Phew! The 2012 Hurricane Season officially comes to a close today!
State University System
Judge says he’ll rule soon in FAMU hazing death lawsuits
Orlando Sentinel
…The judge, who listened to two hours of arguments from lawyers for Champion’s mother, FAMU, the bus company and the driver of Bus C, said he would rule on the motions no sooner than the end of next week…
Robbery of student prompts lockdown at FAU
Sun-Sentinel
For the third time in three months, a South Florida college was put under lockdown after reports of a gunman on campus. The Thursday afternoon report of a brazen robber who held a gun to a student’s head on the Glades Road campus of Florida Atlantic University sparked a three-hour lockdown, triggering a range of reactions from students – some who cried in fear and others who shrugged it off. In a press conference outside the campus police station, FAU Police Department Chief Charles Lowe said it was “highly unusual” for a gunman to not only rob a student, but hold a gun to the victim’s head in a daylight robbery on a busy campus.
FAU joining Conference USA, more games on national TV
Bizjournals.com
Florida Atlantic University’s athletics program will join Conference USA, which will give it more exposure on national TV. The Owls are following in the footsteps of rival Florida International University, which announced in May that it was joining the same conference. Both schools currently compete in the Sun Belt Conference. FAU will start Conference USA play in 2014 …
Credit union replaces SunTrust as UCF’s new ‘official bank’ [Orlando Sentinel]
Equities.com
After a decade as the University of Central Florida’s official campus bank, SunTrust Banks Inc. has been replaced by another financial institution — not a rival bank, but a credit union. Orlando-based Fairwinds Credit Union recently won a 51/2-year deal to be UCF‘s “official banking partner,” making it the first credit union to hold that title in school history, officials said this week. Fairwinds is set to open in the former SunTrust branch on UCF‘s campus in January. UCF said Fairwinds outbid its rivals, including some big banks and UCF‘s own credit union, to land the high-profile marketing deal with the nation’s second-largest public university. SunTrust’s 10-year contract with UCF expired earlier this year, and the bank and school failed to come to terms on a renewal of the deal, UCF said.
UF considering $50 million makeover for O’Connell Center
Gainesville Sun
The University of Florida‘s O’Connell Center might get a $50 million makeover, with the university paying a chunk of the cost. UF trustees are expected to vote next week on whether the university should pay $10 million of the price tag, with the athletic association seeking donations to cover the rest. The arena’s renovation is expected to include all new seating, club space, a new entrance, and more concessions and shops.
GRU, eight others look to provide energy to UF
Gainesville Sun
If the University of Florida seeks a new campus energy provider, Gainesville Regional Utilities will have competition for the contract from outside the area. UF’s contract with Progress Energy, now owned by Duke Energy, expires in December 2014.
Hess Fine Auctions to sell animation cel collection Dec. 7-8
Auction Central News
Hess Fine Auctions will sell property of the University of South Florida Libraries Museum Collection, the Charles Mahan Collection of original animation cels, on Dec. 7-8. Friday’s session, consisting of 114 lots, will begin at 6 p.m. EST. Saturday’s auction will consist of 139 lots and will begin at noon Eastern. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live bidding…
USF demonstration today aims to end ‘rape culture’
Tbo.com
Speakers will discuss ways to end a “rape culture” during a demonstration this afternoon at the University of South Florida’s Tampa campus. The “teach-in” is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at the Marshall Student Center plaza.
Front row: UWF gears up for another round of ‘A Christmas Carol’
Pensacola News Journal
“A Christmas Carol” has been an annual event for the University of West Florida Theatre Department since 2007. The production features the same adaptation of Charles Dickens’ famous tale each year, though new theatrical tweaks are always in evidence, and each year it is well attended and received by the public…
UWF marketing students seek chance for real-world experience
The Northwest Florida Daily News
A group of students at the University of West Florida Emerald Coast hope their recent efforts to educate their peers and the community on the benefits of natural gas will be enough to launch them into a national competition. They are one of many university groups across the country vying to go to Washington, D.C., next month for the chance to create a new public relations campaign for the American Natural Gas Alliance.
State College System
Rick Scott’s $10000 Challenge Accepted by Half of Florida College System
Sunshine State News (blog)
More than half of the 28 schools in the Florida College System have accepted the governor’s challenge of creating four-year degree programs that cost under $10,000, according to the state Department of Education…
Education leader rebukes governor’s ‘$10K challenge’
Tallahassee.com
Gov. Rick Scott’s challenge to Florida’s state colleges to cut costs in order to offer $10,000 four-year degrees has drawn sharp criticism from a state education leader. Roberto Martinez, vice chairman of the state Board of Education, characterized Scott’s plan as “a very bad idea” in a letter to the governor. Martinez said that without a guarantee from the state that it would provide the institutions with funding to replace whatever costs they would be forced to cut, Florida’s community and state colleges would suffer.
Why It Might Become Harder For Florida College System Professors To Earn Tenure
StateImpact Florida
State education leaders are holding a workshop this afternoon on hiring requirements at state colleges. The rules haven’t been changed in thirty years. The State Board of Education wants to update the process of issuing continuing contracts — the community college version of tenure — and align the rule with Florida statutes. The Florida Department of Education is taking public input on the community college system proposal.
Suspected armed robber, Palm Bay police officer identified in shooting
WKMG Orlando
Palm Bay police officers released the surveillance video on Wednesday showing just minutes before an armed robbery suspect was shot by officers late Tuesday night outside a Walgreens near Brevard Community College.
New building top funding priority at Daytona State
Daytona Beach News-Journal
A new student services and classroom building will be Daytona State College’s top priority as it seeks state funding from the Florida Legislature. The board on Thursday approved its “Legislative Case Statement” that includes budget and …
Make it 4 for $10000 and students will benefit
KeysNews.com
The Florida Keys Community College administrator has no immediate plans to respond with concrete proposals to a challenge made Monday by Gov. Rick Scott to the state’s community colleges: Start offering four-year bachelor’s degrees for less than $10,000. Nonetheless, FKCC President Jonathan Gueverra was cautiously welcoming of the idea, and may revisit the issue in the future…
Build, host your website in Spanish, with Google
Sun-Sentinel
Google will present Get Your Business Online Con Google for Hispanic-owned businesses at a workshop 9 a.m. Dec. 3 at the Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus, 300 NE Second Ave. in Miami, featuring tools and resources to create a website in Spanish.
DEVELOPING: Two South Florida colleges on lockdown
WOKV
Palm Beach State College Boca campus was locked down following the initial report of the robbery, although there are conflicting reports whether the suspect was also seen on that campus, or the lockdown is a precaution because of the campus’s proximity.
‘ARMED INTRUDER’: Palm Beach State College’s FAU campus on lockdown
WPEC
…The lockdown affected the entire FAU campus in Boca and the mini-campus of Palm Beach State College, which has a small campus near where the robbery happened, according to PBSC’s official Facebook page. The lockdown was lifted shortly after 4 p.m…
Eye on art: Pensacola State College art faculty stocks its gallery
Pensacola News Journal
The art instructors at Pensacola State College get their chance to shine at the annual “Art Faculty Exhibition.” The show runs through Dec.
Pensacola State College students to host Make Cents 3 Conference
Pensacola News Journal
For one week next month, Pensacola State College speech students will host their annual Make Cents 3 Conference online…
Details emerge for $10M Rollins baseball stadium
Orlando Business Journal
Rollins College doesn’t just want to build a new $10 million stadium with a minor-league baseball team partner: It wants to build luxury boxes and, ideally, have a bus connector running from the new stadium to SunRail, college officials said…
Search continues for Santa Fe College suspect
WUFT
Police at Santa Fe College are still looking for a man they say used a knife in an attempt to rob a student…
State College of Florida to host Suncoast Regional Mathematics Association conference
Bradenton Herald
State College of Florida‘s mathematics department will host the 37th Annual Suncoast Regional Mathematics Association of America conference from 2-8:30 p.m., Dec. 7, at SCF Bradenton, 5840 26th St. West. Check-in begins at 2 p.m. in the mathematics building 27, at the entrance to parking lot C off 57th Avenue.
Independent Colleges and Universities
Edward Waters College Concert Choir back by popular demand
Ocala
When the Edward Waters College Concert Choir performs Sunday in Ocala, there is sure to be some hand-clapping and foot-stomping in the audience…
FIT launching Student Business Incubator
TCPalm
Florida Institute of Technology is promoting a new venture creation with the launch of the new Student Business Incubator. To get it off the ground, the Nathan M. Bisk College of Business has launched a crowd-funding initiative on Rockethub.com.
Brevard researchers to fly payloads aboard ISS
Florida Today
Researchers from several local companies and universities have won opportunities to fly small payloads aboard the International Space Station. They were among eight winners of the ISS Research Competition sponsored by Space Florida and NanoRacks, announced today at the American Society for Gravitational and Space Research’s meeting this week in New Orleans. The local winners included scientists at Kennedy Space Center-based Cella Energy and CSS-Dynamac, plus Florida Tech, the University of Central Florida and the Sanford-Burnham Medical Institute at Lake Nona.
JU will announce new athletics projects on Friday
Florida Times-Union (blog)
Officials at Jacksonville University plan to announce “major athletics plans” on Friday during a news conference. The announcement is tied to a major fundraising campaign the university is currently conducting…
JU fundraising campaign to link campus and community on improvements
WOKV
It’s the largest comprehensive fundraising campaign Jacksonville University has ever taken on, but the incoming President is ready to take it on. “We’re excited about the ASPIRE campaign,” President-select Tim Cost tells me. Cost says the $85 million campaign is already underway, and they’re raised about $43 million so far from mostly individual commitments. Friday morning, however, the campaign goes public- and JU is counting on your help…
For Profit and Career Colleges
Florida Career College offers nursing program at Pembroke Pines
Sun-Sentinel
Florida Career College said Wednesday its Pembroke Pines location will offer two associate’s degree nursing programs beginning on Jan. 3…
Yip Yap: Noted and Quoted FLHE Voices from Around the State
Editorial: Scott’s useful challenge to curtail college costs
Northwest News and Tribune
Gov. Rick Scott is being widely ridiculed for challenging community colleges to come up with a $10,000 four-year degree. The advantages of Scott’s proposal are hard to see at a time when higher education excellence is considered essential for attracting high-paying industry. Florida’s governor seems to want to produce graduates on the cheap, critics huff. Five-and-dime degrees are not going to impress business executives looking for a sophisticated workforce, they say.
Otto: Civic pride on the decline
Tbo.com
From the podium he was leaning against on the ninth floor of the stunning Vaughn Center, Bob Graham could look out over the heads of the 50 or so students, and from the room-length picture window in front of him, he could see not only the University of Tampa building but beyond and across the river to the gleaming towers of the city…
You can make $100000 throwing a football
Sun-Sentinel
Garrett Booker, a sophomore at Barry University, has been practicing throwing footballs 5 yards through a hole two feet in circumference in a Dr. Pepper can. And practicing. He’ll compete with four others on Friday for the chance to be one of two finalists at halftime of the SEC Championship Game…
Florida Gets Ethical
WCTV
Florida Counties Bridge the Ethics Policy Gap also includes seven case studies of local governments who have undertaken ethics reform efforts in the wake of ethical charges or violations. The report finds that while initiated by scandal, the work done to create an ethical government in Broward, Duval/Jacksonville, Leon, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach and Sarasota Counties has made positive changes to curb public corruption. ”Our findings are encouraging: the data show progress in the adoption of ethics laws across Florida counties,” said Dr. Carol Weissert, LCI director, political science professor at FSU and co-author of the report. “While there is always more to do, Florida counties are taking the initiative in creating an ethical culture and can serve as leaders for future state action in Florida and across the nation.”
See the full report here.
Florida man seeks immunity in mentor’s stabbing death
Bellingham Herald
James Arauz, a student at Miami Dade College who stabbed his mother’s employer to death, testified Thursday in the first day of a hearing to determine whether he would be granted Stand Your Ground immunity…
PREVIEW: More ‘Nunsense’ coming to NWFSC’s Niceville campus
Crestview News Bulletin
Such is the humor awaiting the local audience Nov. 29 when Cindy Williams, of “Laverne & Shirley” TV fame, stars as Mother Superior in the touring production of “Nunset Boulevard” coming to the Mattie Kelly Arts Center at Northwest Florida State College…
Free Trip To The International Space Station Won By UCF Experiment
RedOrbit
A University of Central Florida experiment that could help explain how planets formed in our solar system has won a free ride to the International Space Station in 2013. Physics professor Joshua Colwell’s experiment is one of eight winners of the Space Florida International Space Station Research Competition sponsored by Space Florida and NanoRacks. Space Florida is Florida’s spaceport authority and aerospace development organization. NanoRacks is a private company that operates the first commercial laboratory in low-earth orbit.
Drop In Consumer Confidence Doesn’t Keep Floridians From Spending
WLRN
University of Central Florida Economist Sean Snaith says shoppers may just be more budget conscious and eager to take advantage of big sales. “So you see this surge of activity, but then as the rest of the holiday season plays itself out, that sort of vigor and momentum is lost,” Snaith says. He blames the November decline on several factors like high unemployment and negative ads leading up to the election.
The mixed messages of hurricane season 2012
Bradenton Herald
“From one season to the next, it’s just not something we can see,” said Brian McNoldy, a senior researcher at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science who writes a hurricane expert blog for The Washington Post.
Releases and Web Stories
IRSC Planetarium Announces Holiday Program
TCPalm
The Indian River State College Hallstrom Planetarium at the IRSC Main Campus, 3209 Virginia Ave. in Fort Pierce announces its holiday shows, “Star of Wonder,” and a special live holiday event, “Yuletides.” ”Star of Wonder,” will recreate the skies as they appeared 2,000 years ago. Viewers will trace what may have been the path of the mysterious star followed by the Wise Men. “Star of Wonder” will be presented on Dec. 7 and 8 and Dec. 14 and 15, at 7 and 8 p.m. on Friday and at 1 and 2 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are $3 each.
Five University of Florida professors named AAAS 2012 fellows
University of Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Five University of Florida professors have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers because of their distinguished efforts to advance …
Explaining the fiscal cliff; a Q and A with Director of University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research Chris McCarty
WUFT
The fiscal cliff is fast approaching. The White House released a report Thursday in which President Obama said there is no reason to hold families in Florida hostage while Congress debates tax cuts for the highest income earners. With the expiration of the Bush Tax Cuts ahead in 2013, a median-income Florida family of four earning $63,900 could see its income taxes rise by $2,200. WUFT-FM spoke with the Director of the University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research Chris McCarty about exactly what impact the fiscal cliff could have for the state’s residents, and he said the effect might be more complex than what meets the eye.
University of Florida Counseling and Wellness combating prescription drug abuse on campus
WUFT
Ryan describes himself as a good student with a high grade-point average at the University of Florida. He studies for his courses late into the night, gets two or three hours of sleep and gets out of bed early to start the cycle again each day. With the end of the fall semester and exams quickly approaching, Ryan finds it increasingly difficult to concentrate on his textbooks and complete his work late at night. Ryan is part of a growing group of college students around the country who illegally use prescription drugs like Adderall to help them excel in the classroom…
