State University System
High court asked to resolve tuition power dispute
The News-Press
Arguing that the Legislature “resisted its loss of power,” a group that includes former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham wants the Florida Supreme Court to resolve a long-running dispute about the power of the university system’s Board of Governors to set tuition and fees. The group filed a brief Friday asking the Supreme Court to take the case. The request came more than two months after the 1st District Court of Appeal sided with legislative leaders in the dispute, which stems from a 2002 constitutional amendment that created the Board of Governors…
“The Supreme Court of Florida has never before had the opportunity to consider a case concerning a constitutionally-established university system,” the brief says. “A case of first impression, and one of this magnitude, should rightfully be evaluated by Florida’s highest court.”
FAMU Board Creates Independent Hazing Committee
Sunshine State News (blog)
An independent committee, with pre-set timelines and expected results, will be directed to eradicate hazing from the Florida A&M University campus. FAMU’s Board of Trustees on Monday agreed to create the five-member committee, as well as an on-site memorial and scholarship dedicated to band member Robert Champion, who died last year of injuries the Orange County medical examiner has announced were …
Florida college plan to stop hazing called a stunt
Orlando Sentinel
A Florida college’s new plan to appoint a blue ribbon committee to decide how to stop hazing in its celebrated marching band is nothing but a publicity stunt, said a lawyer for the family of a drum major killed in a hazing incident last November.
FAMU Students Bring Holiday Cheer to Families in the ‘Big Easy’
WTXL ABC 27
More than 100 Florida A&M University students visited New Orleans, La., for three days and two nights during the holiday season helping families affected by Hurricane Katrina.
FAU’s College Of Business Adds Mentoring Program
BocaNewsNow.com
Students pursuing a business degree at Florida Atlantic University are about to get leg up on some of the competition. The school is offering one-on-one mentoring with business leaders from the area.
Gay Rights in Palm Beach County: A Look Back at 2011
SouthFloridaGayNews.com
The Board of Trustees of Florida Atlantic University unanimously voted to add ”sexual orientation” to the school’s Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Regulation.
Second Tri-Rail station in Boca Raton proposed
Sun-Sentinel
In its short-term transportation plan that still must be approved by the State Legislature, the department sets aside $1.5 million in 2017 for a new Tri-Rail station near Glades Road and Military Trail. That would put the station in close proximity to the Town Center Mall, Florida Atlantic University and a number of large office parks.
College suicide: Second-leading cause of student death hits home in Southwest Florida
Naplesnews.com
In the past two years, Florida Gulf Coast University‘s campus community had to ponder this question at least three times, as three students died by apparent suicide. And while the rate of suicides among college students isn’t going up, it’s not going down either, despite growing efforts by college officials to create a safety net out of their campus communities.
Algenol Biofuels Inc. establishes FGCU scholarship fund
Eagle News
The Florida Gulf Coast University Foundation has received a $250000 pledge from Algenol Biofuels Inc. to create the Algenol Biofuels Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Scholarship Fund. Juniors and seniors at the University who are majoring in biology, biotechnology, chemistry, environmental engineering and mathematics are eligible for the scholarship.
The Frost Art Museum Receives Highest National Museum Recognition
Miami Art and Gallery Examiner
The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum at Florida International University has again achieved Accreditation by the American Association of Museums (AAM), the highest official recognition provided to US museums.
Florida State University’s Twitter Hijacked
Examiner.com
You can connect with Florida State University on Twitter through their screen name @floridastate, and if you do, you’ll know that they are currently investigating an apparent rogue and unauthorized tweet that was sent from their accout during the noon hour, eastern time.
USF Poly leader provides upbeat report
Tampabay.com
The interim chancellor of the University of South Florida Polytechnic offered a rosy report to USF trustees Wednesday, his third day on the job at the embattled branch campus. David Touchton, a Lakeland accountant tapped by USF president Judy Genshaft last month after she removed former campus leader Marshall Goodman, said he already has begun looking into USF Poly’s finances and identified several areas of potential savings.
State College System
E-Textbooks Saved Many Students Only $1
Chronicle of Higher Education
Despite the promise that digital textbooks can lead to huge cost savings for students, a new study at Daytona State College has found that many who tried e-textbooks saved only one dollar, compared with their counterparts who purchased traditional printed material.
Volusia, Flagler education CEOs form cooperative group
Daytona Beach News-Journal
The chief executives of Daytona State College and the Volusia and Flagler school districts are starting the year with a new mechanism in place to foster greater cooperation. The Collaboration Council will bring Daytona State President Carol Eaton, Volusia Superintendent Margaret Smith and Flagler Superintendent Janet Valentine together on a regular basis to discuss issues to benefit students in the two-county area.
Motivational speaker challenges Edison faculty to ‘take ownership,’ despite …
Naples Daily News
Edison State College faculty members rang in the new semester Wednesday with a convocation that had them on their feet clapping and cheering, radiating optimism for the future despite serious challenges faced by the school…
Edison State now takes standards seriously
The News-Press
There will be no leeway this semester at Edison State College. Every policy must be followed by everyone at all times, according to Erin Harrel, interim vice president for academic affairs. The college has just three months to prove it’s on solid academic footing, but its chances of emerging scot-free from a grueling accreditation process remain low.
Independent College and University System
The year of renovations at Rollins
Winter Park/Maitland Observer
…the estimated $27.5 million renovations of the Bush Science Center, the campus’ largest academic building, will begin in March or April and will include gutting the entire interior structure and adding an additional 10,000 square feet to the building. That, along with construction of Alfond Inn and various other site works around campus, he said, will help refine and accentuate Rollins College as an institution in liberal arts higher education and as a campus community.
Kerouac manuscript arrives at Rollins
Winter Park/Maitland Observer
In bringing the manuscript to Rollins, Bruce Gordy, president of the Kerouac Project, announced that the document had found an ideal home and should prove “the start of a promising relationship between Kerouac and Rollins.
Yip Yap: Noted and Quoted FLHE Voices from Around the State
Opposing view: FAMU is committed to student safety
USA TODAY
Our top priority at Florida A&M University is to ensure and protect the safety of every person on campus. Accordingly, the FAMU Board of Trustees and the FAMU administration resolve to break the culture of secrecy that is a major component of institutionalized hazing. While we acknowledge the complexity of this challenge, our goal is to eliminate this pattern of destructive behavior from our campus… James H. Ammons is president of Florida A&M University.
Kayaking pair covers entire St. Johns River to raise awareness
Florida Times-Union
But to see the river change from a marshland in South Florida to the Atlantic Ocean in Mayport was “humbling,” said [Matt] Keene, a 26-year-old Brevard Community College student assistant and student.
GOP presidential race funnels into Florida
Florida Today
Chris Muro, assistant professor of political science at Brevard Community College, said Santorum’s showing in Iowa “has really made the race more interesting,” but the big winner was Romney…
Florida increases minimum wage
Jackson County Floridan
Dr. James Froh, the director of business and technology at Chipola College, said that while the wage increase was great for employees struggling to make ends meet, it could hurt businesses trying to do the same. “Increasing the cost to do business is pretty significant to do in this time and age,” Froh said. The extra 36 cents may not sound like a lot, Froh said, but it adds up. For an employee working 40 hours a week, it amounts to an extra $14.40 a week and an extra $748.80 a year.
FAMU Entrepreneurs
WCTV
Jerell Hester and Andre Albritton are classmates, roommates and business partners. ”A lot of students here are familiar with Tally ET. We’re the ones behind Tally ET, said CEO of TallyET.com and Big Small Marketing Jerell Hester. ”Pretty much 150 views per day and on Twitter we have about 26 hundred followers now,” said CEO of TallyET.com and Big Small Marketing Andre Albritton. The website is basically a calendar of events for all the college students in Tallahassee.
Jarvis reaches out to children at Savon’s Academy
Sun-Sentinel
Now in his fourth season as head coach at Florida Atlantic University (FAU), [Mike] Jarvis related that story and many others to almost 50 campers and counselors last Tuesday on the first day of Savon’s Academy Holiday Basketball Camp at the Royal Palm Beach …”Listen with your ears and your eyes,” said the 66-year-old Jarvis. “Sit in the front of the class. If you don’t know the answer, ask questions. Give respect to your coach, your parents, your teachers.”
Legislators, experts agree: Caucuses point to Florida for choosing Republican …
TCPalm
“What the candidates need is money, and lots of it; Florida is a five-major media (market) state,” said Kevin Wagner, Florida Atlantic University assistant professor of political science. “It takes a lot of money to compete in Florida. …
More Florida high schools get top marks
MiamiHerald.com
“We all woke up this morning to one of the coldest days thus far this year, but I assure Miami-Dade schools are red hot today,” said Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, flanked by about a dozen principals. The district now has 73 percent of schools ranked an A or a B, compared to 59 percent last year. Carvalho attributed the improvement to many factors: increased enrollment in college-prep and dual enrollment courses; extra Saturday classes; partnerships with Florida International University and nonprofits like City Year and Teach for America; constant data-crunching; and strong teachers and principals.
How to keep New Year’s resolutions
Florida Times-Union
“We know that our brains get very adapted to our behavior,” said Erin Richman, a psychology professor at the South Campus of Florida State College at Jacksonville. “When we change our behavior, it doesn’t feel comfortable.”
Violent Decades Surround Burned Abortion Clinic
NPR
“The thing about that clinic that is remarkable to me is that there are the repeated violent acts going back 30 years,” said Thomas Blomberg, dean of Florida State University‘s college of criminology. “There is apparently some fringe group in Pensacola that takes great exception to the clinic. I cannot think of another place that has had repeated acts of violence like this.” In June 1984, the clinic, then known as the Ladies Center, was bombed, then blasted again Christmas Day after it moved to its present location. Two other local abortion clinics were bombed that same day. No one was hurt.
La Niña expected to affect Cotton Belt climate in 2012
Southwest Farm Press
Add David Zierden, Florida State Climatologist, to the list of weather experts predicting a continuation of La Niña and dry conditions through winter and at least into spring planting season across the U.S. Cotton Belt. Zierden, who works from the Florida Climate Center and Center for Ocean-atmospheric Prediction Studies at Florida State University in Tallahassee, opened the 2012 Beltwide Cotton Conferences in Orlando with less than good news about likely weather paterns…
Eduardo Padrón guides nation’s largest community college to offer low-cost …
Miami Today
Since moving to the United States as a refugee at 15, Eduardo Padrón has spent 41 years at Miami Dade College, working his way through the ranks at the only school he said would give him a chance after high school.
CrossFit exercise is the newest form of exercise. How does it …
kjrh.com
Palm Beach State College Wellness Center Specialist Lyn Becker says there’s an even bigger factor to staying fit. ”You have to figure out what works for you and go with that. Some people reach a plateau, then it’s time to do something different. Variety is key,” she said.
Where are the TV campaign ads in Florida?
WTXL ABC 27
“We can’t be ignored and Florida is going to be a huge, huge game changer,” said Richard Murgo, Tallahassee Community College Political Science Professor, “they may be holding back because resources are scarce, particularly for some of these new contenders.”
Rick Santorum’s task gets tougher in Florida
Palm Beach Post
Can Rick Santorum’s Iowa momentum propel him to success in Florida’s crucial Jan. 31 Republican presidential primary? The college student who chairs Santorum’s campaign in Palm Beach County says he can, but some seasoned political pros say they’re skeptical. “We’ve already started building a strong team, and we’re only going to get stronger in Florida,” said Michael Christ, 18, of Boca Raton, a freshman at the University of Florida...
State commission recommends major changes in Florida public hospitals
MiamiHerald.com
That brought strong objections from Zingale of the Safety Net Alliance and Paul Duncan, a University of Florida health professor and member of the commission. Both said the public hospital results were skewed by the extremely high costs at Jackson. …
Former UF dean named president of University of New Mexico
Gainesville Sun
A former University of Florida dean has been named the new president of the University of New Mexico, the UNM Board of Regents announced Wednesday. Robert G. Frank has been named the new president of the University of New Mexico.
Why pythons should eat politicians
MiamiHerald.com
Last year, Frank J. Mazzotti of the University of Florida’s Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Research and Education Center in Fort Lauderdale told a congressional committee that researchers have found 23 species of birds, 15 kinds of mammals and the occasional alligator in the bellies of captured pythons. Wood storks, snowy egrets, great egrets, great blue herons, little blue herons and limpkins were on the python menu. Along with the endangered wood rat. Mazzotti said that where Burmese pythons have become common in the glades, marsh rabbits have turned scarce. “The only muskrats that have been seen in [Everglades National Park] in the past three years have come from the stomachs of pythons,” he said.
Florida voters may decide GOP presidential nominee
Orlando Sentinel
“As we saw last time with John McCain, if Mitt Romney holds on and can win Florida, it’s clear sailing to the Republican nomination,” said Daniel Smith, director of the political campaigning program at the University of Florida.
Miami Chamber of Commerce endorses casinos
MiamiHerald.com
Gregory Bush, a University of Miami history professor helping organize opposition to the casinos, called the Chamber vote predictable and misguided. “It’s bad for business in the long run,” Bush said.
Iowa results could recast Florida presidential race
The News-Press
“Romney has challenges too,” said Matthew Corrigan, a political science professor at the University of North Florida. “He’s got all the weapons, but he doesn’t have the passion.” The intervening contests will begin to shake some of that out. …
Weatherford named one of 12 state legislators to watch
MiamiHerald.com (blog)
“He is young, full of energy and unafraid to tackle the tough issues,” says University of South Florida political scientist Susan MacManus. “Obviously, he is well served by his father-in-law’s advice on what it takes to get and maintain respect from …
Mouse Study Links Autism, Immune System Changes
PsychCentral.com
University of South Florida investigators found that elevated levels of an amyloid precursor protein (APP) are tied to immune system abnormalities that mimic those seen with autism spectrum disorders…“Autism affects one in 110 children in the United States today,” said research team leader Jun Tan, M.D., Ph.D. “While there are reports of abnormal T-cell numbers and function in some persons affected with autism, no specific cause has been identified. The disorder is diagnosed by behavioral observation and to date no associated biomarkers have been identified.”
USF students propose businesses
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee student Debbie Tisdale tells an audience at a recent forum about Skills Training and Entrepreneur Program, an idea she and fellow students suggest for helping high school students become entrepreneurs after …
Releases and Web Stories
FGCU Small Business Development Center Hosts 13th Annual Entrepreneur’s Law School
Insurance News Net (press release)
FORT MYERS, Fla., Jan. 4 – Florida Gulf Coast University, a component of the Florida state university system, issued the following news release: The Small Business Development Center at Florida Gulf Coast University hosts the 13th annual Entrepreneur’s Law School event 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 28 at the Student Union on campus. FGCU President Wilson G. Bradshaw is the keynote speaker…
A 30-year veteran named Lynn University’s vice president for academic affairs
Lynn University
Gregg Cox was recently named Lynn University’s vice president for academic affairs after more than 30 years of service at the school in a variety of roles—most recently as the interim vice president for academic affairs.
WUCF TV Grows ‘Bolder’ With Inspiration Programming for 50+ Audiences
PR Web
WUCF TV is a partnership between the University of Central Florida and Brevard Community College, which launched the new PBS station July 1 after prior PBS …
