Georgia State University Magazine Q1 2014 by Georgia State University

Erin Hanson’s (B.A. ’86) softshelled, protective football helmet cover is changing the game.

Former Atlanta Mayor Sam Massell (B.C.S. ’51) took a passion for progress and helped modernize the city.

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“ Killing Zombies is good” As executive producer of ‘The Walking Dead,’ cable television’s highest-rated drama ever, Tom Luse (B.A. ’74, M.S. ’81) is behind the scenes for the zombie zeitgeist

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Ann-Marie Campbell (MBA ’05, B.A. ’07) joined The Home Depot as a cashier. Today, she’s president of a division.

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CONTENTS 11 Beatles vs. Stones History Professor John McMillian’s take on rock’s biggest bands. 13 The Braves’ New World Why ‘America’s Team’ is leaving downtown for the ’burbs. 14 Robot Therapy Professor turns to technology to help children with cerebral palsy.

16 SAM I AM FORMER ATLANTA MAYOR SAM MASSELL’S (B.C.S. ’51) CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE CITY ARE LEGION, AND HE’S STILL GOING STRONG.

22 BEHIND THE PHENOMENON

28 AN AMERICAN DREAMER

TOM LUSE (B.A. ’74, M.S. ’81) IS EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF ‘THE WALKING DEAD,’ THE HIGHEST-RATED CABLE DRAMA IN HISTORY.

ANN-MARIE CAMPBELL (MBA ’05, B.A. ’07) WORKED HER WAY FROM THE HOME DEPOT FLOOR TO THE CORNER OFFICE.

“Sam Massell has an authentic passion for the city of Atlanta … he’s constantly been one of our champions.” —Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed

COVER PHOTO BY JOSH MEISTER. SAM MASSELL PHOTOGRAPHED BY BEN ROLLINS

M A G A Z I N E. G S U. E D U

FROM THE PRESIDENT

LETTERS Download a PDF of the magazine to your favorite tablet or device by visiting magazine.gsu.edu

Georgia State is in a dynamic period of improvement and expansion, and it is extremely important that we provide first-class facilities to meet the needs of our community.

A CAMPUS WITHOUT BOUNDARIES

IN ENHANCING ITS FOOTPRINT, GEORGIA STATE IS CONTRIBUTING TO THE INCREASED VITALITY OF DOWNTOWN ATLANTA OUR UNIVERSITY CONTINUES TO BE A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR to the revitaliza-

tion of downtown Atlanta as we develop our campus to serve the needs of our students, faculty and staff. Our footprint in the heart of the city continues to grow. We will break ground this summer on the second tower of the Petit Science Center, adjacent to the first tower at the corner of Decatur Street and Piedmont Avenue. Demand for highly focused research space far exceeds our inventory, and we expect the first phase of this facility to open in summer 2015. Projected tenants in the facility will be focused on biomedical research and will work in open laboratory spaces shared by multiple investigators. We believe this unique configuration will facilitate collaboration and yield path-breaking discoveries. In January, the Alumni Association moved into a terrific new space at 60 Piedmont Ave., adjacent to Centennial Hall. The

three-story building houses office, events and meeting space and will enable our alumni to visit campus more conveniently. The first floor of the building houses the Alumni Association staff, while the second story is dedicated to the Student Alumni Association, which now has more than 2,200 members and continues to grow. Construction is well under way on our new College of Law building at the corner of Park Place and John Wesley Dobbs Avenue. The seven-story facility should be completed in spring 2015 with classes beginning in it in fall 2015. We’re evaluating options for expanding our on-campus housing inventory as demand for student housing has steadily increased year after year. The waiting list this past fall exceeded 500 students, and that was at the same time the first phase of the privately owned and managed student housing development, One12 Courtland,

opened. The strongly growing number of Georgia State students living on and next to campus is breathing new life into the heart of our city. Georgia State is in a dynamic period of improvement and expansion, and it is extremely important that we provide firstclass facilities to meet the needs of our community. In enhancing our physical plant we’re contributing to the increased vitality of downtown Atlanta. We are a campus without boundaries, and we never lose sight of that.

Mark P. Becker President

SPRING 2014, Vol 5, Number 1 Publisher Don Hale Executive Editor Andrea Jones Editor William Inman Contributors Ann Claycombe, Sarah Gilbreath, Doug Gillett, Angela Go, Charles McNair Creative Director José Reyes for Metaleap Creative MetaleapCreative.com Designer Harold Velarde Contributing Illustrators Steve Brodner, Adam Cruft, La Tigre, Matt Stevens, Steve Wacksman Contributing Photographers Adam Komich, Josh Meister, Ben Rollins, Steve Thackston Send address changes to: Georgia State University Gifts and Records P.O. Box 3963 Atlanta Ga. 30302-3963 Fax: 404-413-3441 e-mail: update@GSU. edu Send letters to the editor and story ideas to: William Inman, editor, Georgia State University Magazine P.O. Box 3983 Atlanta Ga. 30302-3983 Fax: 404-413-1381 e-mail: winman@GSU.edu Georgia State University Magazine is published four times annually by Georgia State University. The magazine is dedicated to communicating and promoting the high level of academic achievement, research, faculty scholarship and teaching, and service at Georgia State University, as well as the outstanding accomplishments of its alumni and the intellectual, cultural, social and athletic endeavors of Georgia State University’s vibrant and diverse student body. © 2014 Georgia State University

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dad paid for the parking. This was standard practice for the kids. Another memory involved registration for my first classes in 1954. This was in the first floor of Kell Hall. Over the years, I saw many renovations take place on just about every floor. Each one of them served as a sign of progress. In a way, it is sort of sad to see the “old girl” pass away. But as I learned many years ago, “don’t be the first to try the new, nor the last to try the new.” Robert Ted Brown (B.B.A. ’58, M.P.A. ’74)

SO LONG, KELL! Reading about Kell Hall brought many memories. I was involved at Georgia State as a student and an employee from 1954 through 1975. I served as Director of Purchasing from 1957 through 1975. My first memory goes back to the mid-1930s. The facility was known as the Belle Isle parking garage. My dad would periodically take our family downtown on Saturday afternoon for a movie and, on occasions, bowling at Blick’s bowling alleys, just north of the parking garage on Ivy Street. When bowling was on the schedule, my dad would park at Belle Isle. I clearly remember receiving a piece of stick candy from the attendant when my

@vladgorenshteyn Vlad Gorenshteyn

Sincerely,

ILLUSTRATION BY ANDY FRIEDMAN

“Why not, as Kell Hall is being demolished, have some of the concrete be broken up into fistsized chunks and make them available to the thousands who trekked up and down the ramps to and from classes? I, for one, would gladly pay for receiving a chunk from the rubble. Such a ceremony would also be an opportunity for professors and students from the ‘Rampway’ days to have an opportunity to greet each other.”

@gsu_news I’m really digging the new @ gsumagazine design! I’d say production quality/ level is higher than @ WIRED & @FastCompany. Love it! Vlad Gorenshteyn (B.I.S. ’06) via Twitter

Dr. Roger Stembridge (B.S. ’60)

fies design and gives not even a passing nod to the written word, which has to be searched out on some of the pages. The massively over-designed pages do not invite one to read, and if one does, the words are not memorable. Moreover, it’s just ugly. My impression is that the graphic designers have taken over the candy store. Don’t get too carried away with congratulating yourselves. Beth Bassett (M.Ed. ’79) Former associate editor and principal writer, Emory Magazine

As my wife, Camilla, and I are ’73 journalism grads, most of today’s alumni are a generation or more separated from what even fewer of us recall when Kell Hall was finally functioning. Grown from a parking garage skeleton, the “ramps” were unique in their efficiency to take us from floor to My wife is an alumna of Georgia State and floor. If only those walls could have spoken received the new magazine. Holy cow! It’s loudly, often and sooner. gorgeous! I am the Illustration Depart W. R. “Bill” Ronay (B.A. ’73) ment head at the Atlanta campus of Sa vannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), GOODWILL GAME so I am surrounded by great illustration I live a long way from Georgia State in Salt and design, but I have to say that this Lake City. As a result, I don’t new publication is as good as get to see our sports teams anything I’ve seen from a colVISIT US ONLINE AT play in person very often. I was lege publication and rivals the MAGAZINE.GSU.EDU excited to learn that the men’s best graphic design out there, basketball team would be playwhether corporate, commering Brigham Young University cial or institutional. last season. I bought tickets to I was particularly pleased to the game so I could cheer them see the generous use of terrific Follow us on on. Prior to the game, I sent an illustration, particularly the Facebook at email to Coach Hunter wishwonderful portraits by Adam facebook.com/ ing him luck and telling him Cruft. Really world-class work. GSUMagazine that they’d have at least one I wasn’t familiar with him or fan in the stands. He immedihis work but I was blown away, ately replied, asking if I needed and will reference his work in tickets. (He said he had good my upcoming “The Portrait for ones!) I accepted and sat a few Illustration” class. Kudos to Follow us on rows behind the team. After everyone who helped with this Twitter at the game, I got to say hello to wonderful magazine, and I am twitter.com/ the players as they exited the already looking forward to the gsumagazine locker room and also meet and next one! talk with Coach Hunter. I was Rick Lovell really impressed with him and Illustration Program I am appreciative that he repCoordinator, SCAD resents Georgia State! Follow us on Bret Kinghorn (B.S. ’92) Read more letters at Instagram at magazine.gsu.edu instagram.com/ POINT, COUNTERPOINT georgiastateuniI am dismayed by your soversity called new magazine. It gloriM A G A Z I N E. G S U. E D U

IN THE CITY CAMPUS A MODEL FOR STUDENT SUCCESS University support program cited by Education Trust Georgia State’s data-driven approach to dramatically increase student success has been held up as a national model by The Education Trust. The Education Trust’s new report, “Learning from High-Performing and FastGaining Institutions,” identifies Georgia State as one of eight universities implementing programs to markedly improve graduation rates over time. Georgia State President Mark Becker joined other invited college and university presidents for a Jan. 16 summit focused on making college more accessible to students held by President Barack Obama at the White House. Georgia State is one of a handful of large institutions nationwide using new technology to track students from the moment they arrive on campus to ensure progress to graduation. With the university’s early warning tracking system, struggling students get the intervention they need to get back on track, improve or change their academic path. BLUE IS THE NEW GREEN Georgia State is proving a large urban university can take steps toward sustainability

Georgia State’s Office of Sustainability has brought campus recycling and energy conservation issues to the forefront. The office executed several initiatives this past year to engage students and faculty in building a greener campus. “Go Green Fall 2013” implemented a campus-wide recycling day where students received free items for participating in recycling. The office also coordinated with University Housing for the “Compete to Reduce” Campus Conservation national competition for the second year in a row. One of the CONT’D ON P.09 most interactive ideas was

THE GUARDIAN

MORTARBOARD MADNESS

Erin Hanson’s (B.S. ’86) protective football helmet cover is changing the game. BY WILLIAM INMAN PHOTOS BY ADAM KOMICH

GEORGIA STATE GRADS GET CREATIVE WITH THEIR CAPS CHARACTER STUDIES: From Doctor Who to Cookie Monster to Dory (Just Keep Swimming!) from “Finding Nemo,” the class of 2013 found plenty of inspiration from pop culture for their graduation cap decorations. . MESSAGE BOARD: For Almeera J. Pratt (B.A. ’13), her graduation cap was a way to let her family

know that all her hard work paid off. Her cap read: “I got a job, mom!” Pratt now works at the public relations firm Jackson Spalding. CAP AND GALLERY: Visit magazine.gsu.edu to check out a gallery of some of Georgia State’s

newest alumni’s cap designs.

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ILLUSTRATION BY LA TIGRE

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M A G A Z I N E. G S U. E D U

Career Services: The Alumni Association recently introduced a new website to help alumni develop a

“Caught Green Handed.” Whenever students were seen recycling on campus, staff members would give them a green voucher that can be used for one meal at the dining hall, a free T-shirt in the bookstore or a surprise gift at the Student Center reception desk. In addition, the Office of Sustainability, the Environmental Law Society and the Sustainable Energy Tribe also organized sustainability forums featuring leaders of green initiatives in Atlanta.

ERIN HANSON is in the protection business. The mother of five and her husband, Lee, own The Hanson Group, a technology and material sciences company that has developed a range of protective products, including transparent armor for U.S. military vehicles, for example. Several years ago, the company worked with a football helmet manufacturer to create a soft-shelled helmet cover aimed at reducing concussions. Hanson says they took it to the National Football League’s concussion symposium. “They told us that it would change the sound of the game,” she said, referring to the audible pops that come when a player hits another player. “And that would be bad for business.” After that, Hanson says the company never took the product to market. A few years later, when her son, James, was ready to start playing football, Hanson was concerned for his safety. She knows a lineman in high school takes between 1,100 and 1,500 hits in a season. She knows American youth football players are treated for more than 8,500 concussions a year. “Knowing what we know,” Hanson said, “we had to do something. We knew we could make a difference.” The Hansons went back to the lab and worked to enhance the design. They came back with a one-size-fits-all, seven-ounce padded helmet cover that snaps onto the facemask of any football helmet. They called it the Guardian Cap. Tests showed that the product absorbs up to 33 percent of the impact of a hit. Hanson took the lead on marketing the Guardian Cap. “It’s important for me,” she said. “It’s a passion business.” Little by little — and as the debate over concussions grew — the Guardian Cap

EXCELLENCE IN STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

began to appear on football practice fields across the country. In a cruel twist of fate, in 2012 as Hanson was tirelessly working to protect the brains of youth football players, the couple’s daughter, Alex (B.B.A. ’12), then a senior at Georgia State, was diagnosed with brain cancer. Hanson is happy to report that Alex has since made a full recovery, graduated with her accounting degree and now works for the family business. Alex’s illness galvanized the family — they give 5 percent of company profits to brain research — as well as their efforts promoting the Guardian Cap. Today, Hanson says, more than 20,000 caps are worn by youth leagues to Division I college teams, including the University of South Carolina and Clemson University. While the Guard-

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ian Cap is almost exclusively worn during practices there are a few high schools that use it in games. “Changing a sport as ingrained in American culture as football takes time and many aren’t willing for the game to look different,” Hanson said. The caps are also being used in lacrosse, she said. “Nothing can prevent concussions completely,” Hanson said. “It will take technique, education and equipment changes going forward with a commitment to do all we can to make the game safer for players.”

ILLUSTRATION BY ????????????????

The Georgia State chapter of the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance (NLA) has been recognized as the best chapter in the country at the organization’s national conference in Chicago. The 2014 Sprint Campus Program Excellence Award was presented to the chapter members attending the conference in a presentation on Jan. 7. “This award not only recognizes the ongoing excellence of one of the university’s top programs in student engagement, it’s also an endorsement of the larger nonprofit community in Atlanta and its support of our students through internships and other mentoring activities,” said Mary Beth Walker, dean of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, which houses Georgia State’s chapter. Students participating in the Georgia State chapter represent every academic level and all types of degrees, said NLA chapter adviser Maggie Tolan, director of career services and student life for the Andrew Young School. “The award recognizes that our campus has strong career leadership,” Tolan said. “We are in a big city with awesome internships, and our students do more than the minimum number. They often work in up to four internships, when only one is required for certification.” URBAN OASIS Indian Creek Lodge reopens as a new state-of-the-art facility Georgia State has operated the Lodge at Indian Creek since 1939 as a location for off-campus events and retreats. The old lodge, once a family home, was razed in 2012 and replaced by a modern new facility. Opened in January, the new lodge is the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified building at Georgia State. The Lodge at Indian Creek houses a large meeting room, two breakout rooms,

an open lobby reception area with fireplace, a catering kitchen and front and rear outside decks with seating. Georgia State alumni who are members of the Student Recreation Center are eligible to use the facility for a fee. “Indian Creek has always been a jewel for the Georgia State community, and now it’s really something special we can call our own,” said Scott Levin, director of the Department of Recreational Services, which has maintained the property at 900 South Indian Creek Dr. since 1992. IN MEMORIAM J. Mack Robinson and John Rhodes Haverty, M.D. The Georgia State community mourned the loss of two of the university’s biggest supporters earlier this year. J. Mack Robinson, the legendary Atlanta business leader, philanthropist and namesake of the J. Mack Robinson College of Business, died Feb. 7. John Rhodes Haverty, M.D., founding dean of the School of Allied Health, a precursor to the Byrdine F. Lewis School of Nursing and Health Professions, passed away on Jan 24. Robinson’s $10 million endowment to Georgia State in 1998 enabled the business school to rise to new heights, becoming internationally recognized for its top programs and faculty. In 1968, Haverty founded the School of Allied Health with degree programs in nursing and physical therapy, the first accredited physical therapy program in Georgia.

DISCOVERY CLASS PHISHING Socioeconomic status and cybersecurity Socioeconomic class determines a lot about people, from where they live and what they eat to the schools they attend and the jobs they’re likely to get. But does that all end the moment they go online? After all, everybody is equal on the Internet, right?

successful career strategy: alumnicareerservices.org. New Digs: The Alumni As-

sociation recently moved to a new location on campus. The new address is 60 Piedmont Ave. NE, Atlanta, Ga. 30303.

7,380

Well, maybe not. Adia Wingfield, asFeet of cable used at sociate professor the Challenge Proof sociology thinks gram ropes course at there may be a link the new Indian Creek between socioecoRecreation Area. nomic class and cybersecurity, and is using a National Science Foundation grant to help her dig into the issue. “Existing research has shown that poor individuals are more likely to bet and play the lottery,” said Wingfield. “I speculate that a large number of these people will also fall for phishing scams.” Phishing is the attempt to get people to reveal personal information, such as passwords, Social Security numbers or bank account details, in emails or other electronic communication designed to look like they originate from a legitimate source. The study will evaluate how people from a variety of backgrounds respond to different Web page designs. “We hope the work we are doing will help enable an intervention tailored to target specific groups,” she said. RESEARCHER TO BE FEATURED ON SCIENCE CHANNEL Sarah Brosnan has been studying the behavior of monkeys and apes for years, and science lovers can now learn about her research by turning on their TV. The associate professor of psychology, philosophy and neuroscience at Georgia State is being featured on “Through the Wormhole,” an American science documentary television series on the Science Channel hosted by actor Morgan Freeman. Her episode was filmed on Dec. 4 and is tentatively slated to air this summer. Kurt Sayenga, director, producer and writer for the episode, interviewed Brosnan about her research on inequity, which examines how individuals respond when they get more or less than their partner for completing the same task. Brosnan demonstrated the concept with two capuchin monkeys, who received different food rewards, a piece of grape or bell pepper, for handing a rock back to Brosnan. Monkeys who receive the less preferred reward, the bell pepper, respond badly, often throwing out a bell pepper that, in other circumstances, they happily eat. The research helps to determine how human responses to inequity and fairness evolved, Brosnan said. M A G A Z I N E. G S U. E D U

IN THE CITY

A Coke Can in Space?: Ted Neill (MBA ’13), a volunteer teacher at Southwest

Atlanta Christian Academy, challenged his students to send a Coke can to the edge

of the atmosphere. Read more about Neill and watch the video at magazine.gsu.edu.

SUBATOMIC STUDIES Center for Nano-Optics becomes top-level research center The Center for Nano-Optics, a research center focusing on the science of developing tools and instruments 1,000 times thinner than a human hair, has been created at Georgia State. Physics ProConsecutive semesfessor Mark Stockters that Georgia man and a group State studentof physics faculty athletes have earned will expand the a cumulative gradeuniversity’s nanopoint average of 3.0 technology focus or higher. and continue the development of two university inventions — the spaser and the nanoplasmonic metal funnel. The spaser is a laser that is 1,000 times smaller than the smallest laser. Success in incorporating spaser technology into transistors, something that cannot be done now, may lead to computer processors that operate 100 to 1,000 times faster than today’s processors. The spasers may also help biomedical researchers identify and track single cancer cells in the bloodstream. The second invention is the plasmonic metal funnel designed with a very thin needle at the end. This technology allows energy to be delivered to very small spaces. The funnel is already widely used in microscopes to give researchers the ability to see on the nanoscale. “The center will unite a group of talented physics faculty that has been developing within the department for close to a decade,” Stockman said. “This designation will allow us to unite our efforts and significant resources, providing a common vision and general plan for the continued development of our inventions.”

THE SUPER SLEUTH

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF HISTORY NICK WILDING’S DISCOVERY OF A GALILEO FORGERY HELPS NAB A RARE-BOOK CRIMINAL

A BOSTON BOOK DEALER paid half a million dollars in 2005 for an original printer’s proof of “The Siderius Nuncius,” Galileo’s most important work. The buyer did his due diligence, having the book authenticated by professors at Harvard University, the University of Padua and the Institute for Advanced Studies in Berlin. But it was a fake. Nick Wilding, assistant professor of history at Georgia State, was sure of it. The book bore a stamp proclaiming it to be from the library of Federico Cesei, a 17th-century nobleman. But legitimate copies of the stamp had a small gap in their oval border. The stamp in the proof copy had a solid border, with no gap. Later, Wilding came across a Sotheby’s catalog that contained a picture of another copy of the “Siderius Nuncius.” Both it and the supposed proof copy had the same typo on the title page — one that did not appear in other legitimate copies of the book. Worse still, both the Boston and Sotheby copies came from the same person: Marino

Massimo De Caro, who was arrested in May 2012 for stealing and selling at least 1,000 rare books from the Girolamini Library in Naples. De Caro, a former Italian government employee, has since confessed to forging five copies of the “Siderius Nuncius” and five more of another Galileo book, the “Compasso.” De Caro’s activities have become the biggest scandal in the rare-book world in more than a century. And Wilding has become known as an expert in his own right, asked to authenticate rare books and interviewed extensively about his experiences. For someone who out-thought the experts and exposed a brilliant forger, Wilding is surprisingly downbeat about his triumph. “This is pretty disturbing for academics,” he said, “because our entire enterprise relies on trusting our primary sources. If somebody’s putting out very high quality fakes, it puts our work in jeopardy.” — Ann Claycombe

CREATIVITY WAR OF THE WORDS Two professors go head to head for Georgia’s longest-running literary prize The shortlist for the 2014 Townsend Prize was released in early January, CONT’D ON P.12

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ILLUSTRATION BY MATT STEVENS

t’s an age-old tale: two popular bands have a fight, the media covers both sides, and both groups get plenty of publicity. It certainly worked for the clean-cut Beatles and the wild Rolling Stones, two of the biggest rock bands in history. The rift between the groups was legendary, and is still debated among music fans today. But according to History Professor John McMillian, that famous feud was a complete fraud. “In reality, the two groups were good friends,” McMillian said. In his new book, “Beatles vs. Stones,” McMillian takes a closer look at the interaction between the two groups and how the rumored fight may have started. “In 1968, there was a huge debate among rock fans about the politics of the two groups,” he said. “The thinking was that the Beatles were hippies, and the Stones were part of the New Left. It was a silly debate, and it was started by the fans.” It’s been the subject of much discussion among fans and scholars, but McMillian brings a fresh take on the subject. “People are convinced there’s nothing new to be said on this topic,” he said. “But I’ve got new source material.”

BATTLE OF THE BANDS

In ‘Beatles vs. Stones,’ Professor John McMillian examines the careers of the two greatest rock and roll bands of the 20th century. BY SARAH GILBREATH ILLUSTRATION BY STEVE BRODNER

Rather than rely on the usual books and recordings, he went to a different source: underground press and magazines. “I’ve probably spent about $3,000 on eBay buying vintage teen magazines,” he laughed. “I’ve got complete sets of the fan magazines for both the Beatles and the Stones, as well as lots of others.” Inside those magazines he found plenty of evidence that the fans were largely driving the argument. “I think a lot of it has to do with the age of their fans,” he said. “Especially for the Beatles in the U.S., their fan base was incredibly young.” “Beatles vs. Stones” has enjoyed critical success. The New York Times reviewed

it, saying, “Even the most gnarled and intransigent veterans of the Beatles-Stones debates will emerge enlightened by this book. McMillian is a scholar of the ’60s underground press, and his deft references to those far-flung sources demonstrate how profoundly these bands’ songs, statements and actions roiled the counterculture.” For McMillian, seeking out underground sources for the great debate was the next natural step. “Any good historian is always looking for new evidence,” he said. “You’ve got to be industrious. You’ve got to seek out new material. I write the kind of books that I would enjoy reading myself. My hope is that readers will enjoy it just as much as I do.” M A G A Z I N E. G S U. E D U

IN THE CITY U.S. REAL GDP

Share Your Success! Class Notes are shareable through Facebook and Twitter! Post your good news and

Archival items, including manuscripts, photographs, periodicals, newspapers, oral histories, maps and other materials, digitized by the Georgia State Library for its digital collections. Visit library.gsu.edu to browse the collections.

2014

U.S. HOUSING STARTS

1.032% 2014

1.9% 2013

+11.2%

JOB GROWTH

2.1% 2014

in Georgia

.928% 2013

PERSONAL INCOME GROWTH

4.7% 2014

in Georgia

2.1% 2013

+1.8%

2.9% 2013

BIG DATA

RAJEEV DHAWAN, EXPERT ECONOMIC ANALYST and director of the Economic Forecasting Center at the Robinson College of Business, predicts 2014 is shaping up to be a good year for the economy. Dhawan’s center is one of only two of its kind in the nation — and the only one in the Southeast — that compiles quarterly national and regional forecasts. Though he uses many metrics when crafting his forecasts, four data sets have him confident in 2014: The U.S. gross domestic product, U.S. home prices, local job growth and local income growth. ¶ “These are the four metrics I would look at very closely if I was stranded on an island like Tom Hanks in ‘Castaway,’ got rescued and wanted to see where the economy stood and what happened to it in my absence,” Dhawan said. “One can tell the boom times from bust by looking at these numbers.”

the streets of San Francisco taking portraits of its denizens. The result is a widely acclaimed project called

“The Souls of San Francisco.” Visit magazine.gsu.edu to read an interview with Bowden and see his work.

21,000 +

2.4%

+.5%

Windows to the Soul: Garry Bowden (B.A. ’07) bought a camera and walked

share with your network by visiting magazine.gsu.edu/ add-class-notes.

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and among the top 10 candidates were not one but two Georgia State professors. Created in 1981, the Townsend Prize was created in memory of the founding editor of Atlanta magazine, Jim Townsend. The biannual award honors the best work of fiction by a Georgia author in the preceding two years. Administered by literary journal The Chattahoochee Review and the Georgia Center for the Book, the Townsend Prize is the longest-running and most prestigious literary award in the state. Previous winners include Alice Walker (1984, “The Color Purple”) and Kathryn Stockett (2010, “The Help”). This year, the committee chose two of Georgia State’s creative writing professors: Sheri Joseph, for her work “Where You Can Find Me,” and Josh Russell, for his book, “A True History of the Captivation, Transport to Strange Lands and Deliverance of Hannah Guttentag.” The winners will be announced at the award ceremony in April at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. THE BIGGEST STAGE Alums rock Super Bowl halftime show with Bruno Mars Figure Dwayne Dugger (M.Mu. ’09) and James King (M.Mu. ’10) are the mostwatched Georgia State alums ever. Dugger plays the saxophone and King the trumpet in Grammy-winning artist Bruno Mars’ band The Hooligans. The two took the stage with Mars during the halftime show of this year’s Super Bowl, which had the largest television viewership in history when 111.5 million people tuned in. Even more watched the halftime show, which also set a record with 115.3 million viewers. Dugger, King and Mars were joined by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the performance bested the prior record of 114 million set by Madonna two years ago. While the game was a blowout, the halftime show was widely praised as one of the best Super Bowl halftime shows ever. “It was a blessing and I am wowed at the response,” King said. Visit magazine.gsu.edu for more on Dugger and King. INFOGRAPHIC BY METALEAP CREATIVE

ATHLETICS ALL-PURPOSE ALBERT Albert Wilson is Panther football’s first FBS All-American

THE BRAVES’ NEW WORLD BRUCE SEAMAN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AND EXPERT IN THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS, WEIGHS IN ON THE ATLANTA BRAVES’ CONTROVERSIAL MOVE OUT OF DOWNTOWN TO THE ’BURBS.

Why are the Braves leaving downtown? For many years the Braves had been frustrated by the absence of more favorable economic development around Turner Field and were eager to obtain more control of both stadium operations and the investment strategy for developing the area around the stadium. It’s clear that the Braves had just lost patience with the city and had sought other options. The fact that a parcel of land managed to materialize almost by accident as the Braves were at their most frustrated seems to have been the coup de grace in compelling the move. What could come next at the Turner Field location? It is hard to imagine one of the few successful utilizations of a major facility from any Olympic Games being ILLUSTRATION BY STEVE WACKSMAN

destroyed at such a young age. And that area contains so much history of professional baseball in Atlanta — and history and tradition matter, yes, even in Atlanta. Some have hoped that Georgia State might find some way to integrate it into its own sports programs, but that option does not seem likely. Not only would there be both legal and financial hurdles to overcome in acquiring the facility, but the maintenance costs would not be trivial. The announcement came out of nowhere. How did that happen? This is indeed nearly unprecedented, and it happened for three reasons: First, it could only be kept a secret if it happened fast, and this was obviously not a master plan of the Braves, but a sudden option that caught even them off guard and then suddenly

surpassed that threshold of plausibility to become compelling. Second, the Braves recognized that Cobb County would naturally be suspicious of the well known strategy among sports franchises to use location alternatives as little more than negotiating chips rather than as sincere options. Hence, it was critical to avoid this becoming publicly known to prove the team’s good faith. And third, both the team and the county managed to keep a remarkably small group involved in the discussions, which was clearly necessary to avoid leaks. It is actually hard to believe that they kept that circle so limited for a decision of this magnitude. Presidents would no doubt admire this suppression of leaks.

Bruce Seaman conducted an economic analysis on behalf of the Braves on the City of Atlanta and the statewide economic impact of the Braves as part of the process of negotiations with the city and Fulton County on renewal of the Turner Field lease. The study was released early in 2013 as the Braves were hoping to make progress on improving, from their perspective, the terms of that lease agreement. He also studied the impact of a new Falcons stadium and testified before the Atlanta City Council twice on the economic issues involved in that deal.

Prolific receiver and kick return specialist Albert Wilson is Georgia State’s first AllAmerican at the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. Wilson was named an honorable mention selection as an all-purpose player on Sports Illustrated’s 2013 college football All-America team. Wilson’s average of 190.2 all-purpose yards per game this season was the second-highest figure in the FBS. Wilson led the Sun Belt in receiving yards (98.1 per game) while ranking second in receptions (5.9) to earn first-team all-conference honors at wide receiver and secondteam accolades as an all-purpose player. He set Georgia State’s season records with 71 catches for 1,177 yards and eight touchdowns, along with 2,283 all-purpose yards, breaking his own record in each category. He averaged 23.5 yards on kickoff returns and was the Panthers’ thirdleading rusher. PANTHERS GIVE BACK Georgia State student-athletes have completed more than 5,000 hours of community service in each of the past three years. More than 40 Georgia State student-athletes, administrators and staff spent much of an afternoon in early December at Hurt Park to give back to the downtown Atlanta community with their “Paws for a Cause” event. Intended to provide basic items such as clothing, shoes, bags and toiletries to people in need, the project was coordinated by assistant athletic trainer Kasinda Hodges, who enlisted the Student-Athlete Advisory Council to help with the call for donations. It turned out to be much more. “It was awesome to see so many people — from student-athletes to coaches to the Georgia State community and departments on campus — really embrace the idea of giving back,” Hodges said. “The event went better than expected, and we received more donations than projected. We are thankful for all who donated items or their time.” M A G A Z I N E. G S U. E D U

IN THE CITY

ROBOT THERAPY

Professor engineers an electronic playmate to help children with cerebral palsy. BY ANGELA GO PHOTO BY ADAM KOMICH

or physical therapists, children with cerebral palsy present a unique challenge. The children see and understand, but because they lack control over their movements, they can’t easily repeat modeled movements. Making an assessment can be difficult. The solution may look like a toy — a robot that can play with children with cerebral palsy and be programmed to their individual needs. The robot can also collect data to help the physical therapist design the most helpful care. That’s the vision of Yu-Ping Chen, assistant professor of physical therapy at Georgia State. She has built a playmate robot for children with cerebral palsy. The project is funded by the National Science Foundation. “Children with cerebral palsy don’t have very much control over their movements,” Chen said. “So, we decided to use a robot as a playmate and at the same time ask the robot to become an evaluation tool.” The new, small robot fills a need for kids with the disease who have been overlooked by technological progress. Robotic assistance has helped many people with cerebral palsy improve their quality of life, but these machines are designed for adults, not children. They don’t fit children’s size or developmental stage. They’re not created as an appealing, animated, lifelike toy like the one taking shape at Georgia State. Cameras in the robot’s eyes record the range and speed of the child’s movements. These data will help create an assessment, and the robot is also programmed to play with the child to improve motor skills and muscle control in children.

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ALUMNI ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT Fashionista and PR maven Nicole Garner (B.A.’04) has built her brand Nicole Garner didn’t wait for an opportunity in public relations to come knocking at her door. Instead, she made her own success and hasn’t looked back since. Now the CEO and founder of The Garner Circle PR firm and The Garner Brand, she is building her company one success story at a time. Garner’s company was born during her senior year at Georgia State when she was offered an opportunity on a corporate public relations campaign. She named her company The Garner Circle PR and continued to run the business while working for an agency after graduation. Garner later attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. It’s been eight years since Garner started her business. The Garner Circle PR firm has offices in Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York, and she’s worked with name brands such as Nike, Porsche and Adidas as well as celebrities Ciara and Janelle Monáe. Garner also recently published “Are You In Inc.: PR’s Alter Ego.” The book is a guide for aspiring publicists in the fashion, entertainment and film industries. “This is the book I wanted when I was jumping into the world of publicity, wide–eyed and unaware of what was ahead,” she said. AN IMPROBABLE TALE William Cotterman (Ph.D. ’69), professor emeritus of computer information systems, finds inspiration for his book in the Middle Eastern desert In his book “Improbable Women: Five Who Explored the Middle East,” William Cotterman tells the stories of five courageous women who journey through the Middle East to honor Zenobia, a third-century warrior queen. It’s not exactly the type of book you’d expect from an economist and computer scientist. ILLUSTRATION BY ADAM CRUFT

NICOLE GARNER (B.A. ’04)

Garner has worked with name brands such as Nike, Porsche and Adidas as well as celebrities Ciara and Janelle Monáe Cotterman became the first full-time chair person for Georgia State’s Computer Information Systems Department in 1973. The job led him to Kuwait. There, he discovered a new passion for Arabic culture, history and language. Over the next 30 years of his teaching career, Cotterman spent as much time as possible in the Middle East, and each journey was more than just a vacation. “I realized that what I really wanted to do was dig into some aspect of history, master it as thoroughly as my intellect would allow and then write about it,” Cotterman said. “In my reading, I found a number of women who traveled in the Arab world, and the idea dawned that I should take a closer

look at women travelers.” Cotterman writes about five women who exemplify elements of courage, aggressiveness, determination and decisiveness. He found each woman he chose, although separated by different time periods, made a pilgrimage to one of the most hostile regions in the world despite cultural differences and barriers created by their gender. In his book, Cotterman tells why these women traveled to the Middle East and how they escaped upper-class British traditions during the 18th, 19th and mid20th century. Got a promotion? A new addition to the family? Go ahead, brag a little. Visit magazine.gsu.edu for news from your classmates and fellow Georgia State alumni.

M A G A Z I N E. G S U. E D U

Sam I Am

Sam Massell took a passion for progress and three pieces of paper from Georgia State and helped modernize Atlanta By CHARLES MCNAIR Photography by BEN ROLLINS

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Does anyone love Atlanta more than Sam Massell? Does any other human being draw breath today who has worked harder, longer and more productively than Massell, ex-mayor and an icon of civic involvement, at transforming Atlanta into the ninth-largest U.S. metro area? Current Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed gives fulsome credit to the 86-year-old Georgia State graduate. “Sam Massell has an authentic passion for the city of Atlanta,” says Reed. “He’s worked unceasingly over his public career for this city, and he’s constantly been one of our champions.” Massell throws a long shadow for a man of small stature (five-foot something). He most notably served 22 years in politics — eight (1962-’69) as president of the city’s Board of Aldermen (the old name for the City Council), then four as Atlanta mayor (1970-’74). His decades in elected office came as Atlanta, capital city of a Deep South state, evolved racially, economically and geographically from Anytown USA into one of the world’s important cities. As an overachiever’s overachiever, Massell made his single mayoral term remarkable for its accomplishments. His administration appointed the first AfricanAmericans to offices of influence, including the first woman on Atlanta’s city council. Massell catalyzed Atlanta’s nascent convention and tourism industry; oversaw the development of Omni Coliseum (now the site of Philips Arena), the city’s first indoor arena and a magnet for downtown; and created Woodruff Park, near Georgia State’s campus. Most important, Massell followed Atlanta tradition by focusing energy and vision on the historic source of Atlanta’s growth — transportation. More than any other individual, Massell championed the rail lines of MARTA, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, presiding over efforts that brought the subway network to reality. Mayor Reed calls MARTA Massell’s legacy. “If Atlanta did not have Sam Massell, it

would not have MARTA,” Reed says. “Without MARTA, we would likely not have the major hotels we have, with 42 million guests each year. We would not have the hotel and convention industry we have, a $10 billion annual business that supports 220,000 employees. All this business owes its strength to MARTA. Plus, MARTA was obviously a key to winning the Centennial Olympic Games in 1996, and the 1988 Democratic Convention. We owe having these watershed events in large part to Sam Massell’s leadership.” Quite a nice compliment for a man who went to night school at Georgia State and graduated with … not one … not two … but three degrees.

A MAN FOR FOUR SEASONS POLITICS PROVED TO BE only one of the

roles Massell performed on the stage of his native city. Prior to political office, Massell worked in real estate development for 20 years. He then got elected, in 1950, as a councilman for the city of Mountain Park, and spent time on campaigns and in public service for the next 22 years. He lost a bitter 1974 Atlanta mayoral race for reelection to Maynard Jackson. (Massell was the first Jewish mayor in Atlanta history, and the last white mayor.) For the next 13 years, he ran a travel agency (Your Travel Agent Sam Massell) with his wife, Doris Middlebrooks, a pretty redhead from Hogansville he met while he attended night school at Georgia State. (Doris studied at Georgia State though she didn’t graduate.) Now, for the past 25 years, Massell has led the non-profit Buckhead Coalition, an organization dedicated to orderly growth and quality of life issues in a section of the city that accounts for a hefty percentage of Atlanta’s tax revenue. In all, he can cite four distinct careers: Realtor. Elected official. Travel agent. Buckhead booster. “You’d think I couldn’t hold a job,” he quips in an interview at the fifth-floor office at Tower Place that houses the coalition. The truth? No job could hold Sam Massell.

A KNACK FOR INVENTION MASSELL ENJOYED TOM SAWYER beginnings in upscale Druid Hills, where his family lived.

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At age 9, in 1936 mid-Depression America, he started “a Co-Cola stand,” as he calls it, at the corner of Oakdale and North Decatur roads. He hired other kids to distribute publicity, rewarding them with discounts on cheese crackers and sandwiches he quickly added to the fare. “I had a big operation going,” he says, “until the police showed up and told me that I was running a business, and a business required a license.” He found other goods to sell the neighbors: fireworks, then flower seeds, then newspapers. He started Massell Stamp Company, printing his own letterhead and running ads for collectable stamps. “I got more mail than my father did,” he says. Massell absorbed his lawyer father’s work ethic “by osmosis,” as he puts it. “He never directed me,” Massell says, “but seeing him conduct his life, hearing his suggestions, let me know that I had to work. So I always had some kind of business going.” At 14, an event at Druid Hills High School changed Massell’s life and his opinion of himself. Still an introvert despite serial business ventures, Massell said yes when a friend, Charlie Goldstein, asked him to paint signs as a “campaign manager” for Goldstein’s student body president run. Even an introvert can paint signs, Massell thought. Goldstein won. He appointed Massell student body treasurer. Welcome to Politics 101. “I actually did a good job,” Massell recalls proudly. “That had a tremendous positive impact on my self-esteem.” Still, high school held hard lessons. Massell took up drumming, but he played too loudly. He got kicked out of band. “The principal of Druid Hills told me, ‘Buddy, you’re not going to amount to anything.’ I can still see his long finger,” Massell says. “And that may be the challenge I’ve been answering all my life.”

BIG MAN ON CAMPUS IN THE SUMMER OF 1944, age 16 and close to draft age with a world war flaming across two oceans, Massell started classes at the University of Georgia. “If you were male gender in those days, you could be a big man on campus,” he remembers. “It was heady wine for me. I ran from one thing to another.” New signs of business savvy surfaced. He started Georgia Cracker, a literary magazine. No art-for-art’s sake here. Massell marketed copies to students and the community.

“I was making a pretty good living for a university student,” he says. But finally the candle burned out at both ends. “At Athens,” Massell confesses, “I was simply overwhelmed by social activity.” It was a risky time to leave a school, but Massell “transferred cold turkey,” as he puts it, to Emory University, just blocks from the old neighborhood in Druid Hills. There, 1944’45, he did nothing for two semesters, he says, but “go to class, study and go to bed.” The heightened focus on books didn’t deter the draft board. His greeting arrived in 1946. He went to basic training in Texas, then wound up at Fort McPherson, of all places, in metro Atlanta. Thanks to his college experience, he qualified to serve as Administrative School instructor for the United States Army Air Force through 1947. He returned to the University of Georgia for two years, 1947-’48, then started work in his dad’s law office. Two nights a week he attended Atlanta Law School, earning his degree in 1949. At the same time, he attended Georgia State three nights a week, aiming for more options than the law. “By the time I got to Georgia State,” he says, “I had much more respect for college. It was a very important experience for me.”

THREE CAPS AND GOWNS AS MASSELL CLOSED IN on a bachelor of commercial science degree (B.C.S.) at Georgia State, he found he needed just one more course to also claim a two-year certificate in real estate, and with just a few more classes, another certificate in selling. The school showed great flexibility, changing the catalog to support Massell and any other students who might wish to follow a similar career path. “I have three caps and gowns,” Massell says. “I got the B.C.S. degree in 1951. I got the postgraduate certificate in selling in 1952. And I got the postgraduate diploma in real estate in 1953. “I’m probably the only student ever at Georgia State to wear three caps and gowns.” His college wardrobe complete, Massell looked out over Baby Boom Atlanta. He saw a land of milk and honey. Time to go to work. A self-confessed workaholic, Massell made a habit of toiling seven days a week, months at a stretch. He still works that way today, more than six decades later. The efforts paid off. His accomplishments have led to inductions into the At-

lanta Convention and Visitors Bureau’s Hospitality Hall of Fame, the International Civil Rights King Center’s Walk of Fame, Georgia Trend Magazine’s Most Influential Georgians Hall of Fame, and honorary doctorate degrees from Oglethorpe University and John Marshall University. He also treasures one more important Georgia State moment — 2011 induction to J. Mack Robinson College’s Business Hall of Fame.

BUILDING, PHOENIX, CRUISE SHIP, BUCK HEAD MASSELL WORE HIS WORK on his sleeve … literally. As a realtor, he sported cuff links or lapel pins shaped like tiny buildings. As a politician, he wore a little phoenix, the bird that burns, then rises from the ashes. Atlanta adopted the phoenix as its symbol after the city rebuilt itself from ruin in the Civil War.

As a travel agent, Massell adorned himself with miniature cruise ships. Today, as head of the Buckhead Coalition, he wears a stag — a buck head. Get it? He’s proud of all four seasons of his career. Realty came first. After a 1949-’51 stint as chief of publications for a trade magazine for the National Association of Women’s and Children’s Apparel Salesmen, Inc. (his Georgia Cracker lit mag experience came in handy), Massell hired on with AllanGrayson Realty Company, old friends of the family. “It was like you took a bird and threw it out to fly,” he says. His first year in commercial realty, he paid more in taxes than he made in annual salary at the magazine. He quickly became a member of the Million Dollar Club, and rose to company vice president (1955-’69). “Sam has a very agile mind and could have been a very successful real estate developer,” a former colleague, Charles Ackerman, told Points North Magazine. “Instead, he gave that up to spend his time and energy improving the Atlanta community.” M A G A Z I N E. G S U. E D U

Obviously, Massell proved good at politics, too. He served energetically, positively. He won the mayor’s race in 1969 as a liberal Democrat; a David against the institutional Goliath of old Atlanta. The business community that many felt to be all-powerful, backed his opponent. Even the hugely influential outgoing mayor, Ivan Allen Jr., campaigned against him. Still, Massell won. He served ably for four years. Then the same swirling tides of change that swept him into office swept him out. In a campaign that still haunts him, he lost City Hall to Maynard Jackson. Some blamed a campaign slogan perceived as racist — Atlanta Is Too Young To Die. The accusations bit, especially in light of Massell’s contributions to diversity before and after office. “Atlanta was ready for a black mayor,” Massell says simply. “The time had come.”

THE DREAM BUSINESS WORSE THINGS could have happened.

Ever resilient, Massell sat down with a spreadsheet of interests, passions, capabilities. He opened the Yellow Pages to find a career match. He wanted a dream job now, so he decided to “sell dreams,” as he puts it. He and Doris started their travel business, sold tour packages the next 13 years, went on scores of cruises all over the world. He bought a vanity license plate bearing a single word: VOYAGE. Then he fixed a smaller plate just above it with another word: BON. Massell inhaled national and international experiences. He broadened, soaking up ideas from travelers and locations. He was ready when Buckhead called. One of Atlanta’s big hitters, Charles Loudermilk, CEO of megabusiness Aaron Rents, got together with 12 business buddies to form the Buckhead Coalition. They needed a leader. Massell topped the list. The founders wanted to give Massell a one-year contract at the fledgling organization; Massell wanted three. They settled on two. Now he’s led the coalition for 25 years, still going strong. It’s perfect work for Massell. The coalition comprises 100 top companies in Buckhead, Atlanta’s affluent northern suburb. Members pay $9,000 yearly in dues, and that funds his three-person staff in work that ranges from installing defibrillators in offices to resuscitating a multiblock heart-of-downtown Buckhead renovation stopped dead by the Great Recession.

“The principal of Druid Hills told me, ‘Buddy, you’re not going to amount to anything.’ I can still see his long finger. And that may be the challenge I’ve been answering all my life.” Mobility seems part of Massell’s DNA. In the early 1990s, some 20 years after MARTA, Massell spearheaded coalition efforts in support of Georgia 400, the well-traveled artery connecting Buckhead and the rest of Atlanta with populous northern counties of the metro area. Massell shows up everywhere. One hour, he’s working out an innovative way to care for youth sports injuries at the Shepherd Spinal Center. The next hour, he’s directing with great pride the distribution of a new booklet, “Buckhead Coalition: A Sampling History of Achievements,” that catalogs the good works of the organization in its first 25 years. (He intends it to be less vanity project, more a template of creative ideas other cities can use to be more like Buckhead.) His office — Massell calls it “Ego Alley” — overbrims with memorabilia and mementoes from a quarter century of coalition work. The faces of six U.S. Presidents peer down from the walls (who ARE those guys with Sam Massell?) and crystal or sculpted-metal awards and plaques gleam in every corner. A half-dozen shovels from ground-breaking ceremonies hang in another place. Commemorative baseball caps dangle like scalps. Massell proudly displays among fine Buckhead art pieces a signed and framed cartoon from Hal Ketchum, creator of Dennis the Menace: Dennis asks Mr. Wilson, his older neighbor, “Why didn’t people build cities out in the country?” Another wall holds an oversized autographed poem, “Looking for the Buckhead Boys,” by the late James Dickey.

STORIES TOLD AND UNTOLD NOW MASSELL is one of the Buckhead Boys.

He knows everyone, draws from a well of

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experience eight decades deep. He knows where bodies lie buried, understands how to read a face, interpret a handshake. His entire life has crescendoed into the work of making the Buckhead section of his Atlanta known and beloved by the world. The man who championed metro mobility must sometimes use a cane to walk now, but the mind still moves nimbly, like light on water. He’s charming, engaging, impossible not to like. Massell talks of a memoir, a book that will chronicle and pass on the lessons of a life in full. He talks with undisguised affection of his wife of 61 years, of their children. Steve heads Massell Commercial Real Estate. Cindy works as an interior designer and creates art. Melanie makes a living as a singer. Massell converses with presidents and the press with equal aplomb, a born raconteur, freely offering anecdotes of the high and low, the fallen and the mighty. One moment, he tells a long-ago story of doing magic tricks at a Boys Club for a youngster named Evander Holyfield. He shares a memory of campaigning for MARTA in a helicopter, flying over traffic jams and shouting down through a loudspeaker, “If you had MARTA, you wouldn’t be stuck in this mess.” He offers observations on receiving the key to a city. (“The smaller the city, the bigger the key.”) He tells stories on Maynard, Andy, Ivan, Bill, Shirley, all the members of the exclusive former Atlanta mayors club. He doesn’t believe in hunting, but he wears that buck head on his lapel and parts of his office could pass for a deer park. Sure, it’s about Sam, but it’s about Atlanta even more. Massell can rattle off enough reasons to love Buckhead that even the Lord Almighty might consider relocating. “We’ve got 28 square miles and 78,000 people,” he says. “We’ve got 5,300 hotel rooms and 1,400 retail units. We have 8,000 apartments under construction right now. Buckhead is a dramatic, dynamic, growing, successful community.” Back in the travel agency days, Massell took special postcards with him on trips. Friends back in Atlanta received them in the mail, the cards postmarked from exotic destinations. Barcelona. Honolulu. Paris. The cards read: It’s nice here, but it’s not Buckhead. For Sam Massell, there’s no place like home. He’s worked his whole life to make sure Atlanta is a good one. CHARLES MCNAIR writes for publications nationally and internationally. He is author of the novels “Pickett’s Charge” and “Land O’ Goshen” and he has been books editor at Paste Magazine since 2005.

M A G A Z I N E. G S U. E D U

“Killing Zombies is good” TOM LUSE (B.A. ’74, M.S. ’81) IS EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF TELEVISION’S WILDLY POPULAR POST-APOCALYPTIC HIT, ‘THE WALKING DEAD.’ BY WILLIAM INMAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSH MEISTER

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SENOIA, Ga. — This town loves the undead.

So much so that when AMC’s post-apocalyptic megahit, “The Walking Dead,” is filming here, residents and business owners clear out for days at a time and deliberately let their lawns go feral. This handsome little hamlet an hour south of Atlanta is zombie ground zero. Its Main Street was the backdrop for the town of Woodbury — a now-destroyed refuge for survivors of the “zombie apocalypse” that serves as the milieu for the highest-rated cable drama in history. “The Walking Dead” is big business here and the locals have gone all-in. The walls of Senoia Coffee and Café, for example, are covered in memorabilia from the show, and the restaurant even brews a “zombie” coffee blend. It was here where Tom Luse (B.A. ’74, M.S. ’81), executive producer of “The Walking Dead,” realized just how big of a phenomenon it has become. “I was sitting there, having coffee, and a guy from Finland comes over and strikes up a conversation,” Luse says. “This guy traveled halfway across the world to see where ‘The Walking Dead’ is filmed.” For Luse, whose successful film career spans more than three decades, the show’s massive popularity still seems unreal. “For the crew, we’re kind of unaware that this is going on all around us,” he says, laughing. “Then I sit down and watch the show with my kids and they’re on their phones texting and all over social

media about what’s happening. It’s really caught on.” The show, going into its fourth season, is also huge for the state’s growing film industry. Last year, 330 feature films, television shows, commercials and music videos were filmed here. Georgia’s film commission estimates the direct economic benefits of film production in 2012 came to nearly $3.1 billion. Film production in the state provides plenty of work and opportunity for talent on both sides of the camera. The industry has created an estimated 25,000 jobs, according to the commission. Of course, that wasn’t always the case. When Luse, 62, made his very first film as a student at Georgia State in 1981, Atlanta was a show business outpost.

An Entrée to the Industry THESE DAYS, GEORGIA STATE’S popular film

and video program prepares students for all angles of work in film. Back when Luse was on campus, students interested in studying communications, including journalism and film students, were in what was then called the College of Public and Urban

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Affairs. They received a degree in urban studies with a concentration in communications. Luse, who earned a degree in psychology in 1974, had returned to academia in the late ’70s to continue his studies, but a conversation with communications professor and Atlanta Film Festival co-founder Kay Beck changed his direction. “I perceived an artistic interest, maybe even passion,” says Beck, now the director of Georgia State’s Digital Arts and Entertainment Laboratory. “I suggested he try filmmaking, and quite honestly, he took it from there.” So instead of pursuing a graduate degree in psychology, Luse entered the master’s of urban studies program and became one of Georgia State’s first film students. “I’ve always been a big film fan, and as a student I was becoming more and more interested in it,” Luse recalls, adding that he worked with the long-running Lyceum Film Series, a makeshift film club run by students that screened art house films in rooms across campus. He was also a projectionist at the Loew’s Grand Theatre before it was razed in 1978. As a graduate student, Luse produced a handful of short academic documentaries and commercials, he remembers. “I had a fantastic graduate school experience,” he says. But to earn his master’s degree, he had to complete a master’s thesis, a hefty writing requirement.

“I didn’t want to write a paper,” Luse says. “So I went to [Department Chair] Harvey [Newman] and said, ‘Why don’t you let me make a film instead?’” Newman, it turns out, had just the project. He was campaigning against a sales tax referendum proposed by then-Mayor Andrew Young (who, a few years later, would become the namesake for Georgia State’s policy school where Newman is still on the faculty). “My perspective [on the sales tax increase] was the regressive impact on the city’s low-income residents, and we were beginning the process of fighting it,” Newman remembers. “Right around that time, in walked Tom, and I told him, ‘Have I got something for you.’” Newman asked the young filmmaker to create a political advertisement and film a handful of economic and policy experts objecting to the referendum on camera. “But instead of filming these ‘talking heads’ like I had in mind, he wrote a script for a film noir detective movie,” Newman says. “It was very creative. It’s a wellmade piece and it showed the promise of great things.” The film, called “Who’s Killing the Cities?” didn’t sway Atlanta voters, however, and Young’s referendum passed handily. “Mayor Young understood the big picture better than I,” Newman says. “When we have policy discussions now, Ambassador Young seems so much wiser and I so much more naive. We laugh about our disagreements from back then.” For Luse, not only did the film help him earn a master’s degree, it became an integral part of his portfolio. “I got the full film experience from writing to posting it, the whole nine yards,” he says. Luse’s debut caught the eye of the American Film Institute, which awarded him an internship at Paramount Pictures where he worked under Martha Coolidge, the director of cult classics “Valley Girl” and “Real Genius,” and the critically acclaimed “Rambling Rose.” From there, he never looked back. He was in show business, no matter how many hats he was forced to wear. “I worked as a technician on commercials, as a grip, a crew member, on props,” Luse remembers. “For a while, I was a videographer for the Atlanta Hawks.” He was also the location manager on 1983’s forgettable “Murder in Coweta County,” starring Johnny Cash and Andy Griffith. The made-for-television movie was the first of several Georgia-filmed motion pictures Luse would work on. He was a production manager on the major motion pictures “Glory,” an Academy Award-win-

Tom Luse gets hands-on with an armless zombie on set of “The Walking Dead.” Kevin Galbraith (B.A. ’13), also known by his zombie moniker, “The Swamp Walker,” earned cult status in season two when he eviscerated the character Dale Horvath, played by Jeffrey Demunn. The series has provided opportunity for several Georgia State students and alumni like Galbraith.

M A G A Z I N E. G S U. E D U

HARD- BOILED POLICY THE MAKING OF TOM LUSE’S ‘WHO’S KILLING THE CITIES?’ BY HARVEY NEWMAN

“Who’s Killing the Cities?” is a 28-minute film made with a lot of help from friends for about $10,000. I remember that at the time, film costs were roughly $1,000 per minute, and Tom Luse wrote, filmed and directed it. It was filmed with grant money I had to do a film about a sales tax increase that Mayor Andrew Young had proposed, and I opposed.

Zombies Take Over LUSE WAS WORKING in Park City, Utah, as

“We have a moral protagonist, Rick, and he has to deal with a world gone mad. How does he do it?”

ner, “Remember the Titans” and “Drumline.” When things dried up here, he split for Canada for a spell. Then overseas, then to Hollywood, where he was a producer for the horror flicks “Jeepers Creepers” and “Jeepers Creepers II.” “I went where the work took me,” he says.

a producer for the WB network drama, “Everwood,” when he got a call from his agent imploring him to meet with representatives from the AMC network. They were hiring a production crew for “some zombie series,” Luse remembers. It was, of course, “The Walking Dead,” based on Robert Kirkman’s graphic novel series. “I went out the night before, bought the comic books and read them all,” he says. The network, then known as one that just showed vintage movies, was taking a big chance with a production like “The Walking Dead,” and Luse was intrigued. “I really liked the project, but I thought the zombie apocalypse would be good for about six or seven episodes,” he says. Luse signed on and headed back to his old stomping ground, downtown Atlanta, to begin shooting. “I remember sitting on set of the first episode, and Rick [Grimes, portrayed by actor Andrew Lincoln] is riding his horse through downtown and then he starts kill-

ing zombies, and you feel good!” he says. “It was a release. You can always feel good about killing a zombie!” Luse says that, at that moment, he had a hunch the show would last. “We have a moral protagonist, Rick, and he has to deal with a world gone mad. How does he do it?” he says. Spoiler alert: Set in and around a postapocalyptic Atlanta, Rick and a handful of survivors of a widespread epidemic battle mindless, flesh-eating zombies while navigating a dystopia where those who are still alive are often more dangerous than the undead. In the show’s four seasons, Luse worked his way up to executive producer. Essentially, he’s the five-star general in charge of the show’s production. It’s Luse’s job to see the overall creative vision is executed. “Tom Luse has really created the machine that allows this very large show to get made week to week,” says AMC’s Executive Vice President Joel Stillerman. For Luse to find his biggest career success where it all began for him is particularly rewarding, he says. He and his wife, Carri, live in Inman Park, just a 45-minute drive from Raleigh Studios in Senoia, where the show’s post-production takes place. So on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. when “The Walk-

On a show where hopelessness is the backdrop, and blood, guns and disembodied limbs are commonplace props, Luse says life on set of “The Walking Dead” is really like A family affair. G E O R G I A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y M A G A Z I N E S P R I N G 2 0 1 4

Tom was great to work with, as he is so creative and bright. We were nearly finished, and I was watching the early version when I asked about a problem that I wondered how we could address in the film. The issue was the interdependence of the Atlanta metropolitan area — if you address a problem in the city of Atlanta, it may cause the same problem to move to the suburbs. Tom went off and thought about it for a day or so, then added a character that never appears on camera, Bernie the Stoolie. Bernie used to run a downtown pawnshop, but moved to the suburbs and opened Bernard’s Bric-a-Brac Boutique. Bernie says, “Who needs cities anyway? Suburbs are where you can live the high life.” Then, at the end when the mystery of who is killing the cities is being wrapped up by the detective, the phone rings again, and it’s Bernie, whose store has just been robbed, and he wants to hire the detective to solve the crime. In those two phone calls from an off-screen character, Tom addressed the problem of crime moving from the central city out to the suburbs. I used the film in talks and programs around town before and after the referendum on the sales tax, which the mayor won. I continued to use it in class until 9/11. Personally, I have trouble watching the film now because he included an iconic shot of the twin towers. Harvey Newman is a professor and recent chairperson of the Department of Public Management and Policy in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies Visit magazine.gsu.edu to watch “Who’s Killing the Cities?” ing Dead” hits the air, he’s usually home on the couch watching with his family. “My kids get tons of street cred,” he jokes. On a show where hopelessness is the backdrop, and blood, guns and disembodied limbs are commonplace props, Luse says life on set of “The Walking Dead” is really like a family affair. “I get to work with people I genuinely like everyday,” he says. The downside to that, he says, is saying goodbye to a familiar cast member who’s met an unfortunate, and usually gruesome, end. “It really is a shame the way people just die off,” he says with a wry smile. “But that keeps it exciting, challenging. This show is always changing.”

Luse admits he didn’t think he was cut out for life on a television series such as “The Walking Dead,” one that could continue indefinitely. “Being an old film snob, I thought I was pathologically unsuited for this,” he says. “I need a beginning, a middle and an end.” For the record, his favorite film is Alfred Hitchcock’s “North By Northwest.”

But Luse says he learned early there is no single path in the film business. And one just needs to look at his career arc to understand that. Says Beck, the professor who urged him to take a chance: “He grabbed the opportunities that were available and he created opportunities for himself. His career is a model for how to realize your dream.” M A G A Z I N E. G S U. E D U

ANN-MARIE CAMPBELL’S

AMERICAN DREAM SHE JOINED THE HOME DEPOT IN 1985 AS A CASHIER. TODAY, SHE LEADS A DIVISION FOR THE FORTUNE 500 COMPANY. By Doug Gillett Photography By Adam Komich

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M A G A Z I N E. G S U. E D U

When you’ve risen high enough in the corporate hierarchy to be presented with your own bobblehead doll, it can be hard to stay grounded. O BIG THINGS IN STORE

But that hasn’t been an issue for Ann-Marie Campbell (MBA ’05, B.A. ’07), president of Home Depot’s Southern Division. One reason is the collection of orange aprons she has hanging just a few feet from her bobblehead. Four times a year, each day quarterly earnings are announced, every employee at Home Depot headquarters — from the mailroom assistants to the CEO — don the same orange aprons their store clerks wear. It’s a show of solidarity, a reminder that they’re all in it together. Not that Campbell needs an apron to stay humble. She hasn’t forgotten that she once wore the apron as a store employee herself, a cashier at store No. 216 in North Miami Beach, Fla. And while her ascent to executive status happened as a result of hard work and dedication, she gives plenty of credit to colleagues and mentors — within Home Depot and at Georgia State — who helped her turn that hard work into success. “I was able to move up in the company because people reached out and helped me,” she says. “It went from a job to a career because I had people who believed in me.”

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f course, it only became a job in the first place by chance. Campbell began attending Florida International University shortly after her family moved from their native Jamaica to the United States, and though she had a job tutoring calculus and physics, she decided she needed to take a second job to “make some real money,” she says. She started at KFC, then moved to J. Byron’s department store before making the move to Home Depot. At that point, she admits with a smile, she didn’t have a greater plan. “I didn’t know what it was, didn’t even know it was a home-improvement store,” she remembers. “But I was making $3.35 an hour at J. Byron’s, and they said they would pay me $4.15, and when you’re a young person, you automatically make that move.” Retail was an easy fit for Campbell: During summers and holiday breaks from boarding school, she’d worked at Phidd’s Furniture and Appliances, her grandmother’s

M A G A Z I N E. G S U. E D U

I was able to move up in the company because people reached out and helped me.” store in Portmore, Jamaica. But it was at Home Depot where Campbell learned two things. First, she preferred retail to medicine, her previous field of study at Florida International. Second, Home Depot was the kind of place she could see herself at for the long term. “I loved the culture of the company, which was a very personal family atmosphere — our founders treasured that — and a company that was listening to employees’ opinions,” she says. “I was moving, I was growing, I was being challenged, I was given opportunities, and it just kind of worked out for me. That’s how I decided early on that it could go from a job to a career. And when you make that decision in your mind, you operate a little differently. You realize the sky is the limit, and what else you could do if you could accomplish that next step.”

In addition to what she was learning on the job, Campbell got a boost from Georgia State, first completing the Executive MBA (EMBA) program at Georgia State’s Robinson College of Business, then earning the bachelor’s degree in philosophy she was working toward at Florida International. The most important aspect of the EMBA, she says, was having professors and classmates who, like her, were out in the world of business even as they were getting additional education. “I had a strong business lineage, so I was really able to understand and associate the business practices I was learning in class with my environment,” she says. “School gives you the theoretical knowledge, but the practical knowledge is so important. So when you can apply that in real time and real life, it just makes sense.”

HOW TO BUILD A CAREER

HUMBLE WISDOM FROM THE TOP

ampbell says she learned fairly early that she couldn’t accomplish that next step alone. She needed a mentor and a champion. And she found her most important one more or less by accident. “Lynn Martin was a vice president years ago,” she recalls. “It was a chance meeting in a store. He asked a question, and I was in the group accompanying him on the ‘store walk,’ and I answered the question. He took a particular interest in finding out who I was and he felt I added some value. I probably didn’t think I did at the time, but he did!” Thus “speak up” became one of the most valuable lessons she learned in her career. Another was “don’t be self-limiting.” She remembers a mentor questioning her decision to turn down several advancement opportunities because she didn’t think she was ready, “but if other people didn’t think I was ready, they wouldn’t have asked. ‘Ready’ should not be based on what you think you’re ready for, it should be based on what other people think.” G E O R G I A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y M A G A Z I N E S P R I N G 2 0 1 4

oday, Campbell oversees more than 100,000 employees at 690 Home Depot stores. And now that she’s made it to the corner office, she’s working to help give other people the same chance to get there that she got. That includes both Home Depot employees and the two sons she and her husband, Christopher, are raising. The older of the two is finishing up his third year in college — and, she freely admits, is already getting an earful of advice as he begins following in his mother’s footsteps. “He initially thought he wanted to do his B.A. in finance, and he did an unpaid internship at the Chamber of Commerce,” Campbell says. “At first he said to me, ‘Why would I spend two months doing an unpaid internship?’ I said, ‘Let’s not argue about the dollars — let’s get the experience. You wouldn’t be doing anything anyway!’ So he did his first internship and he realized that he really didn’t like finance, he preferred interacting with people. When you know

that quickly, in your first year, you don’t lose time. It was unpaid, but he had some significant learning moments.” Formulating a career plan early, she says, is incredibly valuable for today’s students, valuable enough that they should start doing it long before they graduate. “When you think about entering college and you’re a freshman or sophomore,” she says, “your mindset is, ‘Hey, I’ve just got to pass these classes.’ You don’t truly focus on what you’re going to do four years from now when you actually graduate. Hence, in many cases, you lose a couple years in the planning process, which I think is very critical in planting the seeds for your future success. “What I tell young people today is when they start their first day of college, they should have an idea of what success will look like for them in four years. One part of it may be graduating, but graduating in what? And doing what? And how then do you set up your next four years to accomplish that task?” For Georgia State students, Campbell is providing more than advice. In addition to serving on the Robinson College’s Board of Advisors, she recently endowed a needbased scholarship for five business students each year. “To be honest, I never expected to be in this position, or this financial situation, at my age,” she says. “When I was these students’ age, I was trying to figure out how to get two dollars to put gas in my car. But I think it’s important, when you’re able to achieve beyond what your expectations were, that you figure out how to give back. I keep their profiles on my desk because I want to look at them two years, three years, five years or 10 years from now and see where they sit. Providing the dollars is the easier work for those of us who can do it. The hard work is taking advantage of that opportunity and maximizing it.” While many people would look at Campbell’s title or her corner office — or even her bobblehead doll — and judge her successful, she says being able to give a leg up to students and employees is her true measure of success. “It’s only when you develop others that you permanently succeed,” she says. “When I do have opportunities to speak to students, or even to my kids, that’s the type of value that I instill in them. It’s not just about you. The world is a community. Everyone has their part, so let’s go out and make sure everyone is able to do it successfully.” DOUG GILLETT is a writer in the Georgia State Foundation’s Office of Donor Relations.

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INSIDE INSIGHT THE GATEWAY TO CAMPUS The recently renovated and renamed Centennial Hall at 100 Auburn Ave. is home to the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new state-of-the-art Welcome Center as well as the Honors College and university administration.

MEET MARLENA MAJORING IN Hospitality, with a minor

in Gerontology PROUDEST MOMENTS Meeting Senator

Johnny Isakson, former First Lady Rosalyn Carter, Mayor Kasim Reed and U.S. Representative John Lewis in her role as a GSU student ambassador CAMPUS CONTRIBUTION Serving

as an advocate at the Atlanta Chapter of the Alzheimerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Association LIFELONG GOAL Make the tourism industry

more accessible to the aging

Because of a generous alumni gift from Catherine and Charles Rice (B.B.A. â&#x20AC;&#x2122;65), Marlena Collins is on track to enhance the quality of life for baby boomers reaching retirement. Have you considered including GSU in your estate plans? Even as little as 2 percent of an IRA can create a future for students who otherwise may not be able to afford a four-year research university. CONTACT LAURA M. SILLINS, JD, AT 404-413-3425 OR LSILLINS@GSU.EDU TO SPEAK WITH A PLANNED

GIVING OFFICER TODAY.

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