Adams may curb questions about book criticizing his tenure

A firestorm is brewing on campus. It may be a 10-year-old storm, but nonetheless, it has resurfaced.

With the upcoming release of Rich Whitt's book, "Behind the Hedges," today's 'Open Mic with Mike' comes at an opportune time for students to ask questions of UGA President Michael Adams.

I first learned of this book on Sunday at the paper's weekly staff meeting and was asked to take it on as my project for the week – which I was more than happy to do. The book takes a critical look at Adams's tenure and some controversies that I was never even aware of.

Click here to read my article about President Adams's biannual open forum session with UGA students.

As doom and gloom abound, I try to keep my spirits high

Reality is setting in.

I'm starting to come to grips with the prospect of not finding a journalism job before May. It's so difficult right now and print is taking a big hit.

Despite my persistent checking of every job board imaginable, I've only come up with a handful of prospects – most of which are unpaid internships. I have no qualms working for free and I'm lucky to have a supportive father who will let me stay at home and pay for things if that is the case. It's tough though because many of these internships don't accept students who aren't enrolled in classes.

What is a smart, driven, talented journalism graduate to do in today's economy? I honestly do not have the answer. I'm keeping my spirits high and hoping the stars align. But I'm not expecting anything to fall in my lap.

I know it all boils down to my determination. I'm willing to go just about anywhere, although it would be difficult to leave the state where I've lived for 22 years.

The AJC announced this morning that it would be cutting its full-time news staff by 30 percent – that's 230 positions – and reducing its circulation area by 2 percent. It is the paper in Georgia and one of the largest in the Southeast, and it is struggling to stay afloat in the economy's choppy waters.

And it leaves me wondering, what's next?

Academic calendar faces subtle changes

Fall break at the University of Georgia has traditionally – perhaps (not so) coincidentally – revolved around the Georgia vs. Florida football game. Until 2008, this meant that the Thursday and Friday before the "World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party" was free reign for students to head to Jacksonville and let loose without fear of missing a class or test.

But in 2008 that break was re-worked. Instead of a two-day fall break and a three-day Thanksgiving break, students had a one-day fall break and a weeklong Thanksgiving break. The change in the academic calendar was met with both opposition and excitement. Some students were upset their partying time was being cut into, but some were happy to get a full week off as the semester came to a close.

Monday the Educational Affairs Committee voted to pass the 2010-2011 academic calendar, which keeps a one-day fall break and a weeklong Thanksgiving break. Click here to read the article and find out what else the committee decided.

Univ. Council votes to have greater say in hiring provost

In January, UGA's president announced that the provost would be retiring this year. At the time of the announcement, he said there were no specific candidates in mind to replace the current provost.

It's been about two months since the announcement and after Thursday's University Council meeting, it appears that faculty and students may have a larger say in the decision than they have in previous provost hirings.

President Adams outlined his plan for the new provost hiring process at the beginning of the Council meeting Thursday afternoon, saying he hoped it would be managed in the same manner as the previous two hirings for the position. He has appointed a chair of a provost search committee and Adams said that committee would find three to five qualified candidates to bring to campus for an in-depth interview process.

Part of that interview process included meeting with University Council leadership, but not necessarily the entire body.

When the floor was opened for new business, one Council member proposed adding an item to the agenda which would essentially give the Council more say in the hiring decision. The Council voted to add the item to the agenda and then in a 2-to-1 vote, approved the item.

Immediately following the approval of the item, Adams told the Council he felt it was an "ill-informed decision" and that he would give the item some thought, because he was thinking about vetoing it.

This is a story that I will be following pretty closely for the rest of the semester.

Click here to read the article about the University Council meeting Thursday afternoon.

UGA hit by endowment losses, stem cell debate

Thursday was a meeting-filled day for me, but I was able to get some really important information that I think is important for faculty and students to know.

From 10 a.m. until about 11:30 a.m. I was in the Cabinet meeting and the media briefing that follows it. UGA administrators meet monthly to discuss what is happening at the university, then President Michael Adams answers any questions from the media. Last month the Cabinet meeting was cancelled, so this was my first experience with that meeting.

Adams told the Cabinet about the woes of the university budget – due to budget cuts instated by the state legislature. He also mentioned construction, what the university has had to cut and the current debate in the legislature about stem cell research.

Click here to read my article about the Cabinet meeting and media briefing Thursday morning.

Regents OK request to slash 12 majors

My article in today's paper is partly a continuation, or finalization, of another issue I've written about at least twice so far this semester. Some of the degree programs here at UGA have been terminated, for a variety of reasons, and the Board of Regents officially OK'd the university's requests yesterday to get rid of the programs.

Also at the meeting, the Board approved requests to increase the required amount of credit hours for the major in music therapy, and to expand the doctor of education program to the Gwinnett campus. The regular spokesman for the Board of Regents was busy all afternoon, so I spoke with the publications director instead and she wasn't able to be in all meetings that day, but I was still able to get some good information.

As far as Regents meetings have gone this semester, there really hasn't been anything too exciting to happen yet. I have a feeling, though, that things will heat up as the semester comes to a close and the Georgia legislature's session ends. That's when tuition and fees will be discussed and it seems very likely that there will be substantial increases for the next academic year.

Click here to read my article on the Mar. 17 Board of Regents meeting.

Feeling Flushed

Well the article that would never end finally did. It took me a little longer to be able to get in touch with people who were willing to talk about their toilet problems in one of the dorms on campus, but I did it. Getting in touch with a plumber proved to be difficult too, since they are almost always out on a service call. I was able to speak with the part-owner of a Roto-Rooter franchise here in Athens though, and she said she's been around plumbing her whole life, so she was able to answer my questions.

This article is a part of an ongoing series we're doing at The Red & Black this semester on lodging complaints in University Housing. Click the

link to read about the problems students have had with their toilets in Oglethorpe House.

Univ. Council boosts student representation

Yesterday the UGA Executive Committee approved motions to increase student and faculty representation of University Council. I was slightly concerned when I saw the agenda for the meeting, because almost every item being discussed was one that I've already written about. So I was happy when these items were brought up, because they haven't been written about yet and I think it's relevant to students.

There was a pretty lengthy discussion on whether professors should give students until the final examination slot to turn in take home exams. Issues of academic freedom, students rights and "the spirit of the policy" were all brought up, but in the end the motion passed and will go before University Council on Mar. 19.

Click here to find out what all was said and approved at the Executive Committee meeting Thursday afternoon.

MyUGA receives upgrade

I wrote this article on the MyUGA upgrade initially for Monday's paper (Mar. 2) - the day of the upgrade. But since Athens has had inclement weather, things have been a little crazy around here and the paper wasn't published yesterday, so the story is now in today's paper.

I wish someone had gone back to tweak my time elements a little bit so they made a little more sense. Everything is still written as if it's the first day of the upgrade - which now makes it seem like it will happen next Monday, instead of yesterday.

Oh well, I guess it's not a huge deal and it's just something that fell through the cracks, what with the paper having to be made by generator and all. Still, the perfectionist in me reads the article and wishes an editor had taken a few minutes to change "will begin" to "began" and so on.

Click here to read about the new features for MyUGA.

Furloughs for Georgia professors?

The AJC reported today that University System of Georgia Chancellor Erroll B. Davis told a House budget panel that furloughs may happen for University System employees if drastic spending cuts have to be made quickly. This comes after Davis' statement in January that he was "philosophically opposed" to furloughs.

I found this interesting because in a Jan. 30 article I wrote for The Red & Black, I referenced that very comment and even asked UGA President Michael Adams what he thought of furloughs. At the end of the article, I wrote:

The Board of Regents has no intentions of furloughing higher education employees in the state, Chancellor Erroll B. Davis said to the Georgia General Assembly Appropriations Committee last week. Furloughs place employees on a temporary non-pay and non-duty status during times of low funding.

"It's pretty difficult to furlough professors," Adams said. "We basically have a contract with [students] to teach whatever four or five classes [they] have registered for. We have hired faculty on contract to teach those courses."

"Those are things that unless the Regents were to declare a financial exigency, we have no option but to honor," he said.

© Copyright 2009 The Red and Black

I'm interested to see where this goes. I don't think it's enough to call for a follow-up story, but if more cuts are made soon and the prospect of furloughs grows, then I will suggest running one. I believe the state legislature ends its session next month, so the next budget - and its cuts - should be finalized around then.

I really like working the administration beat. Even though crime was interesting in a voyeuristic kind of way, nothing beats covering pertinent topics that a lot of readers care about.

It's snowing in Georgia!

I usually don't update with non journalism related topics, but it rarely snows in Georgia, so this is warranted.

I haven't seen snow in years and I haven't seen snow stick to the ground in even longer. It's such a pretty sight to see the ground covered in white. It's beautiful.

Here are some of the pictures I've taken today.