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Book smart: Retiring administrator led UGA Libraries into digital age CAMPUS NEWS
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The University of Georgia Performing Arts Center’s season includes Garrison Keillor, Kathleen Battle
Vol. 42, No. 3
August 11, 2014
www.columns.uga.edu
jhataway@uga.edu
Paul Efland
Monica Kaufman Pearson, left, an award-winning journalist and former WSB-TV news anchor, visits with UGA President Jere W. Morehead before the 2014 summer Commencement ceremony Aug. 1. A video interview of Pearson talking about her time at UGA is at http://vimeo.com/102163426.
From broadcast to books Former TV news anchor Monica Kaufman Pearson earns her master’s degree from the Grady College
aahale@uga.edu
Monica Kaufman Pearson, the award-winning journalist and former WSB-TV news anchor in Atlanta, was among the 1,380 students eligible to walk at UGA’s summer Commencement ceremony Aug. 1. Pearson retired from WSB-TV in 2012 after decades in front of the camera and enrolled in a master’s program in UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Like many nontraditional students who go back to school later in life, Pearson was seeking a change in direction. Pearson, who has won more than 30 local and regional Emmy Awards, wanted to teach journalism to college students, but first she had to become one herself and earn a master’s degree. “After 37 years working at (WSB-TV) and 45 years in the business, it would have been a shame to take everything I had learned to the grave,” Pearson said. “It was so important to share what I’ve learned in the business with young people. I wanted to share information, but I also wanted to leave my legacy.” The term “nontraditional” typically is used to describe an undergraduate student who takes a break in studies between high school and college—or attends school part time, works at least 35 hours a week, is financially independent, supports a family, is a single parent or did not earn a formal high school degree. Pearson falls into a category of nontraditional graduate students, which describes someone
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$1.9M NIH grant will be used to study pneumonia persistence By James E. Hataway
By Aaron Hale
UGA GUIDE
who is 35 years or older and attending graduate school. Of the 6,688 graduate students enrolled at UGA during the 2014 spring semester, 1,491 were nontraditional. Pearson said it was “freeing” to
transition from being a TV anchor to being a student. “To encounter Monica Pearson, ensconced in a towering stack of media history books, clad in a
See GRADUATION on page 8
Alumnus challenges newest graduates to strive for excellence By Aaron Hale
aahale@uga.edu
Recent graduates who participated in the summer Commencement ceremony were sent off to the next stage of their lives with wise but simple advice from a man who graduated from UGA more than 60 years ago. Francis “Abit” Massey, a 1949 graduate and president emeritus of the Georgia Poultry Federation, delivered the Commencement address to graduates Aug. 1 at Stegeman Coliseum. Massey told the graduates to “expand your horizon; meet more people; read more books; get to know more of the country and the world; stretch you limits; make a difference.” Approximately 1,380 students—802 undergraduate, 371 master’s and specialist and 207 doctoral candidates—were eligible to walk in the combined ceremony offered to all of the degree candidates. In his address, Massey offered five key points for graduates to follow in order to take advantage of their time at UGA.
He encouraged them to show gratitude, to remember that “kindness m a t t e r s ,” to strive to reach their Abit Massey full potential, to be persistent and patient and to value the whole team. “An effective leader is important,” Massey said, “but so is the whole team.” Massey graduated from UGA with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and has served his alma mater in a variety of capacities since then, including as a former president of the UGA Alumni Association and former trustee of the UGA Foundation. UGA President Jere W. Morehead welcomed the new graduates to the UGA alumni family and challenged them to be good ambassadors of the university. “We are loyal, we are devoted, we are proud and we make a difference,” Morehead said.
UGA researchers have received a five-year, $1.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the bacterium Mycoplasma pneumoniae, the leading cause of pneumonia in older children and young adults. A fundamental goal of the new research project is to better understand how the bacterium eludes the immune system and common antibiotic treatment, which often can lead to persistent infection or life-altering conditions like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. “These bacteria have evolved to live in the human respiratory tract and have developed ways to avoid the natural defenses that keep us safe,”
said Duncan Krause, principal investigator for the project and professor of microbiology in UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. “We want to understand the chemical features of Mycoplasma pneumoniae and the conditions inside the human body that cause these persistent infections so we can one day develop more effective treatments.” Krause and his team of collaborators particularly are interested in how M. pneumoniae moves within human airways. The bacterium travels like a rock climber, attaching and releasing chemical bonds as it traverses human tissues one foothold at a time. Eventually, the bacteria reach areas of the respiratory tract where new chemical bonds allow it to stick and multiply, leading to infection See PNEUMONIA on page 8
CENTER FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING
Best-selling author to address how to be a good student, instructor By Aaron Hale
aahale@uga.edu
Students and instructors looking for a spark of inspiration at the beginning of the academic year—or maybe just some practical tips for making the most of their learning experiences—can mark their calendars for Aug. 25. Ken Bain, an experienced educator and author of the books What the Best College Teachers Do and What the Best College Students Do, will offer three highly interactive seminars about successful strategies for teaching and learning across the academic spectrum. Each event is free. Registration can be completed at http://www.ctl.uga.edu/events/ all-events/. UGA’s Center for Teaching and
Learning has partnered with the Division of Student Affairs and the Graduate School to bring the bestselling author to campus. Bain’s 2004 Ken Bain seminal book, What the Best College Teachers Do, offers a research-based guide to making an impact in the lives of students. Bain concludes that the best instructors know their subjects well, teach learning objectives that go beyond the scope of a single course, ask questions that challenge students’ assumptions and build trust with students.
See AUTHOR on page 8
Finance and Administration Parking Services’ employee receives international honor at conference By Taylor Adkins tadkins@uga.edu
UGA Parking Services recently celebrated a staff award at the annual International Parking Institute Conference and Expo. Wendy Glenn, a senior parking services monitor in the South Campus parking deck, received the institute’s Staff Member of the Year Award. The award is presented each year to a deserving parking industry member who exemplifies professionalism and outstanding customer service and who goes above and beyond the duties in
his or her job description. According to her nominators, Glenn does an ordinary job extraordinarily well. In her role in the Wendy Glenn South Campus parking deck, she has an exceptional and positive impact on customer service and boosts the professional reputation of the parking industry by her standards of conduct and
See PARKING on page 8