State University System

FAMU asks judge to drop Robert Champion hazing lawsuit
Bay News 9
Florida A&M University is asking a judge to throw out a civil lawsuit filed against them regarding the hazing death of drum major Robert Champion. Lawsuits were also filed against the bus company, where the hazing ritual occurred, and the bus driver. All three want the case dismissed. The hearing wrapped up just after 11 a.m. The judge said he will take the arguments he heard under advisement and have a decision likely sometime by the end of next week.

Florida Atlantic leaving Sun Belt Conference for Conference USA
Palm Beach Post
Florida Atlantic is bailing on the sinking ship known as the Sun Belt Conference for higher profile Conference USA. The Owls, according to several reports, are expected to join C-USA in all sports in 2014. FAU is the fourth program this year to leave the Sun Belt for C-USA, including rival FIU, which announced its move in May.

Goal of New Florida ‘Project on Accountable Justice’: Less Crime for Less Money
Sunshine State News
Florida State University announced Tuesday the formation of a new bipartisan think tank devoted to assisting policymakers in reforming the Sunshine State’s criminal justice system. The organization’s chairman says one of the proposed reforms is something as simple as making it cheaper — if not free — for prisoners to call home.

Florida’s local governments toughening ethics laws
WPEC
A new report says Florida’s cities and counties have been strengthening their ethics laws and enforcement while state laws have essentially been frozen since the 1970s. The report was being released Thursday by a Florida State University think tank and a new ethics advocacy group. It’s titled “Florida Counties Bridge the Ethics Policy Gap” and analyzes survey results on ethical programs and how they’ve been strengthened in 45 of Florida’s 67 counties. The report focuses on ethics policy and enforcement, lobbying, campaign financing and procurement.

State College System

State may toughen rules for community-college professors
Orlando Sentinel
Life for thousands of community-college professors in Florida could be changing drastically as the state considers making it tougher for them to earn and maintain tenure…

FSCJ considers low-cost degree plan in field of logistics
WJXT Jacksonville
Rick Scott’s idea of offering low-cost degrees, and it now looks like Florida State College at Jacksonville is considering the plan…

NWF State vows to meet Gov. Scott’s $10000 degree challenge
The Northwest Florida Daily News
Northwest Florida State College plans to tackle Gov. Rick Scott’s latest recommendation to make higher education …

Man tried to rob SFC student on campus, police say
Gainesville Sun
Santa Fe College police are looking for a man they say attempted to rob a female student in a parking lot on campus. According to SFC Director of Communications Dave Houder, the student was walking back from class around 11 a.m. today, near the track on the Northwest campus of the college, at 3000 NW 83rd street. A tall male approached her and tried to snatch her backpack, Houder said, and an altercation ensued. She fought off the man and ran to police. Police reported the woman had a laceration on her arm and got her medical attention.

SCF trustees name Probstfield acting president, make plans to find …
Bradenton Herald
State College of Florida trustees named a temporary interim president and voted on the process to hire a permanent president Tuesday at the first board meeting after the departure of former president Lars Hafner.

Independent College System

Gingerbread Concert becomes a Boca tradition
Sun-Sentinel
A decade into the annual Gingerbread Holiday Concert, the musical fundraiser for Lynn University Bachelor’s, master’s & online degrees’s Conservatory of Music students has morphed into an unofficial start of the holiday season in Boca Raton. The concert is 3 p.m. Dec. 9 in the Great Hall at the Boca Raton Resort & Club and traditionally sells out. Individual tickets are $35 but patrons often buy tables for their family, including the grandchildren…

For-Profit and Career Colleges

Sports Tech Lab Opens at Full Sail
Computer Graphics World
In November, ESPN and Full Sail University unveiled the new Full Sail University Sports Lab Powered by ESPN, during a celebration that coincided with the second anniversary of the Sports Lab on the university’s Winter Park, FL campus. The new Sports Lab is located in building 4D, Full Sail’s latest on-campus educational complex, and utilizes several production spaces including a lab setting centrally located between two soundstages that will be used for student and professional projects, including ESPN productions. The Full Sail University Sports Lab Powered by ESPN was originally launched in 2010 and continues to be ESPN’s first and only sports technology lab at any Florida college or university…

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

Dunkelberger: Is a $10000 college degree in Florida practical?
Ocala
Gov. Rick Scott’s call for state colleges to offer a $10,000 degree has reignited the debate over the cost of higher education in Florida. In announcing his plan at St. Petersburg College this week, Scott said students should be able to “go to school and not end up with debt.” His plan, modeled after a Texas program, would cut the cost of a bachelor’s degree at one of Florida’s 28 state colleges by about 25 percent.

Erbe: Reconsider tax exemptions for religious institutions
The Republic
…In April, a University of Tampa professor, Ryan Cragun, and two students examined U.S. tax laws to estimate the cost of tax exemptions for religious institutions. They came to the conclusion that by denying religious institutions tax exemptions on property donations, business enterprises, capital gains on investments and sales and “parsonage allowances,” the Treasury could raise as much as $71 billion a year…

Frenette: Coach Terry Alexander goes, but it’s JU who looks bad
Florida Times-Union (blog)
Terry Alexander came dressed for the occasion in his Sunday best, declaring that 2013 would be his final baseball journey as the Jacksonville University coach, and referred to 33 seasons with the Dolphins as being “part of my family.”

Kassab: State’s $10000 college degree a gimmick
Orlando Sentinel
Gov. Rick Scott is really into DIY government cost-cutting, as evidenced this week by his $10,000 degree challenge. So why stop there?…

Palm Bay police shoot armed robbery suspect near college
WKMG Orlando
Palm Bay police officers shot an armed robbery suspect late Tuesday night outside a Walgreens near Brevard Community College. Kenneth Kirwan Jr., 20, of West Melbourne, was shot by police just after 11 p.m. outside the Malabar Road store, according to police.  Kirwan, who is in critical condition at a hospital, faces a felony charge of armed robbery, police said.

FAMU alumni president visits city
Gainesville Sun
Tommy Mitchell Sr., president of the FAMU national alumni association, was the guest speaker earlier this month at the monthly meeting of the Alachua County FAMU Alumni Association…

FAMU baseball coach Brown placed on leave
Tallahassee.com
Less than 18 months after being hired to run Florida A&M‘s baseball program, Rattlers head coach Willie Brown is being investigated for alleged misconduct. Athletic Director Derek Horne confirmed that FAMU has placed Brown, a FAMU alum, on administrative leave with pay. He declined to disclose any further information, but the issue is believed to stem from controversy surrounding a player’s dismissal from the team.

Jewish college students show support for Israel
Sun-Sentinel
While the recent fighting between the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas in Gaza raged, Jewish students on Florida campuses came out to support Israel. At Florida Atlantic University, students from Hillel talked with other students who stopped at information tables on the Boca Raton campus. ”I wanted to see the other perspective,” Joel Ortiz, 22, who was involved with the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine. After a long conversation with Leead Negri, 23, an Israeli who is active in the Hillel chapter, Ortiz said, “I came to the conclusion that we’re both seeking the same solution which is peace. I support Israel. I support democracy.”

Police investigate fatal police-involved shooting
7Online WSVN-TV
As the investigation of a police-involved shooting continues, authorities have identified the subject who was shot and killed. Police said he was involved in an aggravated battery assault  just hours before he was shot. Police announced the subject as Alexis Suarez-Reyes, Wednesday morning. According to officials, Suarez, 47, was a suspect in an incident that occurred at Miami International Airport early Tuesday. Police said Suarez-Reyes was involved in an aggravated battery assault at Miami International Airport where the victim in the incident was sent to the hospital with injuries. They later received a call about a dispute that occurred at University Square Village, near Florida International University‘s Modesto A. Maidique Campus, which led them to the suspect…

Cleaning service helps students stay sanitary
The Miami Hurricane
Crystal Clean was founded by Eric Marti, a senior at Miami Dade College, and Thomas Silva, a junior at Florida International University. The business currently serves students at the University of Miami and Florida International University. “We saw a big window where we could cater to a lot of students,” Marti said. A load of laundry costs between $20 to $30, depending on how soon a student needs it done. Cleaning a room runs from $40 to $60. The company also offers deals for frequent clients and for referring customers to the service.

Lawton Chiles Biographer Presenting at FSC’s Center for Florida …
The Ledger
John Dos Passos Coggin got his introduction to the story of former Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles in 2004, when he came to Florida to work on the presidential campaign of Democratic Sen. John Kerry. Coggin, a Maryland resident, became intrigued with Chiles’ legacy and in particular his 1,003-mile trek on foot from Key West to Pensacola during his successful 1970 Senate campaign. That populist gesture earned Chiles the nickname “Walkin’ Lawton,” which Coggin uses as the title for a newly published biography (Florida Historical Society Press, $24.95) of the Lakeland native. The author will discuss the book today in Lakeland in a lecture presented — appropriately enough — by Florida Southern College‘s Lawton M. Chiles, Jr., Center for Florida History…

Window worker falls from ladder and dies at Jacksonville University
ActionNewsJax.com
A local worker was killed Wednesday when he fell from his ladder inside Terry Concert Hall at Jacksonville University. According to JSO Homicide Detectives, the victim was trying to repair a broken window 25 feet in the air. The victim works for Duval Glass and Mirror.  According to the company’s website, they have been providing window services in North Florida for more than 20 years…

Worker dies at Jacksonville University campus
First Coast News
A man working on a window fell to his death in the Terry Concert Hall at Jacksonville University’s campus Wednesday morning. Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Homicide Sergeant Shawn Coursey said a worker from Duval Glass and Mirror was working on a window approximately 25-feet in the air. Coursey said the man, identified as 43-year-old Luis Adam Escobar in a JSO police report, reached and stretched to either cut or replace some caulking.

Window worker falls inside JU building, dies
WJXT Jacksonville
An employee of Duval Glass and Mirror Inc. working to repair a window inside a building at Jacksonville University fell off a ladder and died Wednesday morning, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. Police said the man was caulking a window inside Terry Concert Hall about 9 a.m. and was about 25 feet up inside the lobby of the building when he fell and landed on his head.

Worker dies at Jacksonville University
WPEC
Authorities say a worker fixing a broken window at Jacksonville University has died after falling 25 feet from a ladder. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office reports that 43-year-old Luis Adam Escobar was working in the lobby of Terry Concert Hall Wednesday morning when he fell and landed on his head. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead…

The Odds of Winning Tonight’s Powerball
NBC 6 Miami
Jason Gershman, a math professor at Nova Southeastern University, said winning the Powerball is all luck…

Behind the scenes of “political sausage making”
SDSU Collegian
A mixed audience of SDSU students, faculty and community members got more than a taste of sausage Nov. 15 at the Performing Arts Center. Speaker Wes Jamison delivered a presentation on “Making Political Sausage” with the goal to “inform, entertain and provoke” the audience. Brought to campus by the efforts of the National Pork Producers Board, the Swine Club and Pre-Vet Club, Jamison has been slated on the calendar for some time to speak at SDSU. An associate professor of communication at Palm Beach Atlantic University in Florida, Jamison was scheduled to visit SDSU twice but had to back out both times…

Florida Student Strips In Front Of Baptist Preacher (VIDEO)
Huffington Post
Footage of a Florida student’s striptease, delivered in an effort to distract a Baptist preacher, is going viral a year after it was shot. The student is identified in the clip’s YouTube description as Austin Cooper of the University of Central Florida…

LUCKY STREAK WATCH: Florida Student Strips To Protest Anti-Gay Preacher
Queerty
Anti-gay Bible thumper “Brother” Micah Armstrong has quite a reputation on college campuses across the East Coast. But the homophobic holy man met his match at the University of Central Florida, where student Austin Cooper took off his clothes in order to discombobulate Armstrong.  As Cooper loses his shirt, Brother Micah barks, “This is why there are so many lesbians on this campus! Guys like this are turning all the girls off and causing them to be lesbian.”

Study: Leadership and coaches at FBS level remain largely white and male
Washington Post
…The report released Wednesday by the Institute for the Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida said that 100 percent of FBS conference commissioners, 76 percent of school president positions and 84 percent of all athletic director positions were held by white men at the beginning of the 2012-13 academic year…Among the FBS’ 120 institutions, there were 18 minority head coaches to begin the season, down from an all-time high of 19 last year. That total included 14 African-Americans, two Latinos and two Asians. “For me as somebody who has worked on college campus for 30-plus years it’s especially discouraging that in terms of hiring practices are far behind the professional levels,” said primary study author Richard Lapchick. “I would have hoped that colleges would have at least kept pace, but they are clearly behind in hiring practices.”

Increase in home building near 5-year high
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
“The housing market has started to show signs of a recovery,” said Sean Snaith, an economist with the University of Central Florida. “Inventory is falling and prices are gaining traction. Those two trends are sending signals to builders that it’s time …

Orlando’s housing market resurfaces slightly
WFTV Orlando
“The size of the move we’re talking about is not transformational, but I think it does point to a better path for the future,” said Sean Snaith of the University of Central Florida Institute for Economic Competitiveness…

Florida’s Democrats, Republicans develop schism on economic outlook
Bizjournals.com (blog)
The University of Florida survey found a reading of 76 in November, down from 80 in October. The reading is low on a long-term historical basis, but still relatively in the high post-recession period, said Chris McCarty, director of UF’s Survey …

Researchers test powerful new tool to advance ecology, conservation
Phys.Org
A new University of Florida study shows ecologists may have been missing crucial information from animal bones for more than 150 years. The study featured on the cover of the November issue of Ecology shows animal bone remains provide high-quality …By documenting accumulations of elk bones and antlers on the landscape of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, study author Joshua Miller identified areas critical for the species’ survival during spring and winter. ”This is fundamental stuff, because for a long time the common knowledge was that bones only lasted a few years on the landscape,” said Miller, an assistant scientist at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus and Fenneman assistant research professor at the University of Cincinnati. “It turns out they last a lot longer and surveys of bones on landscapes offer a new tool for conservation and management – one that allows us to collect decades of biological data in a single field season.”

Tennessee to Interview Miami’s Al Golden
Rant Sports
University of Miami head coach Al Golden is a rising star in the coaching industry and now appears to be on the radar of The University of Tennessee…

Releases and Web Stories

Florida State interior design named best of its kind
Florida Flambeau
In a recent national survey of 122 deans and department chairs, Florida State’s graduate program in interior design was named the most admired in the country. A journal of the Design Futures Council called DesignIntelligence praised FSU in their annual rankings for “America’s Best Architectural and Design School 2013.” The rankings have honors themselves; for 14 years people have looked to them as a fair critical analysis of architecture and design programs across the United States…

Kick your customer service up a notch: attend customer service …
TCPalm
In a recent survey conducted by the Business Development Board of Martin County, 46% of respondents indicated a need for customer service training. In partnership with Indian River State College, the Business Development Board is pleased to offer “How to Kick your Customer Service up a Notch”, a customer service training workshop…

Lynn’s personalized campus visit receives recognition
Lynn University
Inside Higher Ed, one of higher education’s leading national trade publications, featured Lynn University’s revamped campus visit experience as an example of universities investing in prospective students…