Education

Three community members paneled at the most recent Downtown Devil Discussion, which included an insightful debate about the costs vs. the benefits of expanding the light rail line.

CBS News correspondent and “Face the Nation” anchor Bob Schieffer visited the Walter Cronkite School on Monday to discuss the evolution of journalism with students as part of the Must See Monday series.

ASU professors Eric Hekler and Winslow Burleson were selected from more than 500 applicants in 50 countries to receive a Google Research Award for their proposal for smart home systems that improve health habits and lifestyle practices.

Bioscience High School seniors took a walk down Seventh Street Wednesday to visit the site where they will start a new community garden. The lot is currently a stretch of dirt behind a rental home owned by Dr. Preethy Kaibara. Kaibara reached out to Bioscience last summer about reactivating the lot because the neighborhood could use an interactive community space, she said. The students will incorporate school and internship projects into their plans for the garden.

Both U of A and ASU are offering new master's degree programs in public health. U of A's degree will use online and in-person classes at both the Phoenix and Tucson campuses, while ASU is partnering with the University of Minnesota to offer online and in-person classes as well.

Today show weather anchor Al Roker surprised Walter Cronkite School students early Wednesday morning when he ran in to the Taylor Place dormitory disguised with a Sparky mascot head. About 150 students were gathered to be filmed live for the Today show to highlight the NBC-themed decorations on their floors in the dormitory.

Community initiatives led by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at ASU have opened up engaging higher education options to senior citizens, and enrollment in courses offered by OLLI is expected to increase.

USGD held a town hall meeting Monday to discuss the proposal of an athletics fee of $75 per semester. The fee would replace athletic funding currently apportioned from student tuition, freeing up approximately $10 million of tuition funds. The new fee will be exactly the cost of season tickets, meaning students will not have to purchase season tickets but will also no longer have the option of opting out.

The New Yorker reporter Nicholas Schmidle gave journalism students a glimpse at what it is like to report on high-profile criminals such as the Taliban and arms dealers during the Must See Mondays lecture series at the Walter Cronkite School.

Meg Bruening received federal funding from the National Institute of Health to uncover the impact of friendships and relationships on the heath of college freshmen. She hopes the study, which is set to begin next year and will last five years, will be able to predict future patterns in student body-wide health.