Latest news with #UniversityofFlorida
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Florida corporal punishment law passes; parental consent now required
Under a new law signed by Gov. DeSantis last week, Florida parents will now have to opt in to corporal punishment at the state's public schools. The law requires parents to consent either at the beginning of each school year or before the punishment is administered. School districts will have to review their policies every three years. The law was the result of a four-year push by a group of University of Florida students who were bothered by a story in Lee County, when a student was hit without the parents' consent. They initially wanted to ban corporal punishment statewide, at least for disabled children, but were forced to compromise when more conservative communities pushed back. 'You might be able to say… if you got something onto the floor of the legislature, everyone would vote for it, it would pass. But that's just not how it works in reality, right?' Graham Bernstein, the now-former leader of the Florida Student Policy Forum, said. Bernstein continues, 'I think it's one of the best lessons I've probably ever had to learn… You can't just imprint your perspective onto other people. You have to try to work with them in good faith.' Rising sophomore and incoming president Jacob Kaplan said the work involved a lot of email sending and meetings in Tallahassee to vouch for the bill, titled HB 1255. He agreed with Bernstein's assessment. 'Without that compromise and without that communication, we have a great idea, but nothing actually would come of it,' he said. 'That's the most important thing for me to remember going forward.' Kaplan said the group was turning to other ideas, but didn't tip his hand. Given that the latest effort took Bernstein's entire college career to pass, he said he didn't anticipate adding a second law to his future resume so soon. 'There's definitely a high bar after this year,' Kaplan said. Under a new law signed by Gov. DeSantis last week, Florida parents will now have to opt in to corporal punishment at the state's public schools. Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Ono is the right choice for UF and for the Jewish community
On May 27, the University of Florida Board of Trustees voted to unanimously select Santa J. Ono, Ph.D., as the next UF president. The trustees spent 2 ½ hours asking Ono tough, pointed questions to address concerns, if not accusations. Some people have stated these concerns in public and often in passing, while some have exploited the obscurity and anonymity of the internet to sow doubt about Ono's fitness to hold the position. Ono addressed these questions, in public, on the record, live-streamed and over an extended period. Among the accusations being leveled against Ono: the claim that he is antisemitic. As a distinguished professor of neurology and a member of the Jewish community at the University of Florida, I feel uniquely qualified to address both the need for leadership that protects free speech and the UF Jewish community, as well as to help identify someone who can lead one of the most complex R1 universities in the country. Antisemitism is discrimination or hostility against Jewish people based on religion, ethnicity, or cultural identity. It has no place at the University of Florida, or anywhere else in our society. I have personal experience with antisemitism, so I know it when I see it. Therefore, I want to state unequivocally: Santa Ono is an ally to the Jewish community. He is not antisemitic and suggesting otherwise is both factually incorrect and deeply harmful. Don't take my word for it, though. In a letter sent to Ono just last week, Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and National Director of the Anti-Defamation League, wrote to Ono, 'I know you have worked hard to demonstrate your support for the Jewish community, sometimes at personal cost and threat to you and your family.' In his own words: Santa Ono: I'm the right choice for UF president. I would make a great school the best. I've had the privilege of serving this incredible institution for almost 23 years, and I can tell you that we are at a pivotal moment. Our university is rising in stature, in impact, in national recognition and in complexity. From AI to healthcare to elite athletics and a dynamic admissions environment, UF needs a leader who can meet the moment and take us to the next level of excellence. It was not an easy task to find that type of leader, and not one the UF Presidential Search Committee took lightly. The committee set out to find a candidate who was a nationally respected educator and scholar. The committee sought a proven leader with academic gravitas and passion for both research and innovation. We sought a champion for academic freedom, interdisciplinary collaboration and individual student success. Our quest was to identify an individual capable of making strong connections with all stakeholders including students, faculty, donors and lawmakers. As a member of the search committee, I can attest that we did our homework. We received interest from a long list of exceptional individuals, including sitting and highly accomplished presidents of major U.S. universities. From that distinguished pool, one candidate rose to the top, and that person was Santa Ono. UF vs New College: Don't let politics rule UF president decision. Just look at New College. He didn't just meet the qualifications, he exceeded them. Ono is a scholar of international reputation, a visionary leader, and a person who understands the delicate and powerful intersection of education, innovation, community and public service. He is deeply committed, and he brings with him a track record of excellence in research, teaching and engagement at every level. He is also someone who shares the values of this institution, and he brings a passion that will energize every corner of our campus. In short, he is the leader we need to meet our rising moment. I truly believe that the people of Florida and our elected leaders are going to love working with him, and I am hopeful the Florida Board of Governors, which oversees Florida's state universities, will feel the same when they meet June 3 at the University of Central Florida to consider confirming him. One of the great things about this country and this state is our commitment to public dialogue and transparency. The committee worked hard. We took our charge seriously. And we delivered a candidate of the highest possible caliber to lead UF and the state of Florida into the next generation. Michael Okun, M.D., is the Adelaide Lackner Professor of Neurology and Executive Director of the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at the University of Florida. He was one of the individuals serving on the 15-member UF Presidential Search Committee. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Ono the right choice for UF, will stand against antisemitism | Opinion
Scientific American
11 hours ago
- Health
- Scientific American
Engineered Viruses Make Neurons Glow and Treat Brain Disease
The brain is like an ecosystem—thousands of different types of cells connect to form one big, interdependent web. And just as biologists document species of plants and animals, neuroscientists have spent decades identifying different 'species' of neurons and other brain cells that support them. They've found more than 3,000 cell types spread throughout the brain, including chandelier neurons surrounded by branching arms, pyramidal neurons with far-reaching nerve fibers and star-shaped astrocytes that help neurons form new connections with one another. This newfound diversity is not only a beautiful picture for neuroscientists—it's also key to understanding how the brain works and what goes wrong in certain brain diseases. From Parkinson's disease to schizophrenia, many brain disorders stem from specific types of brain cells. 'As long as I've been doing neuroscience, it's been a goal of researchers to have brain-cell-type-targeting tools,' says Jonathan Ting of the Allen Institute, a nonprofit research center in Seattle. Now they have them in spades. In a fleet of eight studies funded by the National Institutes of Health and published last week, scientists from 29 research institutions found and tested more than 1,000 new ways to home in on specific cell types, no matter where they are in the brain. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. The technique behind these tools uses non-disease-causing viruses (called adeno-associated viruses, or AAVs) to deliver genes directly to specific neurons. This can make the cells do almost anything. Scientists can turn them off, activate them, 'light them up like a Christmas tree' with glowing proteins or deliver gene therapies right to them, says Ting, senior author of one of the new studies. The researchers have tested the technique only in nonhuman animals, but the bulk of the tools work across mammal species and would likely work in humans, too. Similar, less-targeted AAV gene therapies are already approved for treating spinal muscular atrophy and are being tested in clinical trials for Huntington's disease. 'There are a lot of good examples' of how AAVs are being used to treat brain disease, says Nikolaus McFarland, a neurologist at the University of Florida, who treats neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Huntington's. 'It's really exciting stuff.' Viral Shuttles Every type of brain cell is like a unique creature. Scientists have categorized the cells based on their shape, location and electrical properties—and, more generally, based on the genes they express most out of an organism's full library of DNA. By expressing certain genes, these cells carry out specific actions, such as building specialized proteins. If researchers can identify a unique snippet of genetic code that is activated just in those cells, they can use that snippet to target them. Next, they attach this genetic snippet, called an enhancer, to an AAV that has been gutted of its viral DNA. They can fill the viral husk with specific genes to deliver to those cells. The now-filled husks enter the bloodstream like a fleet of delivery shuttles, bypassing the blood-brain barrier, but are only able to activate their genetic cargo in cells with the enhancer. In the new studies, researchers focused on cell types in three parts of the brain: the outer layer of brain tissue called the cortex that plays a role in higher-level thinking, the striatum, which is part of the basal ganglia (a stretch of deep brain tissue) that is impacted in Huntington's and Parkinson's disease, and the spinal cord, whose motor neurons are destroyed in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The consortium of 247 scientists was funded by the NIH's Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative as a part of a larger research project called the Armamentarium for Precision Brain Cell Access. The scientists found and tested more than 1,000 enhancer AAVs, now freely available to researchers, that target specific cell types in those key brain regions. Tweaking the Brain Previously, these enhancer AAVs had been developed in a slow trickle by different labs, but 'now we have thousands of tools' to tweak specific cell types, says Bosiljka Tasic, director of molecular genetics at the Allen Institute and senior author of one of the new studies. Researchers can load these AAV shuttles with all sorts of different genes to answer different questions. In some cases, even just seeing the neurons in action is cause for celebration: 'Some of them are very rare cells that you wouldn't find randomly by poking around in brain tissue,' Ting says. To observe them, researchers can introduce a gene that makes a glowing protein that lights up elusive neurons from the inside to reveal their structure and how they connect with other brain cells. Researchers can also control how certain brain cells fire and turn their activity up or down to see how the change impacts an animal's behavior. To do this, researchers insert a gene into the target cells that creates a light-sensitive protein called an opsin; then they can shine specific wavelengths of light on the brain to make those cells fire on command. Ting's team used this technique, called optogenetics, to stimulate certain cells in the striatum of mice. When the researchers stimulated those cells on just one side of the brain, the mice began moving more on one side of their body than the other, causing them to go in circles. These interventions are reversible and repeatable. 'That's the part that's really satisfying for neuroscientists,' Ting says. 'You can turn them off, turn them back on and then see how that affects the brain circuit.' It's ' so much better and also so much more informative' than destroying whole parts of a mouse brain to see what happens, as is the case with much neuroscience research from the past century, Tasic says. 'That brain region may have a hundred different cell types,' so being able to activate and inactivate them more precisely will reveal more information about how these circuits work, she says. New Treatments So far, the new enhancer AAVs have been tested in mice, rats and macaques. 'We keep trying more and more species,' Ting says. 'We haven't even figured out what's the limit.' And that brings us to humans. 'That's really the answer to the question 'Why do we care?'' he says. 'We have built strong evidence that some of these tools—maybe not all of them, but many of them—may work across species into humans and could represent the start of a new therapeutic vector development that could be used to more finely treat debilitating brain disorders.' For these treatments, enhancer AAVs could deliver gene therapy right to the brain cells that need it. The best candidates for this technique are neurodegenerative diseases, such as ALS, Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease. Researchers are currently working on AAV gene therapies for these conditions and others that target whole regions of the brain rather than specific types of brain cells. Trials of these therapies indicate that they are largely safe. 'We now have lots of good examples of AAV being used,' McFarland says. 'We have [a] good safety record for that.' 'There's a lot that we still don't understand about neurodegenerative diseases,' he adds, and these little viral shuttles will allow scientists to make those discoveries that enable new treatments. While each of these brain disorders is unique, cracking one of them might help scientists crack the others, too, McFarland says: 'I wholeheartedly believe that.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Loyalty pledges': New UF president's $15M contract ties pay to DeSantis' agenda
The University of Florida's tentative $3 million-a-year offer for President-elect Santa J. Ono includes an unusual clause that may ease some of his right-wing critics' biggest concerns: His job performance — and potentially his pay — will be tied to how well he upholds educational reforms championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Ono, a three-time university president most recently at the University of Michigan, is poised to lead Florida's flagship public university under a five-year deal worth up to nearly $15.4 million plus benefits. If the Florida Board of Governors ratifies Ono's appointment on Tuesday, it's possible he'll be breaking his own record for highest-paid public university president. But it's not just the money raising eyebrows — it's the terms. Appended to the final page of Ono's draft contract is an exhibit containing 'key metrics' that the UF's Board of Trustees — heavily populated with DeSantis appointees — will use to evaluate his salary raises and performance bonuses. Beyond traditional benchmarks like student success and research output, Ono will be judged on his cooperation with the governor's Office of Government Efficiency (known as 'Florida DOGE') and how effectively he combats attempts to spend funds on diversity, equity, and inclusion. The metrics also task Ono with appointing a provost and deans who are 'firmly aligned with and support the principles guiding Florida's approach to higher education,' as well as weeding out courses with 'low return on investment' from curriculum. Read more: DeSantis halts UF's search for liberal arts dean amid conservative backlash The inclusion of specific political directives in a university president's performance review is 'unusual — if not, unprecedented,' said James Finkelstein, a researcher at George Mason University's school of policy, who along with research professor Judith Wilde has analyzed more than 300 contracts for college presidents. 'These are loyalty pledges,' he said. Both were struck by the lack of clear quantitative measures for the metrics, and said their placement — tucked into an exhibit at the contract's end — potentially signals an effort to quietly anchor political oversight into the role. 'This is just a way for them to keep him in check based on what they've seen him do before,' Wilde said, referencing Ono's prior outspoken support of DEI programs. As president of Michigan, Ono pushed for a 'DEI 2.0' plan and oversaw a diversity office once considered at the forefront of academia's DEI movement. But amid escalating public scrutiny and potential funding threats from the Trump administration, Ono shuttered the office in March. The measure shows how Florida's flagship institution is formalizing political expectations for Ono, who conservative critics have renounced as a left-wing opportunist feigning opposition to DEI to appease the state's Republican base. Questions about whether Ono sincerely believes DEI is a well-intentioned movement run amok by political ideology have swirled since May 4, when he emerged as the sole finalist for the UF presidency. UF spokesperson Cynthia Roldan, reached through email, declined to answer questions about why and when the performance metrics explicitly tied to prohibiting DEI spending and other DeSantis-backed measures were added into Ono's draft contract. Similar metrics aren't included in the contracts of previous UF presidents or recently appointed presidents at other state universities. Ono's contract also guarantees him a tenured faculty position within UF's ophthalmology department, securing him a post-presidential salary equivalent to the highest-paid full professor in the department. But the new deal also strips out some of the fringe benefits seen in his and his predecessor's prior contracts. Former UF President Ben Sasse's five-year, $10 million agreement included plenty of goodies, including tuition benefits for his entire extended family, as well as covered travel expenses for his wife and children. By contrast, Ono's tentative UF contract is notably leaner — and stricter. One notable requirement: Ono must reside in the Dasburg President's House on campus. This follows controversy during his Michigan tenure, when he purchased a home 40 miles from campus despite being contractually obligated to live in university housing. Gone, too, are some of the quirkier perks. Ono, a trained concert cellist, had previously insisted that the University of Michigan fund transportation and storage for his three cellos. That request is absent from his UF contract. Despite shedding perks, Ono's deal remains a financial powerhouse, solidifying UF's top job as one of the most lucrative posts in public higher education. And with that comes unprecedented accountability to a state-led ideological vision. 'I guess the only real similarities I see between the two [contracts] are the ability to get a world-class salary right up front,' said Wilde. 'And now, a very public test of political loyalty.'
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
‘Loyalty pledges': New UF president's $15M contract ties pay to DeSantis' agenda
The University of Florida's tentative $3 million-a-year offer for President-elect Santa J. Ono includes an unusual clause that may ease some of his right-wing critics' biggest concerns: His job performance — and potentially his pay — will be tied to how well he upholds educational reforms championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Ono, a three-time university president most recently at the University of Michigan, is poised to lead Florida's flagship public university under a five-year deal worth up to nearly $15.4 million plus benefits. If the Florida Board of Governors ratifies Ono's appointment on Tuesday, it's possible he'll be breaking his own record for highest-paid public university president. But it's not just the money raising eyebrows — it's the terms. Appended to the final page of Ono's draft contract is an exhibit containing 'key metrics' that the UF's Board of Trustees — heavily populated with DeSantis appointees — will use to evaluate his salary raises and performance bonuses. Beyond traditional benchmarks like student success and research output, Ono will be judged on his cooperation with the governor's Office of Government Efficiency (known as 'Florida DOGE') and how effectively he combats attempts to spend funds on diversity, equity, and inclusion. The metrics also task Ono with appointing a provost and deans who are 'firmly aligned with and support the principles guiding Florida's approach to higher education,' as well as weeding out courses with 'low return on investment' from curriculum. Read more: DeSantis halts UF's search for liberal arts dean amid conservative backlash The inclusion of specific political directives in a university president's performance review is 'unusual — if not, unprecedented,' said James Finkelstein, a researcher at George Mason University's school of policy, who along with research professor Judith Wilde has analyzed more than 300 contracts for college presidents. 'These are loyalty pledges,' he said. Both were struck by the lack of clear quantitative measures for the metrics, and said their placement — tucked into an exhibit at the contract's end — potentially signals an effort to quietly anchor political oversight into the role. 'This is just a way for them to keep him in check based on what they've seen him do before,' Wilde said, referencing Ono's prior outspoken support of DEI programs. As president of Michigan, Ono pushed for a 'DEI 2.0' plan and oversaw a diversity office once considered at the forefront of academia's DEI movement. But amid escalating public scrutiny and potential funding threats from the Trump administration, Ono shuttered the office in March. The measure shows how Florida's flagship institution is formalizing political expectations for Ono, who conservative critics have renounced as a left-wing opportunist feigning opposition to DEI to appease the state's Republican base. Questions about whether Ono sincerely believes DEI is a well-intentioned movement run amok by political ideology have swirled since May 4, when he emerged as the sole finalist for the UF presidency. UF spokesperson Cynthia Roldan, reached through email, declined to answer questions about why and when the performance metrics explicitly tied to prohibiting DEI spending and other DeSantis-backed measures were added into Ono's draft contract. Similar metrics aren't included in the contracts of previous UF presidents or recently appointed presidents at other state universities. Fewer perks, more strings Ono's contract also guarantees him a tenured faculty position within UF's ophthalmology department, securing him a post-presidential salary equivalent to the highest-paid full professor in the department. But the new deal also strips out some of the fringe benefits seen in his and his predecessor's prior contracts. Former UF President Ben Sasse's five-year, $10 million agreement included plenty of goodies, including tuition benefits for his entire extended family, as well as covered travel expenses for his wife and children. By contrast, Ono's tentative UF contract is notably leaner — and stricter. One notable requirement: Ono must reside in the Dasburg President's House on campus. This follows controversy during his Michigan tenure, when he purchased a home 40 miles from campus despite being contractually obligated to live in university housing. Gone, too, are some of the quirkier perks. Ono, a trained concert cellist, had previously insisted that the University of Michigan fund transportation and storage for his three cellos. That request is absent from his UF contract. Despite shedding perks, Ono's deal remains a financial powerhouse, solidifying UF's top job as one of the most lucrative posts in public higher education. And with that comes unprecedented accountability to a state-led ideological vision. 'I guess the only real similarities I see between the two [contracts] are the ability to get a world-class salary right up front,' said Wilde. 'And now, a very public test of political loyalty.'
