Around the Region: Occupy Atlanta Given Notice, Suwanee Firm Inks Major Deal and Enrollment Increases at UGA

– East Atlanta Patch

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed wants Occupy Atlanta to leave Woodruff Park in Downtown by Monday.

The group, which has been encamped in Woodruff Park since the evening of Oct. 7, is part of the national Occupy Wall St. movement, which aims to battle what is sees as corporate corruption and government failure among several other issues.

Occupy Atlanta's original permit allowed them to stay in the park, which the group renamed Troy Davis —after the death row inmate executed last month — to stay until 11 p.m. Oct. 7.

Do you think Occupy Atlanta will leave Woodruff Park as directed? Tell us in the comments.

– Suwanee Patch

Arris Group Inc., a broadband communications equipment maker based in Suwanee, has agreed to buy a California firm for $53 million. The deal for Big Band Networks is expected to close later this year.

Arris said the deal will extend its capabilities in processing, managing and distributing digital video content, according to a news release.

Arris will pay $2.24 per share in cash in a deal valued at about $172 million, counting BigBand's cash on hand. 

– Athens Patch

The University of Georgia, the state’s largest public institution, has 8,578 new students on its five campuses.

When you combine undergraduate, graduate and professional students, the total is 34,816. This total is 130 more people than last fall.

Of the 8,573 new students at UGA, 5,122 are first-time freshmen. Some of these, 418, had enough college course credits or other credits to enroll as sophomores, and 21 were classified as juniors. Other new undergraduates transferred to UGA, including 869 classified as sophomores, 568 as juniors and 72 as seniors.