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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, a distinguished professor of the practice in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, has written a co-op article on The Hill titled “Government shutdown has hidden costs, long-term consequences”
Read an excerpt:
In addition to all of the immediate pain being felt by many public servants and contractors who are struggling to pay their bills — whether they are expected to work without pay or required to stay home from work without pay — there are pernicious, long-term consequences to this treatment of the federal workforce that we need to focus on. Most important, this shutdown undoubtedly will reinforce a discouraging trend: More and more workers are leaving the civil service and diplomatic corps. For example, for fiscal year 2018, which ended on Sept. 30, career civilian retirements were up 24 percent from the previous year. And they are not being replaced. Only 6 percent of federal workers are under age 30.