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Moving forward: New Terry dean sets his sights high for business college QUESTIONS&ANSWERS
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The University of Georgia New ‘Story of School Lunch’ exhibit will open Sept. 26 at Russell Library
Vol. 42, No. 9
www.columns.uga.edu
September 22, 2014
freeland@uga.edu
Andrew Davis Tucker
Three-year-old loggerhead turtle Ossabaw was transported and released by assistant curator Lisa Olenderski, left, and curator Devin Dumont, both employees at the UGA Aquarium, which is operated by the Marine Extension Service, a unit of the Office of Public Service and Outreach.
Back in the swim Ossabaw, rescued loggerhead turtle, released into the ocean
michelej@uga.edu
Ossabaw was a little unsure of the sandy beach and the clicking cameras Sept. 8, but the loggerhead turtle that has lived at the UGA Aquarium since it was rescued in 2011 finally made it home to the ocean. “It went pretty smoothly,” said Devin Dumont, the curator at the aquarium, operated by the UGA Marine Extension Service, a unit of the Office of Public Service and Outreach. “It was a little distracted by the media trying to capture the moment, but once Ossabaw saw the ocean, its instincts kicked in,” Dumont said. “It kept going, and once it made it to the breakers it went on its way.”
Dumont and other MAREX employees were supervised by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service during the turtle’s release from Wassaw Island National Wildlife Refuge. The release was approved by the state Department of Natural Resources. Kris Williams of the Caretta Research Project, a private organization that works to protect the loggerhead sea turtles, tagged Ossabaw with number-coded tags and a passive integrated transmitter tag before the release. The PIT tag is similar to microchips used for pet cats and dogs. Both types of tags can be used to identify Ossabaw in the future. “Ossabaw was a champ,” said Lisa Olenderski, assistant curator at UGA Aquarium. “We watched it swim away for a little while, and I waited to see its head pop up for air
a few times. It was a nice moment.” Ossabaw hatched on Ossabaw Island on Aug. 15, 2011. After the main hatching event of the entire nest, the hatchling sea turtle was discovered still in the nest by the Georgia Sea Turtle Cooperative network and likely would not have survived without intervention. Mark Dodd, a wildlife biologist and sea turtle program coordinator for the GA-DNR, gave the hatchling to the UGA Aquarium, where it has served as an ambassador for sea turtle education. The UGA Aquarium collaborates with the GA-DNR, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Caretta Research Project to accept a new hatchling “straggler” every few years. The hatchlings live at the facility for three to four years See TURTLE on page 8
Office of International Education
UGA to debate Oxford Union in Chapel UGA will debate the Oxford Union Debate Society Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. in the Chapel. The hybridized British/American-style debate will feature an all-star team of UGA’s best debaters. This will be the fifth installment of the UGA-Oxford debate and will be an opportunity for the UGA team to take the lead in the series and claim bragging rights for another three years. “The debate draws attention to the very valuable and longstanding international academic partnership between UGA and
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$2.5M gift to create distinguished chair in real estate at UGA By Sara Freeland
By Michele Nicole Johnson
UGA GUIDE
Oxford,” said Kavita Pandit, associate provost for international education at UGA. “It also provides an outstanding example of the way in which an international education equips UGA students to compete with the very best and brightest students around the world.” The debate topic is “Resolved: On Balance, United States Drone Strikes Enhance its National Security Objectives.” This year’s format will allow for the audience to question the teams themselves. The teams currently are negotiating which side will argue the
affirmative and which side will argue the negative. “Like all previous iterations, the 2014 debate will be an extremely exciting event and, it will showcase some of the best young thinkers and speakers from both campuses,” said James McClung, director of the UGA at Oxford Program. “The topic is timely, provocative and well chosen. I personally look forward to a hardfought debate, hopefully ending with a well-deserved UGA victory.” UGA’s team also will be See OXFORD on page 8
UGA has received a $2.5 million gift from the estate of Roy Adams Dorsey to establish the Roy Adams Dorsey Distinguished Chair in Real Estate in the Terry College of Business, pending approval by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. The check was presented to UGA President Jere W. Morehead at a recent ceremony in Atlanta by the executors of the Dorsey estate. The university gratefully acknowledges the role of UGA Foundation Emeritus Trustee Bob Edge, an attorney with Alston & Bird in Atlanta, who served as the attorney for the estate. “The University of Georgia is
pleased to receive such a generous gift,” Morehead said. “It will no doubt transform real estate education for UGA students. Roy Dorsey’s legacy will continue through the countless future real estate professionals who will benefit from this chaired professorship, and we are deeply grateful.” Dorsey, who died in 2012, was the founder and president of Dorsey-Alston Realtors, a company that specializes in luxury real estate in the Atlanta metropolitan area, where he worked for his entire business career. The company, founded in 1947, is part of Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate. “We are incredibly honored to accept this gift to endow the Roy Adams Dorsey Distinguished
See CHAIR on page 8
Board of Regents
Regents’ budget request includes 2 UGA major construction projects By Kyle Tschepikow kyletsch@uga.edu
The Terry College’s Business Learning Community Phase II and the Center for Molecular Medicine were two UGA major capital construction projects approved by the board of regents as part of the board’s fiscal year 2016 budget request to the governor. “I want to express my sincere gratitude to Chancellor Hank Huckaby and members of the board of regents for supporting these critical projects,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “I am also grateful to our many faithful alumni and friends whose generous donations helped to create these
opportunities for matching state and nonstate funds.” The $49 million in state funds requested for Phase II would be matched by an additional $14 million in private donations. Phase I was supported entirely by $35 million in private contributions, bringing the total private portion to $49 million. The proposed 140,000-square-foot facility would meet modern instructional needs by providing space for innovative business teaching methods and labs, including a stock trading room, sales lab, business innovation lab and music business studio. The new facility would be located next to Correll Hall, the Terry College’s
See PROJECTS on page 8
School of Social Work
Gala dinner, other events to be held to celebrate 50th anniversary By Laurie Anderson laurie@uga.edu
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the UGA School of Social Work. To celebrate, the school is hosting a gala dinner and other events Oct. 17-18 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. The celebration also will launch the Dean Charles A. Stewart Scholarship Fund, named in honor of the founding dean who guided the school from 1964 to 1995. The theme of the celebration is “Reflecting on Our Past and Envisioning the Future.” Activities include a town hall forum at 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 17 that is open
to the public. The forum will focus on persistent and emerging issues in social work practice and will be moderated by Judge Glenda A. Hatchett. She is best known as the star of Judge Hatchett, a two-time Emmy-nominated reality television show that exposed a national audience to the judge’s unusual interventions for troubled teens. The gala dinner, to be held on Oct. 17 at 8 p.m., will be followed by a program that will include student presentations, salutes by various dignitaries and reminiscences by Charles Stewart and Bonnie Yegidis, former School of Social Work deans, and
See ANNIVERSARY on page 8
2 Sept. 22, 2014 columns.uga.edu Board of regents to expand eCore
Around academe
A resolution adopted Sept. 9 by the board of regents will support expanding eCore online general education offerings and make these courses available to students at all comprehensive universities, state universities and state colleges within the University System of Georgia. eCore, which began in 2000, allows students to take the first two years of their curriculum online and offers the “core” courses in English, mathematics, science, history and the social sciences. Course credit earned in eCore is transferable to any USG institution. Currently, eCore is only offered through 11 USG institutions. The goal of the expansion is to make it much easier for students to access the courses at an additional 16 institutions by fall of 2015, if not before.
Harvard receives $350M pledge
Harvard landed a record $350 million pledge from the Morningside Foundation earlier this month. The pledge will support Harvard’s School of Public Health and will be the largest donation the school has ever received. The foundation is the charitable arm of the Morningside Group, a private equity and venture capital firm run by the descendants of T.H. Chan including Gerald and Ronnie Chan. Gerald Chan, who earned a master’s degree from the School of Public Health in the 1970s, said the gift will help students and policymakers “improve human health throughout the world.” Harvard said the School of Public Health will be renamed in honor of the late T.H. Chan.
News to Use
Plant fall vegetables now so they can mature before first frost
When it comes to gardening, timing is everything. As summer vegetables like corn and beans stop bearing, home gardeners can plant fall gardens filled with cool-season vegetables. In Georgia, it can be challenging to get vegetables from fall gardens through the end of summer. It’s a delicate balance of growing vegetables early enough to allow them to mature (50 to 60 days) before a hard frost and getting them through the end of a hot, dry summer. Fall vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, kale, turnips, radishes, spinach, lettuce and beets can be purchased as seedlings from garden centers. These plants will be ready to transplant into the garden, while onion sets should be transplanted in October, said Paul Pugliese, an agricultural and natural resources agent for the UGA Extension office in Bartow County. Keep young seedlings watered until they are established. Also keep a sharp eye out for pest problems such as insects, diseases and weeds that continue to flourish in warm temperatures and high humidity. A layer of newspaper and mulch placed between garden rows can avoid weed problems and help conserve soil moisture. With these steps, gardeners can get a jump-start on growing their fall vegetables. Source: UGA Cooperative Extension
Warriors eb
UGA ranked No. 5 on a 2014 list of the best colleges for online degrees (based on acceptance, enrollment, retention and graduation rates). The top 10 schools are: 1) University of Florida 2) Chamberlain College of Nursing 3) Fashion Institute of Technology 4) Cabarrus College of Health Sciences 5) UGA 6) George Washington University 7) Oakland City University 8) Pennsylvania State University 9) University of Central Florida 10) World Mission University Source: Bestcolleges.com
College of Education, College of Public Health
Faculty begin after-school enrichment program at 2 Clarke County schools By Michael Childs mdchilds@uga.edu
A multidisciplinary team of UGA faculty is partnering with the Clarke County School District this fall to provide a new after-school enrichment program aimed at improving children’s health and stimulating their learning in reading and mathematics. The program currently serves about 60 children in two elementary schools. “We are bringing together UGA teacher educators, health promotion and kinesiology professors with Clarke County School administrators, staff and parents to provide a hands-on, engaging after-school program that will address the challenges faced by children,” said Phillip Tomporowski, a professor of kinesiology in the College of Education. The Physical Activity and Learning program is being funded by a fiveyear, $666,193 federal grant from the 21st Century Community Learning Centers, administered by the Georgia Department of Education. The interdisciplinary community service project includes five UGA faculty members across two colleges. Joining Tomporowski are Bryan McCullick, a professor of kinesiology; Marty Carr and Paula Schwanenflugel, professors of educational psychology; and Jennifer Gay, an assistant professor of health promotion and behavior in the College of Public Health. “We are mobilizing our UGA resources to help children in the community by calling on faculty who know how to
Carolyn Crist
Children at Chase Street Elementary School participate in a physical activity game that is part of the after-school program developed by UGA professors.
direct interventions in physical activity, healthy behavior, family engagement, reading and mathematics,” McCullick said. The new after-school program is the culmination of more than a decade of research that shows that children’s increased physical activity can lead to higher academic achievement. The methods central to the Physical Activity and Learning program are described in the soon-to-be-released book Enhancing Children’s Cognition with Physical Activity Games, written by Tomporowski and McCullick, who are both participating faculty in UGA’s Obesity Initiative. The after-school programs for qualifying children in grades two to five are held weekdays at both Fowler Drive and Chase Street elementary schools.
The sessions last for nearly three hours each day. In the first 45 minutes, students receive homework assistance and a snack. Then they participate in physical activity games for 45 minutes. During each game, the rules are changed so students must think while they are physically active. The students receive enrichment in mathematics and reading during the final 55 minutes. At the end of each day’s program, the students are bused home. The reading programming focuses on science literacy by using science texts and working on science text comprehension skills. The math programming uses mathematics games to develop children’s sense of number and spatial mathematics. The children do not receive this level of concentrated attention on these skills within the ordinary school day, according to Schwanenflugel.
Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources Public Service and Outreach UGA, Orianne Society form partnership New leadership to collaborate on research, conservation academy unveiled By Sandi Martin
smartin@warnell.uga.edu
An international nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of imperiled reptiles and amphibians has partnered with UGA to collaborate on conservation efforts for these species and their habitats. The Orianne Society, a worldwide conservation organization, now is working with researchers from UGA’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources on several projects that focus on the conservation of reptiles, amphibians and their habitats. Mike Clutter, dean of the Warnell School, said that by combining resources, UGA and the Orianne Society are able to collaborate more effectively on a global conservation initiative. “We both have a serious and sincere interest in the conservation of these species,” he said. The Orianne Society has a long history of working with a diverse number of interdisciplinary partners to develop and implement efforts to restore jeopardized herpetological species. The new collaboration with the Warnell School will allow the Orianne Society to build a stronger affiliation with researchers across UGA, Clutter said. Often overlooked in conservation policies, reptiles and amphibians are vital to biodiversity on Earth as they help maintain the sensitive ecological balance within their ecosystems. They also play an important role in pest control, and the venom of some of these species may be used to treat diseases such as cancer and diabetes. However, many reptile and amphibian populations are declining due to habitat loss and degradation, disease and deliberate persecution.
“Conservation of reptiles and amphibians is important, just as important as the conservation of other species, but reptiles and amphibians are the ones that few people care about,” said Chris Jenkins, CEO of the Orianne Society. “Our partnership with UGA provides a strong force to promote and implement science-based conservation for these species.” Researchers from Warnell and the Orianne Society have collaborated on several projects, and a UGA undergraduate student currently is conducting one of the first ecological studies of canebrake rattlesnakes in the Piedmont region. That species is declining rapidly throughout its range. Members of the Orianne Society recently traveled to UGA’s Costa Rica campus to discuss potential international program partnerships, including the organization’s work with blackheaded bushmasters. In addition to the Warnell School, the Orianne Society is working with UGA’s College of Veterinary Medicine on projects requiring surgeries, such as transmitter implants, and the organization also submitted the first case of snake fungal disease to UGA’s Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, or SCWDS, unit. “Our partnership with UGA is an important step in advancing the conservation of imperiled reptiles and amphibians,” Jenkins said. “UGA gives us the amazing opportunity to work with some of the strongest students in the world and the opportunity to help develop some of tomorrow’s conservation leaders.” The Orianne Society has established offices at White Hall Mansion, located in the 840-acre Whitehall Forest managed by the Warnell School for research purposes.
By Louise Hill
lhill@fanning.uga.edu
What do playgrounds, school lunches, vaccinations, sidewalks and wheelchair ramps have in common? They all contribute to a community’s ability to help its residents get healthy and stay healthy, sometimes called a culture of health. At the State of Public Health Conference held at UGA on Sept. 10, UGA’s College of Public Health and the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development unveiled a joint initiative designed to engage community leaders in creating and sustaining a culture of health in their communities. Communities may nominate teams of four individuals to participate in the 2015 Public Health Leadership Academy. In the application process, they should propose a local public health issue that they would like to address. The participant pool may include, but is not limited to nonprofit, public and business leaders; professionals from multiple sectors including health, social work, psychology, ministry and education; as well as other community-based entities that have an impact on factors that affect public health. The one-year program will offer an array of experiential learning activities that includes six face-to-face multiday sessions, distance learning, discussions with subject matter experts and national public health leaders, support and peer networking, and the design of an applied project in each team’s respective community. More information about the UGA Public Health Leadership Academy, including applications, will be available Oct. 1 at http://t.uga.edu/Vp.
Terry College of Business
columns.uga.edu Sept. 22, 2014
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Digest Sept. 24 Keillor performance postponed
Garrison Keillor’s Sept. 24 appearance in Hodgson Concert Hall has been postponed due to surgery. Negotiations are underway with Keillor’s management to reschedule the performance as soon as he recuperates from the medical procedure. Tickets purchased for Sept. 24 will be good for the rescheduled performance. Keillor’s Athens performance is presented in cooperation with the Classic Center. Patrons with questions can contact the Performing Arts Center at 706-542-4400 or the Classic Center at 706-357-4444.
ARMC, UGA College of Public Health to host ‘A Conversation about Ebola’
Paul Efland
Meghan Skira, an assistant professor of economics in UGA’s Terry College of Business, co-authored research that explains why absent fathers who don’t pay child support are an important contributing factor to child poverty rates.
‘Perfect enforcement’ New research on ‘deadbeat dads’ offers clues to improve children’s well-being
By Matt Weeks
mweeks@uga.edu
“Deadbeat dads” or absent fathers who don’t pay child support are an important contributing factor to child poverty rates. New research from UGA and Boston College helps explain why. A team of economic researchers analyzed data on families across a 14-year period in an effort to understand why some single women had children outside of marriage when they received little to no support from fathers and why that behavior is especially common among African-Americans.Toward that end, the authors created an economic model to simulate a scenario in which every absent father was forced to pay child support. Looking at the data through the lens of this “perfect enforcement” scenario caused the picture to change. “In the world we look at from 19791993, men can avoid paying child support. They can be deadbeat dads, and women know this is possible. Women know there’s a probability that they will get some kind of support and a possibility that they won’t,” said Meghan Skira, an assistant professor of economics in UGA’s
Terry College of Business and research co-author. “Under perfect enforcement, there’s a big disincentive for men to have children outside of marriage because they now have a financial obligation they can’t avoid.” When men are less willing to father children outside of marriage, the overall number of children born to unwed mothers declines, she said. “For women, what you’ve done is said if you have a child outside of marriage or if you divorce, you’re going to receive child support with certainty. So, in some ways, you might not expect births outside of marriage to decline. It depends on which of these effects plays out,” Skira said. “But we find the disincentive effect wins out, and many individuals do not have children outside of marriage. They don’t stop altogether, but there is a big reduction.” Their research doesn’t offer exact guidelines on how child support enforcement could be improved, Skira said. It explains how decisions would change under perfect child support enforcement and helps to understand the economic forces underlying single motherhood and deadbeat fatherhood.
Fewer children born outside of marriage slows the slide into poverty. But it doesn’t disappear completely. In fact, the authors’ research shows that removing another obstacle is a greater tool for child poverty reduction. That obstacle is the racial earnings gap. When black men earn as much money as otherwise similar white men, the accompanying changes in behavior greatly reduce child poverty, Skira said. “What we find is that because the racial earnings gap for men is particularly large, it matters quite a bit,” Skira said. “It affects not only the amount of income available to a person, but it also influences whether someone marries or not, whether or not they have a child, and, if they do, what resources are available to the child.” This is because one benefit of getting married is the ability to share resources; if men don’t make much money, there is a smaller incentive to get married. Plus, there is less money to pay support. The earnings gap may lead directly to nonpayment of child support. “Our results suggest that a large reason why men don’t provide support is that they don’t have the means,” Skira said. “Some are just too poor.”
Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication
Study finds news media losing role as gatekeepers The U.S. government is doing a better job of communicating on Twitter with people in sensitive areas like the Middle East and North Africa without the participation of media organizations, according to a study co-authored by a UGA researcher. The study looked at the U.S. State Department’s use of social media and identified key actors who drive its messages to audiences around the world. In particular, it examined the role played by news media and the government in bridging the State Department communication with people domestically and internationally. Published in the latest issue of the Journal of Public Relations Research, the study’s authors say the main reason is that the government is making an effective use of “social mediators” critical to the communication process.
“News media tend to use social media in the old-fashioned way,” said Itai Himelboim, an associate professor of telecommunications in UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.“They send out their reports like it was a broadcast—going one way. Communication on social media is a two-way street.” “They need to engage people in the conversation,” added Guy Golan, an associate professor of public relations in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. “They need to recognize that not all users yield equal influence. Organizations need to strategically identify and empower social mediators as bridges that connect their various publics.” The study defines social mediators as the entities that mediate the relations between an organization and its publics
through social media.They are the people and organizations who retweet, reblog and repost material published online. “Communication via these social spaces, such as Twitter, depends more than ever upon the willingness of third parties to participate in content distribution in the form of retweets or content endorsement,” Himelboim said. The authors of the study note that the social mediators—the people retweeting those posts—will add their own message and their own comments and may disagree with the original posting. But the message still is getting out. They say government agencies in these sensitive areas are beginning to recognize that social media is playing a growing role in how they communicate with their publics, domestically and internationally. It is a lesson that news media groups need to recognize as well, the researchers said.
The UGA College of Public Health and Athens Regional Medical Center are partnering to hold a community forum to discuss recent Ebola outbreaks in Africa and any potential local impacts. “A Conversation about Ebola” will be held Sept. 25 from 6:30-8 p.m. in George Hall on the UGA Health Sciences Campus. The forum will include a panel of UGA faculty members with expertise in the fields of clinical infectious diseases, public health policy, epidemiology, veterinary science and disease transmission modeling, as well as an emergency room response physician from Athens Regional to address treatment protocols for Ebola. Additional experts and medical personnel from both UGA and Athens Regional will be available to answer questions and provide more information. One of the questions experts look to answer is whether or not people in the U.S. should be concerned about contracting Ebola. Panelists will explore how the disease spreads and the low risk of transmission in America, which has very different approaches to and resources for responding to any potential outbreak due to advanced medical care, sterilization practices, hydration and nutrition. “A Conversation about Ebola” is the first community forum in a planned series to discuss public health issues as they arise.
Portrait unveiling to be held Sept. 26 for President Emeritus Adams
A ceremony for the unveiling of the official portrait of Michael F. Adams, 21st president of UGA, will be held Sept. 26 at 3:30 p.m. in the administration building.
UGA swimmers named to national team
Twelve swimmers with connections to the UGA program have been named to the 2014-2015 National Team, according to USA Swimming. The National Team is made up of the top six athletes from the combined results of the Phillips 66 National Championships and the Pan Pacific Games. Open water National Team members qualified with a top-six finish in the 10-kilometer race at the 2014 USA Swimming Open Water National Championships. Current UGA swimmers Gunnar Bentz (400meter individual medley), Nicolas Fink (100-meter breaststroke, 200-meter breaststroke), Chase Kalisz (200-meter butterfly, 200-meter individual medley, 400-meter individual medley) and Jay Litherlan (400meter individual medley) made the squad, as did Hali Flickinger (200-meter butterfly, 400-meter individual medley), Maddie Locus (50-meter freestyle), Olivia Smoliga (100-meter backstroke) and Courtney Weaver (200-meter butterfly). Former UGA swimmers Andrew Gemmell (1,500-meter freestyle, open water 10-kilometer), Melanie Margalis (200-meter breaststroke, 200-meter individual medley, 400-meter individual medley), Allison Schmitt (200-meter freestyle) and Shannon Vreeland (100-meter freestyle, 200-meter freestyle) also met the criteria.
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For a complete listing of events 7 8 5 at the University of Georgia, check the Master Calendar on the Web (calendar.uga.edu/). I
The following events are open to the public, unless otherwise specified. Dates, times and locations may change without advance notice.
UGAGUIDE
columns.uga.edu Sept. 22, 2014
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Poet Jordan Scott to give reading at Ciné
New ‘school lunch’ exhibit to open at Russell Library
jerich@uga.edu
By Jan Levinson
By Jordana Rich
Author Jordan Scott will read from his work Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. at Ciné, 234 W. Hancock Ave. The event, sponsored by UGA’s Creative Writing Program in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, is open free to the public. A poet and educator in Vancouver, British Columbia, Scott is the author of three books of poetry, including Blert, which explores the poetics of stuttering and was the subject of a short documentary commissioned by the National Film Board of Canada. His first book of poetry, Silt, was nominated for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize in 2006. Decomp, a photo
essay and prose poem co-authored with poet Stephen Collis, was compiled after they left copies of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species to decay in five distinct ecosystems in British Columbia and, a year later, photographed the remains and included poetry into nature’s decomposition processes. Scott acted as writer-in-residence at the International Writers’ Translators’ Centre in Rhodes, Greece, and has lectured and performed at festivals throughout Europe and North America. In 2011, he was one of 10 Canadian poets selected to attend North of Invention: A Canadian Poetry Festival. Scott’s areas of poetic inquiry are speech disfluencies, interrogation, found archives and decompositions.
jlevinso@uga.edu
The Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies will feature the exhibit Food, Power, and Politics: The Story of School Lunch Sept. 26 to May 15. The exhibit examines the complicated past of the National School Lunch Program, signed into law by President Harry Truman on June 4, 1946. The exhibit features historic images depicting schools and children in Georgia dating back to the 1920s as well as related ephemera, including lunch pails, sample menus and classroom activity packets. Letters, speeches and assorted publications document the legislative battle to create and expand the program from the 1940s to the 1990s, complemented by video and oral histories. With a focus on people and events in Georgia, the exhibit was developed to commemorate the Russell Library’s 40th anniversary in 2014. U.S. Sen. Richard B. Russell Jr. authored the original legislation
Sculptor to discuss ‘Art and Place’ in Sept. 25 lecture By Eva Chamberlain etcuga@uga.edu
The Georgia Museum of Art will host the lecture “Art and Place” by Scottish sculptor Patricia Leighton Sept. 25 at 5:30 p.m. The lecture is open free to the public. Leighton has been creating largescale projects that focus on human interaction with the natural environment for more than 25 years. She will discuss Terra Verte, the exhibition of her work on display in the museum’s Jane and Harry Willson Sculpture Garden through May 2015. The exhibition consists of six elevated cube frameworks of steel filled with plants that change color and texture with the seasons. “The combination of stark, geometric forms made from steel and
the textured, flowing plant material they contain make Patricia Leighton’s work an exceptional complement to the garden,” said Annelies Mondi, deputy director of the museum and curator of the exhibition. Leighton’s designs are reminiscent of the Scottish hills and mountains where she grew up and the ancient sacred sites she has visited while traveling throughout Great Britain and Continental Europe. Working with teams of engineers, architects and landscapers, she seeks to capture the ever-changing landscape and ageless presence of each environment in which she creates art. Her work has been displayed in Scotland, England, Wales, South Korea, the U.S. and Bulgaria. “Stone Levity,” a sculpture by Leighton’s husband, Del Geist, is installed in the Performing and Visual Arts Complex quad through May 2015.
Patricia Leighton, the sculptor of the exhibition Terra Verte, will give a lecture Sept. 25 at 5:30 p.m. at the Georgia Museum of Art.
EXHIBITIONS Archway Partnership/CED Summer Internship Exhibit. Through Sept. 26. Jackson Street Building. Introducing Hubert Bond Owens: Pioneer of American Landscape Education. Through Oct. 1. Jackson Street Building. Works by Ginny McLaren. Through Oct. 5. State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6156, ckeber@uga.edu. The Prints of Mary Wallace Kirk. Through Oct. 12. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu. Shapes That Talk to Me. Through Oct. 19. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu. XL. Through Nov. 16. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu. An Archaeologist’s Eye: The Parthenon Drawings of Katherine A. Schwab. Through Dec. 7. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu. Vince Dooley: A Retrospective, 1954-1988. Through Dec. 15. Special collections libraries. 706-542-7123, hasty@uga.edu. Food, Power, and Politics: The Story of School Lunch. Sept. 26 through May 15. Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies. (See story, above right). Terra Verte. Through May 31. Jane and Harry Willson Sculpture Garden, Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 Blood Drive 2 p.m. Reed Hall.
Portland-based installation artist to give lecture Sept. 30 By Alan Flurry
aflurry@uga.edu
The Lamar Dodd School of Art will present a lecture by installation artist Lauren Fensterstock Sept. 30 at 5:30 p.m. in Room S151 of the art school. Part of the Visiting Artist/ Scholar Lecture Series, the talk is open free to the public. Based in Portland, Maine, Fensterstock is an artist, writer and curator whose work was the subject of a recent major solo exhibition at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where she filled four rooms with cut paper flowers to create an immersive environment, and another at the Contemporary Austin in Austin, Texas. Her work is held in public and private collections in the U.S., Europe and Asia. In her UGA lecture, Fensterstock plans to show examples from her
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
Workshop “Using Respondus for Test Creation and Management.” In this hands-on workshop, participants will practice test item creation and developing tests by importing questions from multiple sources. Participants also will demonstrate publishing a test to an eLC course and formatting print versions. 9:30 a.m. 372 Miller Learning Center. 706-583-0067, tchagood@uga.edu.
Class “Plants and Pollinators: Co-dependence and Conservation.” Learn more about human dependence on pollinators and discover how to safeguard them in backyards and local ecosystems. $50. 9 a.m. State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6156, ckeber@uga.edu.
Blood Drive 10 a.m. Reception Hall, Tate Student Center.
Ecology/ICON Conservation Seminar “The Science and Politics of Endangered Species Protection: Case Studies in the Southeastern U.S.,” Nikki Lamp, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1:25 p.m. Ecology building auditorium. 706-542-7247, bethgav@uga.edu.
Tuesday Tour at Two 2 p.m. Special collections libraries. 706-542-8079, jclevela@uga.edu. Ecology Seminar “Nature as Normal: Rethinking the Value of Nature for Clean Water, Free Time and Education,” Heather Tallis, lead scientist at The Nature Conservancy. 4 p.m. Ecology building auditorium. 706-542-7247, bethgav@uga.edu. Lecture UGA professor of English and author of Shakespeare’s Medical Language, Sujata Iyengar will teach a bit about Shakespeare’s plants. 6:30 p.m. State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6156, ckeber@uga.edu. Discussion: Uses of Linux Learn can be done with Linux as it applies to both new and experienced users of the alternative PC operating system. Hosted by Classic Hackers UGA Linux Users Group. 7 p.m. Four Athens, 165 E. Dougherty St. 706-540-9508, mikecap@uga.edu.
Calendar items are taken from Columns files and from the university’s Master Calendar, maintained by University Public Affairs. Notices are published here as space permits, with priority given to items of multidisciplinary interest. The Master Calendar is available on the Web at calendar.uga.edu/.
NSLP, including the creation of the school breakfast program. The Russell Library is collaborating with UGA’s Athens Science Cafe and the Clarke County School District to sponsor an event focused on childhood nutrition featuring Caree Cotwright, an associate professor in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, taking place Oct. 22 at Chase Street Elementary School. Other events related to the exhibit are scheduled for spring 2015. The exhibit is free and open to the public. More information about the program series is at http://t.uga.edu/Wj. The galleries of the special collections libraries are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 1-5 p.m. on Saturdays. The building is not open on university holidays or the Saturdays of home football games. To schedule a tour of the special collections libraries galleries, contact Jean Cleveland by emailing jclevela@uga.edu or by calling 706-542-8079.
Lauren Fensterstock, who created “Mirror Displacement #2,” an installation at the Austin Museum of Art-Arthouse, will speak Sept. 30 at 5:30 p.m.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23
Test of UGAAlert System A full test of the UGAAlert emergency notification system will be conducted. Contact information can be updated at www.ugaalert.uga.edu prior to the test. 10:45 a.m. 706-542-5845, prepare@uga.edu.
establishing the program and played a crucial role in steering it through both houses of Congress. Russell said that the creation of this program was his proudest legislative achievement during his long career in the U.S. Senate. What began as a way to strengthen the nation through better nutrition for schoolchildren soon became a complicated program administered by local, state and federal partners with competing interests. The program also evolved to meet the changing needs of children, politicians and corporate interests over time. A bigger and broader program more than 60 years after its original passage, the National School Lunch Program continues to be a political hot-button issue today. In addition to Russell, U.S. Sen. Herman Talmadge, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, also played a key role in school lunch. Talmadge’s support of the Childhood Nutrition Act and subsequent amendments greatly expanded the
Blood Drive 1 p.m. Creswell Hall.
Tour at Two “Highlights from the Permanent Collection.” 2 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu. Fall Hike in the Nash Prairie at the Garden Part of Celebrating Wildflowers. Limited to 20 participants. 2 p.m. State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6156, ckeber@uga.edu. Clifford Lewis Scholar Lecture “Developing a Sport Event Tourism Portfolio: An Experience Design Perspective for Host Cities,” Daniel Funk, Temple University. 3:30 p.m. S151 Lamar Dodd School of Art. 706-542-4230, emily122@uga.edu. University Council meeting 3:30 p.m. Tate Student Center Theatre. 706-542-6020. Rosh Hashanah Volleyball vs. Alabama. 7 p.m. Stegeman Coliseum.
work from the previous 15 years, a mixture of sculpture and installation. “I’m going to share some of the research that I do—my work tends to come out of a lot of reading, and my interest in history,” Fensterstock said. “So I’ll talk about some of the historical references that inspire my work and then talk about my process and how my research and the making come together in these installations.” Fensterstock studied at the Parsons School of Design and SUNY New Paltz, and her background in metalsmithing and jewelry continue to play a role in her work. “I don’t make things (that go) on the body anymore, but I still see a big relationship in my work to jewelry,” she said. “Jewelry is all about the body, wearing things on the body, and while you don’t wear an installation, you’re very conscious of your body moving through a space.”
hispanic heritage month Lecture The Multicultural Services and Programs Office along with several campus partners is hosting Sonia Nazario, the Pulitzer Prizewinning author of Enrique’s Journey, the story of a Honduran boy’s struggle to find his mother in the U.S. A book signing will be available after her lecture. 7 p.m. 271 special collections libraries. 706-542-5773, dora@uga.edu. Poetry Reading Author Jordan Scott will read from his work. The event, sponsored by the Creative Writing Program in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, is open free to the public. 7 p.m. Ciné, 234 W. Hancock Ave. 706-542-2659, jerich@uga.edu. (See story, top left).
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 National Speaker Series “The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and Academic Careers,” Mary Taylor Huber. 9:30 a.m. 271 special collections libraries. 706-583-0067, tchagood@uga.edu. Engineering Graduate Seminar “Computer Experiments,” Abhuday Mandal. Moderated by Israr Bin M Ibrahim. 12:30 p.m. Driftmier Auditorium, Driftmier Engineering Center. 706-542-3312. Pedagogy Workshop “Balancing Acts: Designing Careers Around the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.” 2 p.m. Reading Room, Miller Learning Center. 706-583-0067, tchagood@uga.edu. Documentary Screening A screening of the documentary Love is a Verb, directed by Terry Spencer Hesser. A panel discussion will follow the screening. 3:30 p.m. 214 Miller Learning Center. idea@uga.edu. Artist’s Talk Join sculptor Patricia Leighton, whose “growing cubes” are featured in the museum’s Jane and Harry Willson Sculpture
Georgia children drink milk as part of the National School Lunch Program circa 1947-1955. The exhibit Food, Power, and Politics: The Story of School Lunch, which opens Sept. 26, examines the complicated past of the program. Garden, for a discussion of her work. 5:30 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu. (See story, above left). “A Conversation about Ebola” The College of Public Health and Athens Regional Medical Center are partnering to hold a community forum to discuss Ebola and any potential local impacts. 6:30 p.m. George Hall. (See Digest, page 3). Lecture “Urbanization and Climate Change,” J. Marshall Shepherd,” geography. Part of the Anthropocene Lecture Series. 7 p.m. Chapel. 706-542-1693, biomngr@uga.edu. Film Spring Breakers (2012). $2; $1 for UGA students who pay activity fees. 8 p.m. Tate Student Center Theatre. 706-542-6396. University Theatre Clybourne Park. Also to be performed Sept. 26, 30 and Oct. 1-3 at 8 p.m., Sept. 28 and Oct. 5 at 2:30 p.m. This comedy spins off of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun to follow one house over 50 years. $16; $12 for students. 8 p.m. Cellar Theatre, Fine Arts Building. 706-542-2836, wclay87@uga.edu.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 Film 22 Jump Street (2014). Sept. 26 and 28 at 3, 6 and 9 p.m. $2; $1 for UGA students who pay activity fees. Tate Theatre, Tate Student Center. 706-542-6396. Class “Fall Wildflowers of the Georgia Piedmont.” $50. 9 a.m. State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6156, ckeber@uga.edu. Graduate School Dean Finalist Presentation Milagros Peña, University of Florida. 9:30 a.m. 135 Tate Student Center.
Guest Lecture Sean Hansen, Rochester Institute of Technology. Part of the Management Information Systems Workshop Speaker Series. 10 a.m. 520 Brooks Hall. kjetha@uga.edu. Guest Lecture Lindsey Harper from Lindsey Coral Harper Interior Design in New York City will speak. 11:15 a.m. 208 Barrow Hall. lglanier@uga.edu. Lecture “Social Media as a Counter-Space for Campus Sexual Assault Activism,” Chris Linder, assistant professor, College of Education. Part of the Women’s Studies Friday Speaker Series, this lecture also is a First-Year Odyssey event. 12:20 p.m. 250 Miller Learning Center. 706-542-2846, tlhat@uga.edu. Guest Lecture “Scouting in the NFL: A Player Personnel Perspective of the Strongest League in the World,” Leslie Ladd, administrator of scouting operations for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Part of the International Center for Sport Management’s Fall 2014 Lecture Series. 12:20 p.m. 205 Ramsey Student Center. 706-542-4230, emily122@uga.edu. guided Tour A guided tour of the exhibition Vince Dooley: A Retrospective, 1954-1988. To be held each Friday before home football games. 2 p.m. Special collections libraries. 706-542-8079, jclevela@uga.edu. Portrait Unveiling A ceremony for the unveiling of the official portrait of Michael F. Adams, 21st president of UGA. 3:30 p.m. Administration building. (See Digest, page 3).
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 Symposium “Eat Your Landscape! Edible Trees, Mushrooms, Vines, Herbs and Flowers for Your Landscape.” $60. 9 a.m. State Botanical
To submit a listing for the master calendar and columns Post event information first to the Master Calendar website (calendar.uga.edu/). Listings for Columns are taken from the Master Calendar 12 days before the publication date. Events not posted by then may not be printed in Columns.
Any additional information about the event may be sent directly to Columns. Email is preferred (columns@uga.edu), but materials can be mailed to Columns, News Service, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Campus Mail 1999.
Garden. 706-542-6156, ckeber@uga.edu. Football vs. Tennessee. To be televised on ESPN. Noon. Sanford Stadium. 706-542-1231.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 Concert on The Lawn Performance by the Classic City Band and the Classic City Jazz Band. 3 p.m. Courtyard Lawn, Georgia Center. 706-542-9842, thaxtona@uga.edu.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 Graduate School Dean Finalist Presentation Victoria Greene, Vanderbilt University. 9:30 a.m. 135 Tate Student Center. Blood Drive 10 a.m. Aderhold Hall. Blood Drive 11 a.m. Room VW, Georgia Center.
Coming Up BFSO Founders Awards Scholarship Luncheon Sept. 30. Speaker: Ceasar C. Mitchell, president of the Atlanta City Council. $35; $280 for a table of eight. Noon. Mahler Hall, Georgia Center. Visiting Artist/Scholar Lecture Sept. 30. Lauren Fensterstock is an artist, writer and curator based in Portland, Maine. 5:30 p.m. S151 Lamar Dodd School of Art. 706-542-0116. (See story, above center). Graduate School Dean Finalist Presentation Oct. 1. Jeffrey Engler, University of Alabama at Birmingham. 10 a.m. 135 Tate Student Center.
Next columns deadlines Sept. 24 (for Oct. 6 issue) Oct. 1 (for Oct. 13 issue) Oct. 8 (for Oct. 20 issue)
6 Sept. 22, 2014 columns.uga.edu
Faculty profile
Jessica Lopes da Rosa-Spiegler, a postdoctoral research fellow in biochemistry and molecular biology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, received $51,000 from the National Institutes of Health to study Trypanosoma brucei, a parasite that infects humans and cattle in certain parts of Africa. Humans infected with T. brucei suffer from a severe neurological disease called African sleeping sickness that is fatal when left untreated. However, the chemotherapeutic treatments currently in use are toxic and difficult to administer. This project will examine the unique aspects of T. brucei’s genetic expression to better understand the parasite and provide new targets for drug development. Kevin Vogel, a postdoctoral associate in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ entomology department, received $110,000 from the National Institutes of Health. The funding is part of a two-year grant to study reproductive hormones in mosquitos. Mosquitos transmit several major human diseases, including malaria and dengue fever virus. Efforts to disrupt mosquito reproduction is an emerging strategy for reducing disease in humans. Vogel’s work on the hormonal control of mosquito reproduction will provide new fundamental insights into insect endocrinology and a promising new avenue for disrupting disease transmission. His work is done in conjunction with Mark Brown and Michael Strand, both professors of entomology at UGA. Kari Pederson, a postdoctoral research associate at the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, received $55,000 from the National Institutes of Health to examine glycosaminoglycans, or GAGs, as they relate to disease treatment. GAGs are expressed ubiquitously on mammalian cell surfaces and interact with a variety of biological molecules to regulate various processes, including immune response, regulation of cell growth and blood-stream clotting. A number of viruses, including vaccinia virus, the most studied member of the pox virus family, initiate infection of cells and suppress immune defense by binding to cell surface GAGs, and recently have been shown to be effective in cancer therapy. Kamal Gandhi, an associate professor in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, received $78,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture as part of a three-year grant. She will use it to determine the extent, severity and nature of eastern white pine health issues in the southeastern U.S. Since 2006, researchers have observed a significant dieback of pines in multiple states, including Georgia, Virginia and West Virginia. The trees have high densities of cankers on branches and trunks, and canopies are thinning at various sites in the southern Appalachians. Gandhi’s project aims to protect this ecologically important species, which is home to many forms of wildlife and is also economically important for timber industries. Swarn Chatterjee, an associate professor of financial planning, housing and consumer economics in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, received $10,500 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to determine the effects of health on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participation among low-income, low-asset families living in the southeastern U.S. Chatterjee and his colleagues are investigating how adverse changes in individuals’ health conditions, as well as changes in their out-of-pocket medical expenditures, have affected SNAP participation, and whether such influences have been associated with low asset holdings and the inability to borrow. The knowledge gained should lead to more effective interventions and informed policy decisions for low-income households, including food, health insurance and asset building programs. ReveNews is a roundup of recently funded research projects at UGA. To have information about your research project included, email James Hataway at jhataway@uga.edu.
Robert Newcomb
Jessica Kissinger, a professor of genetics in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and director of the Institute of Bioinformatics, has become a resource for helping colleagues use their data more effectively.
Franklin College professor focuses on making research data more accessible By Alan Flurry
aflurry@uga.edu
Jessica Kissinger is a molecular geneticist whose research on the evolution of disease and the genomes of eukaryotic pathogenic organisms—Cryptosporidium, Sarcocystis, Toxoplasma and Plasmodium (malaria) among them—has led her to perhaps the emerging issue among research scientists: managing data. “To solve a complex problem like a disease, whether you’re looking for a new drug target or just trying to understand the basic biology of an organism, how it interacts with its host, you have to bring together a lot of data sets,” Kissinger said. “You want to be able to take the expertise of the community at large, with individually generated pieces of the puzzle, and then try to stitch them into a quilt that creates a better picture.” Kissinger’s local community at UGA includes the genetics department, the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases and the Institute of Bioinformatics, where she serves as director. But her focus is the wider world of scientists and helping make the data they produce more accessible, sharable and reusable. “So many resources go into generating some of these highly specialized data sets, with very difficult to work with and hard to culture organisms, and publishing your results doesn’t necessarily make the data usable,” she said. “I work on that usability part—taking data generated elsewhere and integrating it to help others access it and use it well.” Making data more useful has only
grown in importance in the age of big data. “For scientists, creating archives of the publicly available data we generate is one of our biggest challenges,” said Kissinger, who had no formal training in computer science. “I had to learn how to program and manipulate data to answer my questions.” That openness to learning has led Kissinger to become a resource for helping colleagues use their data more effectively even as she continues to sharpen her own skills. “Using technology might allow me to connect A to B, but how should that information be presented for other researchers?” she asked. “If you really want to make something useful, you have to be able to tap into what people are visualizing and how they are communicating.” In this vein, Kissinger, with computer science professor Eileen Kramer, has directed workshops in human-computer interactions studies around campus and across the globe. The primary integrative database that Kissinger works with is EuPathDB, one of four NIH-funded bioinformatics research centers, with 15,000 individual monthly users. Her lab in the Coverdell Center employs more than a dozen staff to work on the projects as varied as the number of questions researchers might ask about DNA sequences or protein structures. “It’s very much a sign of the times,” Kissinger said. “When the genome of the human malaria parasite (Plasmodiumn falciparum) was published in 2000, it had taken more than five years and $35 million. Today we have more than
Facts Jessica Kissinger Professor of Genetics and Director of the Institute of Bioinformatics Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Ph.D., Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Indiana University, 1995 A.B., Biology, University of Chicago, 1989 At UGA: 12 years
10,000 of them and we can do it in a day and it costs around two grand.” As the costs have gone down and productivity has gone up, working with the data has become more complex. As her research has expanded to include research on data itself, Kissinger is at the forefront of integrative data management programs for researchers. The Institute of Bioinformatics created the Quantitative Biology Consulting Group at UGA to help researchers on campus with the scale and quantity of the data they produce. As part of the NIH Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3A) program, Kissinger advises on data issues related to an “H3A-BioNet” informatics network of research groups from 20 African nations. She recently received a Brazilian Special Visiting Professor Award as part of their “Science Without Borders” program, in which Kissinger will work with South American colleagues to expand and integrate genomic tropical disease research into a database used by scientists throughout the world.
College of Pharmacy Pharmacy college’s 2+2 program to add campus in Savannah By Sheila Roberson
roberson@rx.uga.edu
The College of Pharmacy is e xpanding its 2+2 program by adding a fourth campus for student training. Currently, students take courses in Athens for their first two years of pharmacy school and finish their degree requirements with two years of training in Athens, Augusta or Albany. Under the expansion plan, Savannah will be the fourth site option for the program. Students make their site selections at the time that they are admitted to pharmacy school and are guaranteed placement in that area for their third and fourth years of pharmacy practice
experiences. An advantage of the program is that students are able to plan their housing needs in advance for the final two years of pharmacy school. The program Ray Maddox also decentralizes students in their third year, giving them more and easier access to patients, more individual time with faculty and more interactions with other health profession students. As part of the program’s expansion, Ray Maddox has been named assistant
dean to oversee the development of the new campus in Savannah. A 1972 graduate of UGA, Maddox also holds the title of clinical professor in the college’s clinical and administrative pharmacy department. He formerly was the director of clinical pharmacy, research and pulmonary medicine for the St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System in Savannah. Maddox earned his doctor of pharmacy degree in conjunction with a clinical pharmacy residency at the University of Kentucky in 1977, following a hospital pharmacy residency at the Medical University of South Carolina in 1973 and a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy at UGA in 1972.
Terry College of Business
columns.uga.edu Sept. 22, 2014
The business of moving forward
7
Terry College’s new dean sets his sights high
By Matt Weeks
transformed by technology, today’s business education requires students to develop much more comfort in dealing with uncertainty and change and to recognize opportunities and effectively traverse challenges when business paradigms shift and when economies prosper and struggle. At Terry, we are making concerted efforts to provide our students with an education informed by leading scholars and today’s business leaders to ensure that our students are able to out-compete their counterparts. Through a combination of relevant, current and rigorous coursework, considerable oncampus exposure to today’s business leaders and internships that provide students with opportunities to demonstrate, utilize and enhance their skills, our students are better prepared for successful careers than ever before. Taking advantage of today’s latest technology also allows us to reach and serve a wider variety of students, whether through our very successful Executive and Professional MBA programs, which employ a mixed delivery method, or through our recently launched Online BBA program, which allows students to complete a general business degree while continuing to meet the demands of holding down a job or raising a family.
mweeks@uga.edu
Benjamin C. Ayers became dean of the Terry College of Business on July 1. A longtime faculty member and former director of the J.M. Tull School of Accounting, Ayers brings with him a deep understanding of the inner workings of the college and holds the distinguished Earl Davis Chair in Taxation. Columns caught up with the Heflin, Alabama native to discuss his new role at UGA, the changing nature of business education and how he plans to bring the Terry College to a “higher standard of excellence.” Columns: Why did you want to become dean of the Terry College? Ayers: This is a tremendous opportunity for anyone and especially for me. This treasure of a college is where I have invested 18 years to provide the very best education and opportunities for our students, foster a culture of excellence in research and in the classroom, and create opportunities for our alumni and employers to engage in an important and meaningful way in our efforts. I am incredibly proud of the Terry College and UGA and the great strides that we have made. To have the opportunity for a broader positive impact on this college and university and to work with a group committed to excellence is truly a gift. Columns: Before this, you were the director the J.M. Tull School of Accounting. How is being a dean different from leading the Tull School? Ayers: Fundamentally, the focus on our core mission is similar. However, the scope of the dean’s role is much broader and more complex. As dean I will spend less time in the classroom and in research, but I will work with the same focus, passion and diligence on efforts that have a meaningful impact on our core mission. Columns: You were also a favorite teacher for many accounting majors. What will you miss about spending so much time in the classroom? Ayers: I will miss the opportunities to work daily with our students; to encourage and challenge them in the classroom; to work with them closely to prepare them to compete successfully in the business world; and to see them achieve goals beyond their expectations.
weekly reader
It Is Written: My Life in Letters By Philip Lee Williams Mercer University Press $29
Cassie Wright
Benjamin C. Ayers, who became dean of the Terry College of Business on July 1, said today’s business education requires students to be more comfortable dealing with uncertainty and change.
Columns: Early on you were a certified public accountant. Why did you decide to change from a practitioner to an academic career? Ayers: My parents were both educators and set great examples of the positive impact that a faculty member or administrator can have on his or her students, faculty and programs. I gained great respect for their investment into educating and helping others. I share their passion.
state-of-the-art facilities that allow more collaboration among faculty and students and an opportunity for each faculty member to rethink the best way to engage students in a manner that enhances their learning experience. The Business Learning Community will be a destination for student learning, working together in teams, developing life and business skills, and networking with each other and alumni. It will be a game-changer.
Columns: The first phase of the Business Learning Community is scheduled to open next year. What excites you about the new complex? Ayers: While Brooks Hall has been a great home to the Terry College, our current facilities are unable to meet the needs of a 21st century business college. The Business Learning Community will provide
Columns: What are some challenges facing business education today, and what is Terry doing to stand out? Ayers: The ongoing challenge is to provide students an education that prepares them for successful careers in a world that has changed and is changing rapidly. With a more globally focused and competitive business world that has been
Former assistant dean pens book
Filled with colorful details and rich with photographs of the author’s life, It Is Written is a beautifully written page-turner about how one person turns the raw materials of life into art. Over a 30-year career as a published author of fiction, poetry and essays, Philip Lee Williams, a former assistant dean in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, has become one of the South’s most-honored writers. In It is Written, Williams tells the story of his creative life in an open, jaunty and often hilarious autobiography. While the book has plenty on Williams’ youth in Madison, his days as a student at UGA and his later years as a journalist, it focuses primarily on his career as a published writer, beginning with his first novel, The Heart of a Distant Forest.
Columns: What do you think will change the most about Terry in the coming years? Ayers: Today, the Terry College is recognized among the top public business schools with a number of programs ranked among the very best public and private business schools and with faculty and departments who have earned impressive national recognition for their research. The challenge for Terry is to not reverse its course or be complacent, but to focus on substantive efforts to enhance our programs, provide the very best opportunities for our students locally, nationally and globally, nurture a research and teaching culture that attracts and retains top faculty, and generate the needed resources to support our core mission. With this focus, our goal is that the most visible change for Terry will be a higher standard of excellence. Columns: When you’re not at Terry, what do you do for fun? Ayers: I love spending time with my wife and three children and being as physically active as I can. Golf and tennis are great life sports that I enjoy when my schedule permits.
ABOUT COLUMNS
Cybersights
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Editor Juliett Dinkins Art Director Kris Barratt Photo Editor Paul Efland
BIRC site updated with new calendar
Senior Reporter Aaron Hale
http://birc.uga.edu/
The UGA Bioimaging Research Center, which provides a full range of biological tissue imaging technologies to biomedical investigators, students and researchers across campus, has a new website that highlights its array of laboratories, instruments and services. It
also includes a new event calendar and scheduling system. MRI safety training is available free of charge to any BIRC investigator or group, however, UGA students, faculty and staff have priority. Registration is available on the website.
Reporter Matt Chambers The University of Georgia is committed to principles of equal opportunity and affirmative action. The University of Georgia is a unit of the University System of Georgia. I
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8 Sept. 22, 2014 columns.uga.edu
TURTLE
ANNIVERSARY from page 1
Since the first cohort of 14 students received diplomas in 1966 from the School of Social Work, more than 6,000 students have earned degrees. Faculty, staff, students and alumni will mark the school’s 50th anniversary Oct. 17-18 with a gala and other events.
current Dean and Professor Maurice Daniels. Alumnus Randall Bramblett and his band will close the evening with a concert. A nationally known musician, Bramblett has worked with the Allman Brothers, Bonnie Raitt and Widespread Panic, among others. He received his master’s degree in social work from UGA in 1989. “This is a wonderful opportunity to reunite with friends and colleagues and celebrate 50 years of achievements in teaching, research and service,” Daniels said. “Attendees will not only be celebrating the past but, through the new Dean Charles A. Stewart Scholarship Fund, supporting social work’s future as well.” The celebration will take note of hurdles that the school faced in its creation. Beginning in 1937, under UGA President Harmon Caldwell, the university took steps to develop a school of social work and by 1940 was offering graduate level courses in social work. By the spring of 1941, a proposal was under consideration to start the school during the 1942-1943 academic year. In July of 1941, however, Georgia Gov. Eugene Talmadge began to purge and intimidate faculty within the university system who he deemed sympathetic to racial integration. In response, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools announced it would withdraw accreditation from the state’s white institutions of higher learning. Seeing little hope for a new school, the director of the graduate program of social work resigned. When the U.S. entered World War II a few months later, plans for a school were suspended. It was not until after the desegregation of UGA in 1961, and a funding increase in 1962, that work resumed to establish a school of social work at the university. In 1963 Harmon Caldwell, who was now chancellor of the University System of Georgia, appointed an advisory committee to determine the need for a graduate school of social work. The committee, which included Stewart, confirmed a need. Several Georgia institutions vied to house the school.The committee unanimously
recommended UGA, and the board of regents approved the recommendation. UGA President O.C. Aderhold began searching for a dean. Eventually he offered the position to Stewart, then the social services director at Milledgeville State Hospital. The regents approved the appointment and, on Jan. 1, 1964, Stewart became the youngest dean in the nation at age 31. Aderhold asked Stewart to open the school by September. The dean quickly began to recruit the best scholars he could find, even offering some of them salaries higher than his own. By July he’d hired four full-time faculty and one part-time faculty member. All worked frantically to develop the basic structures for a graduate program. “Faculty met days, nights and Saturdays,” said Merle Foeckler, who was among the hires. “Everything had to be developed. To establish a curriculum between July and September was an unbelievable accomplishment.” On Sept. 25, 1964, Foeckler taught the first class, “Human Behavior and the Social Environment.” Stewart hired two additional faculty, and the School of Social Work was dedicated on Oct. 7. Stewart and the faculty didn’t rest. They continued to work long hours to earn accreditation from the Council of Social Work Education—the sole accrediting agency for social work programs in the U.S. In 1966 they succeeded, just in time for the graduation of the first class. Starting with one degree program in 1964, the School of Social Work now offers six degree or dual degree programs as well as international study abroad and certificate programs. The faculty has increased from eight to 30. Since the first cohort of 14 students received diplomas in 1966, more than 6,000 students have earned degrees. Tickets to the evening gala are $75, with a portion of the proceeds to benefit the Dean Charles A. Stewart Scholarship Fund. For more information on all the events, or to register, see http://www.ssw.uga.edu/50th/.
Bulletin Board DAC nominations
The Office of Institutional Diversity is accepting nominations and applications for membership on the 2015 UGA Diversity Advisory Council. DAC promotes a proactive and ongoing engagement to support a culture of inclusion throughout the university. DAC is committed to inclusive excellence, providing a welcoming campus culture and fostering living, learning and working environments supportive of the differences and similarities of all people. DAC will aid in developing and implementing strategies to increase the awareness and value of diversity at UGA. Membership is open to faculty, staff and students. The term of service is three years. A broad range of experiences, backgrounds and expertise among different areas of diversity is important.
The application deadline is Oct. 3. Nominations should be sent to diverse@uga.edu. The application is available online at http://tinyurl.com/pf3jfhs. Contact the Office of Institutional Diversity at 706-583-8195 with any questions.
Free golf lessons
Staff at the UGA Golf Course will hold two free instructional classes for any interested UGA faculty and staff members. The classes will be held Oct. 7 and 14 from 5:30-7 p.m. Class members can use their own equipment or some will be provide. Interested faculty or staff members are asked to email Clint Udell by the Monday before each class. In the email, indicate if any equipment will be needed. Contact Udell at cudell96@uga.edu.
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before being released or transferred to a larger home at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. Approximately 70,000 people have met Ossabaw at the UGA Aquarium and learned about loggerheads on the Georgia coast. A new loggerhead straggler hatchling, Rider, will make its public debut at the UGA Aquarium on Oct. 25 during Skidaway Marine Science Day, an annual open house featuring tours, displays and activities. Five sea turtle species nest along the Georgia coast. While loggerheads are the most common, they are listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Georgia DNR. For protected species, the threatened status is only one notch above being endangered. However, after about 35 years of conservation efforts at the
federal and state level, the DNR reports nesting numbers on the Georgia coast have been increasing dramatically over the last several years. Female loggerhead turtles crawl onto Georgia beaches between May and October, dig nest chambers using their back flippers, lay as many as 50-120 golf-ball-sized eggs and then cover them with sand before returning to the sea. The eggs incubate for about two months, with the nest temperature determining the gender of the eggs. The hatchlings emerge and crawl from the nest to the water. Only one in 100 will survive to adulthood. Loggerheads can live as long as 70 years, and grow larger than 200 pounds, feeding mainly on crabs and mollusks as well as sea jellies, salps and barnacles.
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assembled specially for this event. The team will represent the variety of programs and schools UGA has to offer with students from the Georgia Debate Union, the Demosthenian Literary Society, the Phi Kappa Literary Society, the School of Law, the Honors Program and several other student organizations. The moderator is recent UGA master’s graduate Monica Kaufman Pearson, former WSB-TV lead anchor who in 1975 became the first African-American and first woman to anchor a 6 p.m. newscast in Atlanta. She then went on to a 37-year career in broadcasting in the city. Distinguished judges for the event will include Cecil Staton, University System of Georgia vice chancellor for extended education, who earned his doctoral degree from Oxford University, and UGA President Jere W. Morehead. The Oxford Union was founded in 1823 as an arena for the free exchange of ideas among students, and it soon became the forum for political debate in Oxford. Many British prime ministers have served as past presidents of the Oxford Union, and world figures such as Robert Kennedy, Mother Teresa, Yasser Arafat, Jimmy Carter and Nelson Mandela have addressed its members. The union team will be a hand-selected group of all-stars.
Phase I project, which is currently under construction at the corner of Baxter and Lumpkin streets. The board also approved $17 million for the Center for Molecular Medicine. These funds would be matched by $8 million in nonstate funds. The center was established in 2012 to focus on translational glycoscience, vaccine development, therapeutics, regenerative medicine and animal models of human diseases. The new facility, which would be adjacent to the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center on Riverbend Road, would expand UGA’s contributions in biomedical research. “Once completed, the proposed facilities would transform business education and biomedical research at UGA, ultimately enhancing the university’s capacity to serve the state in these key areas,” Morehead said. The funds for UGA’s capital projects were part of an overall $1.99 billion request submitted by the board of regents to the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget. The Governor’s Office will consider these proposed requests when preparing the annual budget recommendations to be presented to the General Assembly in January 2015.
CHAIR from page 1 Chair in Real Estate,” said Benjamin C. Ayers, dean of the Terry College of Business and holder of the Earl Davis Chair in Taxation. “This distinguished chair will play an important role in the education of tomorrow’s business leaders and will help ensure that generations of Terry College students receive the very best education that equips them with the skills to be successful and contribute positively to their communities.” Dorsey and his two brothers attended
UGA. His father Cam D. Dorsey, a 1903 UGA alumnus, helped establish the UGA Foundation in 1937. Dorsey also attended the Darlington School, Episcopal High School and the University of Virginia. He served in World War II as a military intelligence officer. He was an active participant in Atlanta civic endeavors including serving as president of Goodwill Industries and a trustee of the Piedmont Hospital Foundation.
Engaged Scholar nominations
is accepting proposals for the 2014-15 Campus Sustainability Grants Program. Successful projects will address priorities outlined in UGA’s 2020 Strategic Plan to enhance stewardship of natural resources and advance campus sustainability. Proposals will be accepted from current UGA students, and grant recipients will be selected based on merit, positive impact, implementation feasibility and available funding. The deadline for pre-proposal submission is Oct. 14 with Nov. 11 being the deadline for a proposal. Grant recipients will be notified Dec. 10, and all project funds must be expended by June 30. For more information, email sustain@uga.edu.
Sustainability grant proposals
Bulletin Board is limited to information that may pertain to a majority of faculty and staff members.
The Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach is accepting nominations for the 2015 Engaged Scholar Award. The deadline for nomination submissions is Oct. 24. Established in 2008, the annual award recognizes a permanent, full-time tenured faculty member for contributions to advancing public service, outreach and community engagement at UGA. The awardee receives a $5,000 faculty development grant to sustain current engaged scholar-endeavors or to develop new ones. Award guidelines are located at http://t.uga.edu/Vi. For more information, contact Paul Brooks at 706-542-6167 or pjbrooks@uga.edu. The Office of Sustainability now