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Saturday, January 6, 2007
Bill Byrne wants his old job back
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In today’s Marietta Daily Journal, Bill Byrne has purchased a full-page ad announcing his comeback.
Byrne lost a 2002 Republican primary race for governor to some guy named Sonny Perdue, and for a while contemplated a primary challenge to the governor in 2006.
But it looks like the former Marine ‘copter pilot will settle for a return to his old job as chairman of the Cobb County Commission — with an ‘08 challenge to incumbent Sam Olens.
Byrne is emphasizing the “uncontrolled growth” that he says is killing Cobb. “If we don’t take control of the quality of life we want, the last person I want to determine that is a developer,” Byrne is quoted as saying in an MDJ piece, also in the Saturday edition.
One of his more interesting ideas is for Cobb to build its own crime lab to speed prosecution of crimes — because, he says, the state’s forensic researchers are underfunded and overwhelmed.
More about Georgia’s on-line university ambitions
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
John Millsaps, the interim associate vice chancellor of defense for the state Board of Regents, saw this week’s blog item about his bosses’ on-line university ambitions.
Millsaps pretty much confirmed it with a note to us. Here’s the gist:
The regents are not only talking about offering degrees on-line, they are doing it and have been doing it since the first Internet delivered degree was approved by the Board in 1997.
In fact, institutions in the University System have been engaged in offering distance education programs utilizing other delivery strategies and technologies long before the Internet provided a convenient delivery platform.
One of the crucial challenges we are facing in the System is the need to build capacity. The use of technology will be critical in our ability to use the state’s resources wisely to build this capacity to serve the growing demand for higher education.
Offering courses and degrees partially or fully online can increase the University System of Georgia’s ability to accommodate more students without waiting on new buildings, something that will become increasingly important as the number of students who will be seeking college degrees grows steadily over the next decade.
Conservative estimates project an increase of 100,000 students added to the USG enrollment figures by 2020.
More importantly, through online offerings, University System institutions can serve students who may not be able to participate in a higher education degree program due to time and place constraints or for whom online education is a more convenient approach than traditional on-campus classes.
Nationally, online learning enrollments continue to grow at approximately 18 percent annually. Recent estimates indicate that online students now represent close to 17 percent of all higher education students and the number is growing.
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