State lawmakers to debate house bill for commuter rail

So Athens might be getting a commuter rail that links it to Atlanta. This is something that's been talked about for over 20 years and has been in the news at least since 2006.

On Thursday the House Transportation Committee passed a bill which includes a project that could create an Atlanta to Athens commuter rail in 10 years. When my editor told me about this, I figured the best place to start (since there was hardly any information about it in the AJC), was to go straight to the source. I contacted the chairman of the committee and after a little waiting period, was able to talk to him and get some information about the rail.

Click here to read more about what the chairman had to say about the bill.

Policy amendments approved

Yesterday's Educational Affairs Committee meeting taught me a lot. Most notably, that I really need to work on my consolidation/synthesizing skills. I'm still getting used to going into a meeting where multiple subjects are being discussed and being able to come out of it knowing where I want to take the story. It's difficult (definitely not impossible though).

I also bought a new audio recorder over the weekend and was still trying to figure out exactly how to use it, so that didn't help. Note to self: don't put it close to my notepad. The loudest thing I could hear when I went back to listen was my pen scribbling away on the paper. On the whole, I like the article though.

Click here to read about the new policies approved by the Educational Affairs Committee at UGA.

University transitions to new fundraising effort

This article is a a follow-up to President Adams' statement in his State of the University speech, where he mentioned that UGA will be moving from a university-wide fund raising campaign to a unit (or school and college)-based effort.

He also mentioned the transition in a media briefing a little over a week ago, so I wanted to find out what this would mean for the individual schools and colleges. I spoke with representatives from the Terry College of Business and the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, two of the larger colleges at UGA.

Click here to read the article and find out what they had to say.

Regents authorize two parking decks

I reported on Jan. 29 that the UGA Real Estate Foundation Board of Trustees voted to enter into a ground lease agreement for two new parking decks at the University, and this article is a follow up to that.

After the Board of Trustees voted to approve that request, they had to send it to the Georgia Board of Regents for the official OK. Yesterday the Regents approved that request, so the two parking decks are beginning construction and are scheduled to be functional and open to students, faculty and staff in the fall.

Click here to read more about what the Regents approved yesterday.

HOPE book money not in immediate jeopardy

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday that HOPE scholars' book money may be in jeopardy because state officials predicted that HOPE and pre-K programs might exceed lottery revenues for the fiscal 2010 year. HOPE is funded by the Georgia lottery and many students at UGA depend on it to pay for their tuition and to help with the cost of textbooks.

University President Michael Adams spoke to the media in a briefing the next day and answered questions about the possibility of students losing their HOPE book allowance. But during the briefing the Georgia House of Representatives passed legislation that will allow students to continue to receive their book allowance, at least for now.

Click here to continue reading and find out what else President Adams had to say on issues pertinent to UGA.

Curriculum reform cuts eight majors

The Executive Committee of UGA's University Council voted Jan. 20 to terminate eight graduate majors and the University Council made those terminations official yesterday.

But the word "termination" is slightly misleading in this context, because students can still receive comparable degrees in different departments, or in some cases the programs were just consolidated to make things easier for the departments.

Click here to read more about the major terminations.

Auxiliary revenues to fund academics

I was able to sit down for an interview with UGA President Michael Adams to talk to him about the university's budget issues. During his State of the University speech last week he said he would ask for auxiliaries to contribute funds to support the university's academic mission. I asked him how he plans to do this and what will happen with the auxiliaries. Click here to read what he had to say.

Adams hopes to preserve quality, avoid layoffs

Budget cuts are the big issue right now, not only at UGA, but across the state. I interviewed President Michael Adams to see how the university is handling budget cuts and how he thinks UGA compares to other state universities.

I also interviewed representatives from Georgia College & State University and Columbus State University to find out their struggles with the budget cuts. UGA is trying to tough through it without any layoffs, but some state colleges have not been so lucky. Click here to read what Adams, GCSU and Columbus State had to say about their budgets.

IM fields parking deck planned for August

Yesterday the UGA Real Estate Foundation Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve the continuation of development on two parking decks. They also discussed the expansion of the Tate Student Center and the new fraternity houses being built on River Road. Click here to find out more about the meeting and approved items.

Adams announces provost's retirement

University of Georgia President Michael Adams gave his annual State of the University address yesterday afternoon at a crowded Chapel. Adams touched on some very important issues surrounding the university right now, hitting hard on budget cuts. Near the end of his address he announced Arnett Mace, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, will retire at the end of the calendar year. Click here to find out more about Adams' speech and the announcement that Mace will retire.

As a side note, this was the first time I've ever cut audio, and must say that I am impressed at how easily I caught on. I fought with the computer for about an hour because the WMA file wouldn't convert to MP3, and ended up having to get a little crafty to get it to work so I could put it into Audacity. I'm glad I stuck with it though because now I have a new skill and readers can hear Adams' words in addition to reading them.