premiere of back-to-back episodes on July 19.
GOP Firebrand Faces Election Challenge in New Swing District
New York Times
As for Mr. West’s penchant for controversy and his conservative voting record, it is too early to gauge its impact on the race. But he runs the risk of turning off at least some potential voters at a time when the Tea Party’s influence in Florida has encountered a backlash, said Kevin Wagner, a political science professor at Florida Atlantic University.
Hundreds Turn Out for Tickets to see President Obama
WGCU Public Media
Another, Laneesh Joseph, a student at Florida Gulf Coast University, said she’d been there since about 10 a.m. “I was a volunteer for the Obama campaign four years ago when I was a freshman and I also saw Joe Biden when he came to FGCU and also want to hear President Obama speak – it’s the chance of a lifetime” she said.
FSU Names New Director For ‘Seven Days of Opening Nights’
WCTV
Florida State University’s Seven Days of Opening Nights — the highly acclaimed performing arts festival that takes place each February in Tallahassee — welcomes a new director. Christopher J. Heacox, who has served since 2009 as executive director of the 120-year-old Friday Musicale festival in Jacksonville, Fla., will assume the position Aug. 1. Heacox will succeed Steve MacQueen, who is now the artistic director at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts and Burlington Discover Jazz Festival in Vermont…
College Officials Call For Reforms To Lower Higher Education Costs
Talk Radio News Service
With the recent student loan interest rate bill set to expire next year, a panel of education experts made a series of suggestions Thursday to make college more affordable including mandatory financial literacy classes so students can understand their loans, revamping the pell grant system, clarifying the exact costs of college beyond tuitions to help families make more informed decisions, reducing the number of textbooks required per course, and expanding internet classes. The panel, which included the Dean of the College of Education at Michigan State Univerity Dr. Don Heller, Dr. Steven Leath, President of Iowa State University, Dr. Jim Murdaugh, President of Tallahassee Community College…
TCC president touts school’s record
Tallahassee.com
In the depressing narrative of skyrocketing college tuition, stifling student debt and dim job prospects for recent graduates, Jim Murdaugh has a pretty uplifting story to tell. The Tallahassee Community College president got a chance to tout his school’s record of achievement Thursday as one of four university and college officials from around the country who testified before a Senate panel examining college affordability.
TCC President Jim Murdaugh Speaks to U.S Senate Committee on …
WFSU
Tallahassee Community College President Jim Murdaugh spent Thursday morning in Washington D.C. answering questions about college affordability. The U.S Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions asked about financial literacy, rising tuition costs, online courses, among other topics. ”Despite being given the authority to increase tuition by up to 5 percent, our decision to hold tuition at the same level as last year is a strong statement of what our trustees and our college leadership value. We value access to high education and we believe access is only real for those who can afford it.” says Murdaugh during his opening statement. This year’s tuition was $2,304.
Study points to causes of high dolphin deaths in Gulf of Mexico
Science Codex
“Unfortunately it was a ‘perfect storm’ that led to the dolphin deaths,” said Graham Worthy, a UCF provosts distinguished professor of biology and co-author of the study. “The oil spill and cold winter of 2010 had already put significant stress on their food resources, resulting in poor body condition and depressed immune response. It appears the high volumes of cold freshwater coming from snowmelt water that pushed through Mobile Bay and Mississippi Sound in 2011 was the final blow.”
NASA’s Spitzer telescope finds new, smaller planet, UCF-1.01, two-thirds earth …
New York Daily News
Scientists unexpectedly discovered a tiny planet, UCF-1.01, 33 light-years away, with NASA’s Spitzer space telescope. Kevin Stevenson led the team of researchers at the University of Central Florida, whose findings appeared in The Astrophysical Journal Thursday…
Lawson Lamar-Jeff Ashton debate set for News 13
Orlando Sentinel (blog)
Central Florida News 13 will use “Political Connections” to preview the Lawson Lamar-Jeff Ashton debate. The candidates for Orange-Osceola state attorney meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, and News 13 will carry the debate live from University of Central Florida. News 13 is sponsoring the event with UCF’s Department of Criminal Justice.
Obama makes push to win over Florida seniors
Washington Examiner
“Obama may find some traction with seniors [attacking Romney's Medicare position], but his main problem is that many seniors think what he is doing with health care will hurt Medicare even worse — that’s the perception here,” said Aubrey Jewett, a political scientist at the University of Central Florida…
Prosecution rests in trial of Fort Myers man accused of running cockfighting ring
The News-Press
This morning, jurors heard testimony from Cynda Crawford, a veterinarian at the University of Florida, who was asked to explain the purpose of several vials found on Lopez’s property…
UF Veterinary Researchers Discover New Virus Linked to Death of Australian …
HealthNewsDigest.com
“Understanding the ecology and diversity of infectious diseases of wildlife is critical,” said co-author James Wellehan, D.V.M., Ph.D., an assistant professor of zoological medicine at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine. “While medicine has traditionally waited for big outbreaks to cause large numbers of deaths and then dealt with new diseases reactively, an understanding of what viruses are out there and how they can be expected to behave allows us to be proactive, being aware of and monitoring agents of potential concern.”
Beloved orangutan at Jungle Island facing cancer treatment
MiamiHerald.com
To verify the diagnosis, samples were sent to the University of Miami’s Dr. Carolyn Cray, who specializes in pathology services for veterinarians…
Rich Kid in ‘Rich Kids of Instagram’ Tumblr Takes on Critics
ABC News (blog)
They’re the “rich kids” in the new “The Rich Kids of Instagram” Tumblr that shows what life is like on the other side, when you’re young, carefree and can enjoy the luxuries of a seemingly endless bank account, and the ability to Instagram photos of it all to your family and friends…Schwartz, a New York City native and rising sophomore at the University of Miami, says the news of the Tumblr, and its backlash, reached her quickly even in Europe and she was mortified…[Annabel] Schwartz, a New York City native and rising sophomore at the University of Miami, says the news of the Tumblr, and its backlash, reached her quickly even in Europe and she was mortified. “We took a vacation to have a nice time to enjoy ourselves. Not to make us splash on an Internet page,” Schwartz said. “These pictures are meant for our friends and a joke and for us to keep a memory and not for the world to watch.”
Obama Visits Florida to Win Over Older Voters
New York Times
Matthew T. Corrigan, a political scientist at the University of North Florida, said Mr. Obama has the advantages of incumbency and early organization while Mr. Romney has momentum from the economy. “It’s conceivable for the president to lose Florida and have other ways to go,” he said. “But I think for Romney, it’s a must-win state.”
President Obama campaigning in Jacksonville
WOKV
University of North Florida political science professor Dr. Matthew Corrigan says voters shouldn’t look too much into the gaffe, since both candidates have made them so far during this campaign, but he did mention he thought the president’s remark was unnecessary. ”Doesn’t make any sense at all to go after small business people. Number one, he wants their votes and number two, he needs them creating jobs,” says Corrigan.
Attention focuses on 5 Senate races
Jacksonville Daily Record
Weinstein, meanwhile, has deep roots in Jacksonville political circles, serving as a top aide to former State Attorney and Mayor Ed Austin — whose protégé also included University of North Florida President and former Mayor John Delaney.
Parents of teen who crashed into bay: ‘Let our cry serve as an alert to you’
Tampabay.com
On the May night Michael Agana crashed his car through the Bayshore Boulevard balustrade and into Hillsborough Bay, police made a specific request to a medical examiner: Be sure to test for LSD. Agana, 19, a Plant High School graduate and University of South Florida student, was declared dead five days after the May 11 crash. Police said he and a friend had spent that day at Busch Gardens. He had just dropped off the friend before barreling down a South Tampa street in his Toyota Camry and into the bay.
TV ads also target away-from-home consumers
News Chief
Dipayan Biswas, associate professor of marketing at the University of South Florida’s College of Business Administration, agreed. “Even if the target is the supermarket buyer, there are spillover effects that would reach the restaurant consumer,” he said.
Obama Visits Florida to Shore Up Weak Counties
The Ledger
By visiting those spots, the Obama campaign is showing it intends to fire up his base, even in places where Republicans dominate, said Susan MacManus, a University of South Florida political scientist.
The hug that doomed Crist’s Senate bid
The News-Press
“The hug photo was part of a cumulative effect of making Crist look too moderate,” said Susan MacManus, a University of South Florida professor who specializes in Florida politics.
In Florida, Obama hits GOP strongholds
Sarasota Herald-Tribune (blog)
By visiting Jacksonville and Fort Myers, the Obama campaign is showing it intends to fire up his base, even in places where Republicans dominate, said Susan MacManus, a University of South Florida political science professor. “By going to Lee County, that gets a lot of attention and whips up enthusiasm for the campaign,” MacManus said.
Tampa City Council ponders the fate of Occupy Tampa in park
Tampabay.com
“Occupy Tampa has, as long as we’ve been present in the park, had a track record of beautifying the West Tampa community,” said Nathan Schwartz, 20, a University of South Florida senior majoring in psychology. ”Ever since we’ve moved to Voice of Freedom Park, we’ve worked to beautify the area,” Schwartz said. “People who are direct neighbors of the park have had no problems with us and in fact we’ve helped each other out during our stay.”
Releases and Web Stories
FSU Selects LiveU for the Florida Channel
Broadcasting & Cable
LiveU has announced that the Florida State University has selected its live video cellular transmission system for WFSU-TV, which operates the Florida Channel. The system is being used as part of their coverage of the Florida state government …
New Ultracapacitor Delivers a Jolt of Energy at a Constant Voltage
Newswise (press release)
Newswise — Chemical batteries power many different mobile electronic devices, but repeated charging and discharging cycles can wear them out. An alternative energy storage device called an ultracapacitor can be recharged hundreds of thousands of times without degrading, but ultracapacitors have their own disadvantages, including a voltage output that drops precipitously as the device is discharged. Now a researcher from the University of West Florida has designed an ultracapacitor that maintains a near steady voltage. The novel constant-voltage design, which may one day help ultracapacitors find new uses in low-voltage electric vehicle circuits and handheld electronics, is described in the American Institute of Physics’ Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy…
