High number of Florida high school grads needing remedial college classes costing state millions
Palm Beach Post
A high school diploma doese not mean the end of high school classes for nearly two out of every five Palm Beach County students who go on to higher education at a public Florida institution. Florida spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year offering remedial classes to college students to re-teach them reading, English or math skills they should have learned in high school…
State University System
FAU students modify robot with smartphone for Lockheed Martin
Sun-Sentinel
The mentors were pleased with their protegees. On Thursday, a team of Florida Atlantic University students demonstrated their “Road Runner” model based on Android technology to the Lockheed Martin engineers who have been mentoring them. The students were asked to explore using a smartphone to manage mechanical devices. For their demonstration, the students chose to modify an existing carpet-cleaning robot and control it with Android software.
Southwest Florida business news: Three tenants coming to Bell Tower Shops
The News-Press
Florida Gulf Coast University and Enterprise Rent-A-Car are partnering to offer car sharing services through WeCar by Enterprise.
16 Florida Hospitals Partner With County to Create Stroke Network
Becker’s Hospital Review
Florida International University in Miami announced a new partnership between its Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, local hospitals and fire departments to improve stroke care in the area…
FSU seeks appeal in federal audit case
Tallahassee.com
Florida State University officials are hoping to receive an extension to an Aug. 19 deadline for their latest response in an ongoing dispute with auditors from the federal Department of Health and Human Services. FSU originally was asked In November 2011 to reimburse the federal government $5.9 million in the wake of a special audit by the Office of the Inspector General, said Ralph Alvarez, FSU’s associate vice president for Budget, Planning and Financial Services…
FSU matches $4.1M grant when state can’t
Tallahassee.com
…FSU, desperate to not lose the more than $4 million, did something it has never done before: It borrowed the money from the FSU Foundation to match Wall-Apelt’s gift and keep the project on track…
Incubator celebrates 1-year anniversary
Daytona Beach News-Journal
One success story after another made for a real celebration on the first-year anniversary of the University of Central Florida Business Incubator at Daytona Beach International Airport on Friday evening…
Nemours Children’s Hospital: Lifesaver that almost didn’t exist
Orlando Sentinel
The hospital will provide the region with its first Muscular Dystrophy Association clinic and will work with the University of Central Florida’s nearby medical school…
Tab for taxpayers in suits over Scott-backed laws hefty and growing
Sun-Sentinel
Welfare drug tests - Lawsuit: In September 2011, a University of Central Florida student, with the help of the ACLU, sued the state over the new law mandating drug testing of all welfare applicants. Status: A little more than a month after the suit was filed, a federal judge ordered a temporary halt to the drug testing. A bench trial is scheduled for March 2013 before Judge U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven in Orlando. How much has it cost? The suit has not required outside counsel. The Attorney General’s Office said its work has cost the state $88,782.80 so far.
Artificial reefs: Better for fish, or fishermen?
Alexandria Town Talk
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission deployed 90 four-cube units, in partnership with the University of Florida, to study how effective artificial reefs are in growing gag grouper and other fish populations.
BOOKMARKS: Amelia festival moved
Florida Times-Union
The 2012 University of North Florida Writers Conference is Saturday and Sunday (Aug 4 and 5). For information see unfwritersconference.com.
State College System
New Smyrna Beach Candidate Forum
DBNewsJournal
The Daytona Beach News-Journal and Daytona State College presented a candidate forum for the six candidates for two Volusia County Council seats — Districts 2 and 3 — in one of the most active local election seasons in recent history…
Flagler County sheriff’s candidates debate set
Daytona Beach News-Journal
The last in a series of Daytona Beach News-Journal voter forums is scheduled for Tuesday at the Alan Smolen Amphitheater on the Flagler/Palm Coast campus of Daytona State College, 3000 Palm Coast Parkway SE. The forum will begin at 5:30 p.m., with a “meet the candidates” period followed by a debate involving candidates for Flagler County sheriff…
New Edison dorm not at “break even” point yet
Fox 4
With three weeks to go before school starts, nearly 20 percent of the new dorms at Edison State College are empty. On Friday, resident advisers with the new Lighthouse Commons dorm, gave tours of the building to future students…
Only one FSCJ trustee has voted against a Steve Wallace proposal …
Florida Times-Union
Five years’ worth of Florida State College at Jacksonville board records show only one trustee ever voted no on a proposal from college President Steve Wallace. During that time, the FSCJ Board of Trustees considered 369 recommendations. Besides the lone vote of dissent, the panel approved every other agenda item unanimously. Minutes also show only 11 people spoke during public comment sections of board meetings.
HCC interns prepare for convention
Tbo.com
Much of the public might be increasingly sick of politics these days with all the attack ads streaming out of the presidential campaigns, but not six students from Hillsborough Community College. When the Republican National Convention opens in Tampa, they’ll be on the inside with the delegates, GOP stars and media. They’ll see the political process up close in all its rough intensity. And they can’t wait…
State yo-yo champion from Vero Beach ready to take on the world | Video
TCPalm
Jared “J.C.”Ford stands in his room with a yo-yo in his hand and throws it down with a snap of the wrist…Ford plans to attend Indian River State College before heading off to university, but he wants to keep yo-yoing. ”I hope to win Worlds — or at least break top 10 — some day,” he said, although the size of the crowds at the state competitions always get to him.
Bears lounge in tree in Fort Walton Beach
The Northwest Florida Daily News
Two bears have been spotted on Edenfield Drive near Northwest Florida State College, according to residents. The bears have been sitting in a tree all day. One is a cub and they are starting to get antsy, residents say…
Miami restaurant partners with housing project
Sacramento Bee
Miami Dade College’s Tuyo restaurant is buying boxes of produce, including everything from arugula to zucchini, from Verde Gardens’ 22-acre organic farm. The community offers affordable housing for formerly homeless families and those with disabilities.
Palm Beach State College’s proposed campus in Loxahatchee Groves …
Palm Beach Post
Palm Beach State College is a key step closer to starting work on a campus at B Road and Southern Boulevard…
PSC
Pensacola Business Journal
For the fourth consecutive year, Community College Week magazine has named Pensacola State College to its list of Top 100 Associate Degree Producers in the nation. Community College Week ranks Pensacola State at No. 33 for degrees awarded in Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities…
Dream Defenders Group Talks To Residents About Police Complaints …
The Ledger
An activist group, the Dream Defenders, is spending the weekend in Polk County talking to residents who say they have been treated unjustly by local law enforcement agencies. The group will spend today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. talking to residents at the Lakeland campus of Polk State College. On Sunday, the group plans on meeting at the Polk County Jail in Bartow at 3:30 p.m…
Independent Colleges and Universities
Roadwork in Davie Begins Next Week
Broward Net Online
This closure is necessary for the installation of a water line by Nova Southeastern University (NSU).
UM med school’s big ambitions led to big layoffs
Miami Herald
Long before the University of Miami announced in May that its Miller School of Medicine had financial problems big enough to force layoffs of about 900 full-time and part-time workers, there were signs of serious trouble…
Yip Yap: Noted and Quoted FLHE Voices from Around the State
Ed Moore: Schools must make character a key subject, too
Tallahasssee Democrat
Character is not on a list of degree paths. It’s not a sport one can sign up for, or a club that can be joined. It is ever evolving as a person matures, and although it is not a state or board requirement, it should be an expectation that character remain a virtue that higher-education institutions should strive to grow in their graduates…
Our foster kids need better protection
Florida Times-Union
It is now nearly a month that has gone by since news broke about teenagers in foster care group homes in Miami and in Jacksonville being exploited for prostitution. If you missed the story, the facts are almost too horrible to believe…Matthew Corrigan chairs the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of North Florida.
Shannon Nickinson: A wish list that’s fit for a queen
Pensacola Business Journal
…That’s when University of West Florida professor Alfred Cuzan says the results get good anyway. Cuzan, recently given the title distinguish university professor, knows more than most about such things. The longtime political science professor has worked on two models that predict the outcome of elections. One is a fiscal model, based on economics. The other is PollyVote, a model that averages several factors, including polling, to predict election outcomes….
Son of Flagler fire captain, Palm Coast girl killed in I-95 crash …
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Two Flagler County teenagers were killed in a crash on Interstate 95 that injured three others, two critically, and blocked traffic for hours. Meredith Smith, an ambitious, popular Flagler Palm Coast High School student, and Lane Burnsed, a Bunnell resident, were killed…Smith would have been starting her senior year at FPC but she was planning to take classes full time at Daytona State College through the dual enrollment program, Oliva said. She split her time between the high school and the college last school year…
Allbritten ready to rock as Edison State’s new leader
Naples Daily News
Thirty years ago, a long-haired, guitar-playing Jeff Allbritten dreamed of becoming a rock star. As lead guitarist in a rock band called Illusions, the then-high school student from Maryland performed to crowds as large as 12,000. “I used to have hair, believe it or not,” joked Allbritten, who at 48 is now losing that hair. “And so, you know, I was going to be a musician, I was going to be famous — all that stuff.” These days, Allbritten caters to a different crowd. After heading to college, discovering a passion for chemistry, getting his doctorate and becoming a professor, Allbritten found his niche in higher education administration, becoming a highly-respected college leader. Now, he’s stepping in as the frontman for Edison State College, which is looking to him to right the ship after a series of scandals rocked the school…
A fresh start is under way at Edison State College
The News-Press
Jeff Allbritten’s first day on the job is Tuesday, and Edison State’s incoming president already has drafted a 100-day plan that regroups, reshapes and revitalizes the college…
Initially, mix-up in degrees just a distraction
The News-Press
Jeff Allbritten is not a Ph.D. He’s also not a district attorney. Allbritten earned a doctor of arts, or D.A., in chemistry from Middle Tennessee State University. However, during the eight years he previously worked at Edison State College, his academic credentials were misstated in college catalogs, annual reports, press releases, newspapers and community fliers. “After a period of time, you get tired of correcting people,” Allbritten said. “You’ll never see a document leave my office saying Ph.D. It will say ‘Dr. Jeffery S. Allbritten’ or ‘Jeff S. Allbritten, D.A.’”
Suspect arrested after false report of rape on Edison campus
Wink News
The woman wanted for making false accusations of rape on the Charlotte County campus of Edison State College in 2009 has been arrested. Vikki Supplee, 34, of Port Charlotte, was taken into custody on Thursday, after being served a warrant…
Obama, Romney camps working to woo Jewish vote this weekend
Sun-Sentinel
Rabbi Frederick Greenspahn, who teaches Jewish studies at Florida Atlantic University, said Republicans proclaim each election is finally the one in which Jews will abandon the Democratic Party…
Seaweed invasion creates disposal problem
Miami Hurricanes (blog)
“It’s a regional phenomenon,” said Brian Lapointe, research professor at Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. “There have been reports of unusually large amounts of sargassum in Bermuda, in Florida, in the Caribbean, the …
Give a hoot: FAU’s Owlsley is ‘superior’
Sun-Sentinel
Owlsley may not be as popular as Albert E. Gator or Sebastian the Ibis, but the Florida Atlantic University mascot is still superior. He earned that distinction at a recent University of Alabama cheerleading spirit camp, where he learned new crowd-pleasing techniques. ”We were shocked. We were competing against some long-tenured mascots,” said Owlsley, who declined to give his real name.
Florida voter registrations: a rising tide of independence
Palm Beach Post
“We have this unfortunate tendency to lump them into one category — they tend to do this or they tend to do that,” said Kevin Wagner, Associate Professor of Political Science at Florida Atlantic University.
Olympics: FGCU swimmers competing for St. Lucia, Honduras
Naples Daily News
The swimming competition at the London 2012 Games will have a little local flavor. Three people with ties to Florida Gulf Coast University are at this summer’s Olympics, and will compete beginning Sunday. Swimmers Danielle Beaubrun and Karen Vilorio will represent their native countries. Beaubrin will swim for St. Lucia, while Vilorio will compete for Honduras. FGCU head coach Neal Studd is coaching Beaubrun for St. Lucia in London.
Olympics: FGCU swimmers fail to qualify for finals
Naples Daily News
Florida Gulf Coast University swimmers Danielle Beaubrun of St. Lucia and Karen Vilorio of Honduras both failed to qualify for the finals in their two events in the London Olympics on Sunday morning…
Charlton reaches out to Asian schools to boost international experiences
SouthCoastToday.com
Agreements generally spell out guidelines for mutually beneficial student and faculty exchanges and open the door for developing business-to-business relationships. They reflect an understanding that American students increasingly need exposure to other cultures’ business systems in order to be successful, said Richard Pegnetter, interim dean at Charlton and the leading force behind the international pacts. From nearly his first day on the job, Pegnetter set a goal to build Charlton’s international business curriculum. A former dean and founder of the Lutgert College of Business at Florida Gulf Coast University, he replaced Susan Engelkemeyer as Charlton dean in mid-2011, after Engelkemeyer left to take a college president position in western Massachusetts.
Restrictions on Voting Rights for Felons Remain a Barrier to Universal Suffrage
SEOLawFirm.com Legal News Center
One Florida activist hopes to change the state’s status as the leader in felon disenfranchisement. Desmond Meade, a former felon himself who now studies law at Florida International University, is a leader of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition. “Every time a person is disenfranchised in a community, that weakens that community’s political voice,” Meade told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “And once their political voice has been weakened, they find it harder to get the attention of elected officials as far as public services, public safety, schools or parks, anything like that.”
Gun-control remedies won’t help
Columbus Dispatch
The brief interruption a killer needs for reloading is helpful only if someone can seize the moment to subdue him — something more common in movies than in real life. Florida State University criminologist Gary Kleck says he knows of only one mass shooting in which that happened, in 1993. In the 2011 Tucson shooting, the suspect was overcome when his gun jammed after he reloaded…
‘Online U’ waits in wings
Tbo.com
“This is a characteristic of two-year colleges; we’re known for embracing new things,” says Ken Atwater, president of Hillsborough Community College.
Census shows more claim single status as marriages sink
Florida Times-Union
Indeed, for most Americans marriage has not lost all its luster, says Heather Downs, a Jacksonville University sociologist with a specialty in family structure. “Studies have shown that people actually think very highly of marriage as an institution …
Vice President Biden Addresses Teacher’s Union In Detroit
CBS Local
Professor Lomer Pierre-Phillip of Miami Dade College told WWJ’s Beth Fisher what he wanted to hear from Vice President Biden. “I want to know that they are standing firm on the progressive principles that they are advocates for,” he said…
Currently, One in Four Polk Businesses are Owned by Females
The Ledger
Women are getting more education while delaying having families, and opportunities are now more available to start their own firms, said LaTrice Moore, a professor of business administration and coordinator of the entrepreneurship program at Polk State College. ”Society has evolved to a point where they’re more willing to accept women as business owners,” she said.
Tom Hope joins Rollins as new associate VP of marketing, communications
Upstart
Tom Hope has joined Rollins College as the new associate vice president of marketing and communications, the college announced Thursday. Hope will oversee strategy, content, design and execution of Rollin’s branding, advertising, student recruitment …
Stetson senior earns scholarship to study in Spain
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Stetson University senior Emmanuel Delgado has been awarded the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study in Spain this fall…
For NASA, there’s no liftoff from politics
USA TODAY
That’s only right when the taxpayers are paying the bills,” says planetary scientist Daniel Britt of the University of Central Florida…
Florida Obama vs. Romney: Florida Divided Between Candidates
PolicyMic
The U.S. economic recovery is wavering again because of the global economic crisis and political uncertainty, said Sean Snaith, University of Central Florida economist, in his latest quarterly forecast.
Tougher standards may worsen science-teacher shortage
Orlando Sentinel
“I don’t think it would be alarming for our College of Education students,” said Bryan Zugelder, director of undergraduate affairs and partnerships at the University of Central Florida‘s College of Education…
Guinness World Record smashed at Rice track Friday
Examiner.com
If a gold medal were to ever be awarded in joggling, Matthew Feldman may be the favorite. While London was putting on a show to kick off the 2012 Olympics, a University of Florida student set his third jogging while juggling Guinness World Record about 5,000 miles away in Houston. Feldman ran a mile while juggling five balls at the Rice University track Friday in 6 minutes and 33.645 seconds. That easily bested the previous record of 7 minutes, 41 seconds set by Bill Gillen in 1989…
Michelle Obama greets US athletes, UF band in London
Ocala
“I’m so excited,” she said, after to jogging to the stage as the University of Florida marching band played the school’s fight song. “I am thrilled to be here on London for the 2012 Olympic games. I am proud to be leading the U.S. delegation to the opening ceremony.” [Michele] Obama, who later tried out a host of sports alongside the children, offered a tribute to military families who had been invited to take part in the event…
Tampa-area alums join Gator Marching Band at London Olympics
Tbo.com
Clad in turquoise shirts and sparkling white pants, the University of Florida Gator Marching Band has been performing at the Olympic Games in London, and several Tampa-area musicians are along for the ride. Tanvi Pendharkar, 20, is in her third year at UF, studying psychology and playing trumpet in the marching band. Her Tampa family is glued to social media, keeping up with what’s going on, said her mom, Vrushali Pendharkar. So far, the family hasn’t been able to spot Pendharkar on TV. ”They’re not on TV, but we’ve got Facebook and Twitter,” her mom said Sunday.
Corrine Brown wins redistricting war
Florida Times-Union
“It is interesting that after all of that not a lot changed,” said Matt Corrigan, head of the University of North Florida’s political science department.
New Port Richey considering staff cuts
Tbo.com
“Government is not a business and should not be run like a business,” former City Council member Dell de Chant said. The city is more like a family, said De Chant, a religion professor at the University of South Florida.
An Unconventional Guide to Charlotte and Tampa
New York Times
Andy Solomon, writer and University of Tampa professor: “Drive to Clearwater Beach, stopping to buy a quart of ice cream on the way, then sit on the sand listening to Bill Cosby’s ‘Tonsils’ routine on your iPod.”
Releases and Web Stories
Think You’re a Comic Genius? Maybe You’re Just Overconfident
Science Daily (press release)
ScienceDaily (July 27, 2012) — Knock, knock! Who’s there? Cows go. Cows go who? No, cows go moo! OK, OK. So it’s not a side-slapper — especially if the teller has zero sense of comic timing. But most likely the person sharing the joke over the water cooler thinks he or she is pretty funny. No matter how badly the joke is told, it will sometimes elicit a few polite laughs. Why? Because social norms make us averse to providing negative feedback, says Joyce Ehrlinger, a Florida State University assistant professor of psychology whose latest laboratory research recreated everyday interactions in which people might feel pressured to withhold negative information. Ehrlinger’s findings, which will be presented at the American Psychological Association’s 120th convention in Orlando, Fla., in August, are described in her recent paper “Polite But Not Honest: How an Absence of Negative Social Feedback Contributes to Overconfidence.”
Rasmussen College Expands Online Accelerated Bachelor Completer …
PR Newswire
TAMPA, Fla., July 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Rasmussen College today announced the expansion of its online AcceleratED(SM) Bachelor’s Degree Completion …
The Olympics and bare feet: What have we learned?
EurekAlert (press release)
Ethiopian runner Abebe Bikila made history when he earned a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. His speed and agility won him the gold, but it was barefoot running that made him a legend…”Bikila may have been on to something,” said Carey Rothschild, an instructor of physical therapy at the University of Central Florida in Orlando who specializes in orthopedic sports injuries. “The research is really not conclusive on whether one approach is better than the other. But what is clear is that it’s really a matter of developing a good running form and sticking to it, not suddenly changing it.”
