via The News Service of Florida
In the Senate:
The Special Order Calendar Group meets Wednesday to set the special order calendar. (Wednesday, 4:45 p.m., 401 Senate Office Building, The Capitol.)
In the House:
Education Appropriations: 9 a.m., 412 Knott Building
The House K-12 Subcommittee will hear presentations from superintendents and others on high school graduation requirements. (Wednesday, 11:30 a.m., 17 House Office Building, The Capitol.)
State University System
Florida Atlantic Football Stadium Will Be Named For Private Prison Company
Huffington Post
For more than two years, Florida Atlantic University has been searching for the name of a corporate sponsor to adorn its new 30,000-seat, palm-ringed football stadium. The public university on Tuesday announced an unconventional partner: the nation’s second-largest operator of for-profit prisons, the GEO Group Inc. The newly christened GEO Group Stadium came as part of a $6 million donation from the prison company’s charitable foundation, which will be paid out to Florida Atlantic over 12 years…
Stadium to Be Named for Company That Runs Prisons
Inside Higher Ed
Florida Atlantic University has agreed to name its football stadium for a company, GEO Group, that runs private prisons, The New York Times reported. University officials are defending the deal, saying that they need private money for athletics and that GEO officials have strong ties to the institution. A number of groups have over the years raised questions about GEO Group’s management of prisons, and some say that the university should not be using a major facility to promote the company.
FAU stadium strikes deal with prison firm
Miami Herald
Florida Atlantic University’s announcement to change the name of its football stadium to that of a private prison corporation accused of human rights violation has surprised and outraged students as well as South Florida’s pro-immigrant activists…
A Company That Runs Prisons Will Have Its Name on a Stadium
New York Times
In recent years, where stadium naming rights could be sold, universities and professional sports teams have sold them — to airlines and banks and companies that sell beer, soda, doughnuts, cars, telecommunications, razors and baseball bats. This led to memorable examples like Enron Field, the KFC Yum! Center and the University of Phoenix Stadium. On Tuesday, that trend took another strange turn when Florida Atlantic University, in Boca Raton, firmed a deal to rename its football building GEO Group Stadium. Perhaps that pushed stadium naming to its zenith, if only because the GEO Group is a private prison corporation. For this partnership, there is no obvious precedent…
Boca Raton firm that runs prisons gets naming rights to FAU stadium; it’ll be called GEO Group Stadium
Palm Beach Post
Football’s ubiquitous battle cry of “We must protect this house!” took on new meaning Tuesday when Florida Atlantic University announced that naming rights to its stadium will go to a company that runs prisons, the GEO Group, for $6 million over 12 years.
FAU to name stadium after prison company GEO Group
Sun-Sentinel
When the Florida Atlantic University athletic department completed construction on its $70 million football stadium in 2011, it knew it would need big money player to help its cause. The university called a special meeting of its Board of Trustees to formally accept a gift of $6 million from the Boca Raton-based GEO Group. In exchange for the gift, FAU Stadium be renamed GEO Group Stadium for the next 12 years. GEO Group is a private correctional facilities company that owns or runs more than 100 properties, operating 73,000 beds across North America, and into Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Florida Atlantic University announces new name for FAU football stadium: The GEO Group Stadium
WPTV
In a Board of Trustees meeting today, Florida Atlantic University announced a finalized deal with the GEO Group that includes naming rights for its football stadium. The GEO group operates a range of correctional and detention facilities and is headquartered in Boca Raton. For two years while the university attempted to secure the naming rights, the stadium was simply known as FAU Stadium. It will now be known as GEO Group Stadium.
The ‘I’ in FIU
Inside Higher Ed
Florida International University may have “international” as its middle name, but only recently has it moved to make global learning a centerpiece of its undergraduate curriculum.
Sweetwater Hopes to Annex FIU‘s Engineering and Computing Campus
NBC6
The City of Sweetwater has announced plans to annex Florida International University’s College of Engineering and Computing campus on West Flagler Street…
UCF committee looks at increasing med school tuition
Orlando Business Journal
The University of Central Florida Finance & Facilities Committee will examine a proposal Feb. 20 to increase medical school tuition by about 3 percent. Currently, the College of Medicine costs $26,804.20 for an in-state student and $54,819.80 for out …
The cost of switching conferences
ESPN (blog)
This summer, the University of Central Florida will try to squeeze in replacing its basketball court between summer camps. Although the Golden Knights expect to increase their revenue long term by joining the Big East, there are some short-term costs associated with realignment. For example, UCF will spend approximately $40,000 to change out the surface on their two basketball practice courts, basketball game court and volleyball game court to feature Big East logos in place of C-USA logos. In total, UCF will change out 18 conference logos in and around its athletic facilities. They’re budgeting another $25,000 for existing conference signage and interior banners, a number they say could grow if they decide to add additional conference-branded displays…
Advocates criticize UCF plans to change early-childhood program
Orlando Sentinel
The University of Central Florida has sparked a furor among early childhood education advocates with its plan to eliminate some degrees in that field. Students, educators and others are circulating a petition opposing UCF‘s plan to cut two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree in early childhood education as state and national leaders are pushing for higher-quality preschool programs. By Tuesday afternoon, more than 800 people had signed the online petition. Some local childcare centers posted a link to it on their Facebook pages…
UF study: Rainy season fertilizer bans may harm your grass
Florida Today
The findings announced Tuesday by University of Florida buck the logic behind local ordinances enacted statewide in recent years to ban rainy season fertilizer use…
University of South Florida students board bus for Capitol tuition campaign
Tampabay.com
Dozens of University of South Florida Students boarded a bus in the wee hours of the morning Tuesday, bound for Florida’s state Capitol both to celebrate their school and spread a message. No tuition increases. More funding…
State College System
Florida Council of 100 to Co-host Education Summit at SeaWorld
Sunshine State News
The Florida Council of 100, the Florida Chamber Foundation, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Chamber Foundation, and AT&T are set to co-host a summit on the new Common Core State Standards and other educational issues confronting Florida at SeaWorld in Orlando on Feb. 27. The agenda includes: …
• A panel of Florida education and civic stakeholders moderated by Marshall Criser,III, and featuring Andy Ford, president, Florida Education Association; Jean Hovey, executive director, Florida PTA; Mary Laura Bragg, national policy director of state policy implementation, Foundation for Excellence in Education; State Sen.Bill Montford, CEO, Florida Association of District School Superintendents; Joe Pickens, chair, Florida College System Council of Presidents and board member, Southern Regional Education Board; Dr. Marcy Driscoll, dean, Florida State University College of Education; and T. Willard Fair, president and CEO, Urban League of Greater Miami Inc.; former chairman, Florida State Board of Education.
Chipola Champs Camp Offers College Experience
WCTV
The Department of Children and Families, Big Bend Community Based Care and Anchorage Children’s Home are partnering with Chipola College to host the first “Chipola Champs Camp” for 18 children, ages 11-17, from Leon, Bay, Gadsden, Jackson and Holmes counties next week…
Council to host public meeting on RESTORE Act plan
The News Herald
…A public meeting will be held at Gulf Coast State College’s Student Union East Conference Center at 6 p.m. Feb. 28 to gather input on the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council’s “Path Forward” document, the first draft plan for use of RESTORE Act funds. The meeting will be led by representatives from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), who will be accepting ideas from the public for state restoration projects…
HCC’s Collegiate 100 program welcomes its first students
Tbo.com
…Select students at Hillsborough Community College recently received a prestigious honor, becoming members of the school’s Collegiate 100. The organization, an auxiliary of the 100 Black Men of America Inc., welcomed its first inductees in a ceremony at the Brandon campus…
Lake-Sumter State College looking to build new campus near Wekiva Parkway
Orlando Sentinel
Lake-Sumter State College administrators believe the new Wekiva Parkway will bring more students, not just more traffic, to Lake County. So they’re hoping to build a fourth campus along the parkway’s route. The 25-mile toll road will run through parts of Lake, Orange and Seminole counties and is expected to create thousands of construction jobs and spur new building…
Independent College System
Florida Southern College Campus Cats Get Frank Lloyd Wright-Inspired Shelters
Huffington Post
Florida Southern College is building new dorms inspired by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright … for cats…
Ringling College to host Service Design Tourism conference
Malaysia Sun
Ringling College of Art and Design will host the second annual international Service Design Tourism conference on its campus Nov. 22-23. The Sarasota college will partner with Management Center Innsbruck, host of SDT 2012, the inaugural conference held in Austria in 2012, to produce the 2013 event. The event draws attendees who share an interest in the practical application of service design thinking within the travel and tourism industry, a written statement said…
University of Miami displays Afro-Cuban art (Photos)
Examiner.com
An exhibit of Afro-Cuban art, the first of its kind in South Florida, features paintings with vibrant colors and bold images reminiscent of West African tribal art. It opened at the University of Miami on February 17, showcasing the wide range of artistic expression by African descendant people from Cuba and the Afro-Cuban Diaspora. The exhibit, entitled “Africa in Cuba,” celebrates Black History Month…
University of Miami receives notice of allegations from NCAA, school confirms
Palm Beach Post
Nearly two years after the NCAA began its investigation, the University of Miami has finally received its notice of allegations, the university confirmed Tuesday…
For Profit and Career Colleges
Graduate sues Everest University alleging worthless credits
TBO.com
A graduate of Everest University is suing the for-profit school, saying he was misled about his ability to transfer credits and has racked up $27,000 in student debt for a degree he says has “no value.” Benjamin Cordoba, of Brandon, said he approached Florida Metropolitan University, which since has changed its name to Everest University, in 2002 when he was considering returning to school. His intent was to transfer to Hillsborough Community College and ultimately the University of South Florida…
Yip Yap: Noted and Quoted FLHE Voices from Around the State
Editorial: Risk and reward
Gainesville Sun
The University of Florida had long offered online programs before partnering last year with Coursera, which provides free online courses to the masses. The early results are impressive. Nearly 48,000 are currently taking UF‘s first free course, a class in human nutrition. That’s around the same number as UF‘s enrollment of tuition-paying students. So-called massive online open courses, like the non-credit classes offered through Coursera, have the potential to expand access to higher learning to students whose incomes or locations prevent them from taking traditional classes.
Lowe: NCAA vs. the University of Miami (February 19, 2013)
Sun-Sentinel
…The NCAA, presumably, is supposed to police this stuff, using the threat of suspension and other punishments as its enforcement tool. Now there’s a major scandal involving the University of Miami, and an even bigger one concerning the flawed way the NCAA has been investigating it…
Education commissioner says Florida needs more teachers
Tallahassee.com
…Leon County Schools spokesman Chris Petley said proximity to the Florida State University, Florida A&M, and Tallahassee Community College gives local schools a recruiting pipeline that may not be available to other districts…
Young dad says giving baby bleach was dumb
UPI.com
Carron Washington, 20, spoke to reporters Monday at the Marion County Jail, Ocala.com reported. Washington‘s daughter, Cadlynn, needed surgery soon after her birth Dec. 14 because her esophagus was not attached to her stomach. He said the baby had had breathing problems and a friend at the College of Central Florida advised bleach as a treatment. ”It’s probably the dumbest decision I’ve made in my life,” he said.
Local lifestyle happenings
Daytona Beach News-Journal
The Center for Women and Men at Daytona State College, in partnership with the Early Learning Coalition of Flagler & Volusia and Stewart-Marchman-Act Behavioral Healthcare, will host a free four-hour workshop to help parents strengthen their families from the inside out. Participants will learn about the protective factors that need to be present in a family in order to keep it strong and healthy…
Why is Obama calling for a ‘rigorous curriculum’ for 3-year-olds?
Washington Post
In addition, there has been a movement toward pushing down more and more academic material on very young kids in traditional academic settings, even though most youngsters are not developmentally ready to do it and learn better by play. Said Elaine C. Schaeffer, professor of early childhood education at Edison State College in Fort Myers, Fla.: My concern is that, in the rush to push formal academics into the earliest years, we may be ignoring what we know from brain research about the way young children construct knowledge…
FPL Funds Florida Tech Professor for Wind Energy Project
Brevard Times
Y.I. Sharaf-Eldeen, associate professor in the Florida Institute of Technology Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, received a one-year, $54,107 research grant from Florida Power & Light Co. (FPL) to study the wind resource potential in the utility’s service area.
Bense reappointed to FSU Board of Trustees
The News Herald
Panama City resident and former state House Speaker Allan Bense was reappointed to Florida State University’s Board of Trustees Tuesday…
Big Bend news briefs
Tallahassee Democrat
The Department of Religion at FSU will be holding its 12th Annual Graduate Student Symposium this Friday through Sunday. Most of the events will be held at Dodd Hall. This year’s theme is Politics of Religion. The conference keynote speaker is Aaron Hughes from the University of Rochester. More than 50 graduate students from around the nation will present their research from various disciplines such as religious studies, history, political science, philosophy, psychology and classics. The symposium is open to the public. For additional information and a copy of the conference program that includes the list of presenters and the time and title of the lectures, visit http://religion.fsu.edu/graduate_symposium.htm
Ruskin artist commissioned to paint HCC mural
Northwest News and Tribune
Ideas are in motion for a new mural to be added to the Fountain Courtyard at the SouthShore campus of Hillsborough Community College. Local artist Michael Parker, 35, has been commissioned to paint the mural, which will be added to other well-known projects across the bay area, including the Big Draw mural in Ruskin, the Adamo Drive mural in Ybor City and the Information Access mural at the Ruskin Library…
Gay Rights advocate Dan Savage takes Jacksonville City Council to task
First Coast News
An internationally known gay rights advocate is taking on the Jacksonville City Council. Dan Savage has a column published internationally, a show on MTV and makes guest appearances on national talk shows, but Tuesday he was in Jacksonville, and taking on the City Council. Savage is in town to speak to students at Jacksonville University on a wide range of topics, sex education, freedom of expression, and bullying.
Dissident Cuban Blogger Coming To Miami-Dade College
CBS Local
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Cuban dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez will speak in April at the Miami-Dade College Freedom Tower, according to a release from the school …
Senate ethics package ready for floor vote
Palm Beach Post
“They can basically apply for any job that’s out there advertised in government as long as they’re qualified for the job, as long as it’s an open application period. We just want to discourage those kinds of things that happened with Ray Sansom” or in a Panhandle county where a commissioner got a special job with the city, Senate bill sponsor Jack Latvala, R-St. Petersburg, said. Former House Speaker Ray Sansom was hired by Northwest Florida State College for a $110,000-a-year job on the day he became speaker. The Destin Republican was forced to resign as speaker in 2009 after he was charged with conspiracy and grand theft for spending that benefited the college that onetime appropriations chairman Sansom tucked into the state budget. Prosecutors later dropped the charges against Sansom…
Former Gator linesman arrested on drug charges
Sun-Sentinel
A troubled former University of Florida linesman had another run-in with the law and was arrested on various drug charges in North Lauderdale, including cocaine and marijuana possession and oxycodone trafficking. Ronnie Wilson, 25, was arrested in North Lauderdale and charged with displaying a firearm during the commission of a felony and multiple drug charges, including oxycodone trafficking and cocaine and marijuana possession. Wilson, 25, appeared in court Tuesday and was ordered held without bond…
UNF scientist hopes blind mice will help humans keep their sight
Florida Times Union
A University of North Florida researcher is hoping that a few blind mice could lead the way to a cure to helping some people keep their eyesight. The offspring of genetically engineered mice created in a lab in Japan, they’re known by the rather unpoetic name of C57J Black. Judith Ochrietor and these particular mice go back to 1999, after she detoured from a planned career in ophthalmology into one of research and teaching.
Releases and Web Stories
Florida Tech Research Team Earns Competitive Grant, Begins ISS Mission Biology Experiment
MarketWatch
MELBOURNE, Fla., Feb. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Florida Institute of Technology researchers have won a prestigious grant enabling their biology experiment to travel on a flight to the International Space Station (ISS). Their proposal, “Self-Assembly in Biology and the Origin of Life (SABOL): A Study into Alzheimer’s,” was just one of eight proposals chosen by Space Florida and NanoRacks, LLC, in the ISS Research Competition.won a prestigious grant enabling their biology experiment to travel on …
The Honorable Jerome K. Fitzgerald to Deliver Keynote Address at NSU Commencement Ceremony
PressZoom
(PressZoom) – NASSAU, Bahamas – The Honorable Jerome K. Fitzgerald will be the keynote speaker at Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) 2013 graduate commencement ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013 beginning at 2 p.m. in the Wyndham Nassau Resort & Crystal Palace Casino in Nassau…
Panel discussion examines diversity in UF classrooms and curriculum
University of Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A panel discussion will be held Monday to examine historical attempts to diversify the University of Florida student body, faculty and curriculum. The roundtable will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in Smathers Library East, Room 1A, on the UF campus. Organized by the UF Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere, this panel will bring six former and current UF faculty to discuss the racial, ethnic and gendered integration of UF in the last century, and how these changes affected teaching and learning on campus.
To help homeowners, industry personnel, UF/IFAS posts videos on turfgrass research
University of Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Researchers with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences recently completed the state’s largest-ever study of landscape turfgrass and fertilizer use, and new online videos will help homeowners and lawn-care professionals understand the findings.
USF St. Petersburg students head to Tallahassee to let their voices be heard
USFSP News Center
USF St. Petersburg students boarded a bus before dawn this morning and headed to Tallahassee to meet with state lawmakers about the pressing needs of higher education. Students from USFSP joined dozens of USF Tampa students to participate in USF Day at the Capitol from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Students hope to place USF at the forefront of lawmakers’ minds as they make critical decisions about higher education. View a photo gallery.
Give Kids a Smile Day Comes to Valencia
Valencia News
On Feb. 9, Valencia’s dental hygiene students provided free dental care and education for low-income children as part of Give Kids a Smile Day, a national event held each year in February by the American Dental Association…
