UGA Columns September 8, 2014 by UGA Columns

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State Botanical Garden to hold Insect-ival! Family Festival UGA GUIDE

The University of Georgia Retreat gives federal legislative staffers up close look at UGA

Vol. 42, No. 7

September 8, 2014

www.columns.uga.edu

CAMPUS NEWS

State of Public Health conference to convene Sept. 10

By Rebecca Ayer alea@uga.edu

Photos by April Reese Sorrow

From left, students LaShana Lee, Jenni Johnson and Linnea Ionno stand in front of a water garden at the historic Changdeok Palace in Seoul, South Korea. The palace was built in 1395 to serve the kings of the Joseon Dynasty.

Mutual exchange

The third annual State of Public Health Conference, hosted by the College of Public Health, will be held Sept. 10 in the UGA Hotel and Conference Center. Featuring interactive workshops and expert talks on important public health issues facing Georgia, the event brings together over 200 public health professionals, elected officials, policymakers, academicians, community-based health organizations and business leaders to inform programs and policy for improving Georgia’s public health outcomes. “This conference invites individuals who are passionate about tackling Georgia’s public health challenges to come together and collaboratively figure out how

we can leverage our assets and strengths to shape what the state of public health in Georgia could be,” said Marsha Davis, associate dean for outreach and engagement in the College of Public Health. Four keynote speakers will share their expertise on public health issues of increasing

See CONFERENCE on page 4

Franklin College of Arts and Sciences

SPIA students travel to South Korea to study Scientists grow fully functional policy management in Seoul organ from transplanted cells By April Reese Sorrow

By James E. Hataway

It is 7,120 miles across the Pacific Ocean from Athens, Georgia, to Seoul, South Korea. For the past five years, UGA students have traveled to Seoul to learn about local government in the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. The most recent group of graduate and undergraduate students made the trip this past summer. The UGA School of Public and International Affairs has a memorandum of understanding with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the University of Seoul. Each year, eight to 10 UGA students join other students from other universities for “Case Study: Policy Management in Seoul.” “This is very typical of how progressive Seoul is; they are using this arrangement as an opportunity to market the city globally to the future city and state managers,” said Rob Christensen, an associate professor of public administration in SPIA and the instructor for the 2014 case study in May. “Seoul is always interested in learning and is changing so quickly. This is just one of those touch points where it can both learn and share its own vision.” As guests of the city of Seoul, students learn about policy from the political leaders charged with running the city of 10.5 million people. In eight days, the group participated in nine briefings and went on five field-visits exploring the unique challenges of a modern city with 7,000 years of history. The case study is designed

A team of scientists that included researchers from UGA has grown a fully functional organ from scratch in a living animal for the first time. The advance could one day aid in the development of laboratory-grown replacement organs. The researchers created a thymus, a butterfly-shaped gland and vital component of the human immune system. Located beneath the breastbone in the upper chest, the thymus is responsible for producing T-lymphocytes, or T-cells, which help organize and lead the body’s fighting forces against threats like bacteria, viruses and

jhataway@uga.edu

aprilr@uga.edu

From left, students Tommy Valentine and Michele Lao, Rob Christensen, a professor of public administration, and student Ben Brunjes talk in South Korea. Christensen was the instructor for “Case Study: Policy Management in Seoul,” which was held in the Asian country.

to promote a mutual exchange between visitors and the host institution. Students deliver policy or management recommendations to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, offering fresh perspectives for government leaders. “UGA has one of the world’s best MPA programs, and that is recognized by Seoul,” Christensen said. “They want to have that relationship with us, and we are sending our best students to them. For us, it is a great way to sustain our visibility.” Groups covered topics including finance, welfare, transportation, e-government, housing policy and city planning. Field visits introduced the group to both the historic treasures, like the Changdeok Palace, and modern marvels, like the city’s new Metro 9 rail that tracks

trains in real time and zips passengers across the city in minutes. “In this day and age, we are living in a global world with everyone connected so intricately,” said LaShana Lee, a recent MPA graduate who participated in the case study. “I took this opportunity to take an informative approach to public administration. We’ve seen some amazing things Seoul is doing. While not all of them would be practically applicable to our own countries, there are a lot of approaches they have taken to solving some of their challenges that I think could greatly benefit some American cities.” “Seoul gets to hear the perceptions and insight from our best and brightest students,” Christensen said. “And, it also gives Seoul a See EXCHANGE on page 4

even cancerous cells. “We were all surprised by how well this works,” said Nancy Manley, a professor of genetics in UGA’s FrankNancy Manley lin College of Arts and Sciences and co-author of the paper describing the finding in Nature Cell Biology. “The general idea in science is that to make cells change their fate, you need to reprogram first to a stem-cell like state and then coax them to change into what you want,” said Manley, who is also

See ORGAN on page 4

Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Professor receives Brazilian award to train infectious disease researchers By Donna Huber donnah@uga.edu

UGA geneticist Jessica Kissinger recently received a Brazilian Special Visiting Professor Award from Brazil’s national science research agency, the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, as part of its “Science Without Borders” program. The award will help Kissinger and her South American colleagues expand and integrate genomic tropical disease research into a database used by scientists throughout the world. The professorship follows nearly

20 years of collaboration between Kissinger and Guilherme Oliveira, a researcher at the Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou— Jessica Kissinger F I O C R U Z . The two met during Kissinger’s postdoctoral training at FIOCRUZ, the most prominent science and technology health institution in Latin America, where they shared a deep interest in

See PROFESSOR on page 4

2 Sept. 8, 2014 columns.uga.edu

Digest Grady College guest lecturer to look at truth and lies from those in power

The Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication will host Charles Lewis, professor of journalism at American University, for a lecture on Sept. 17 at 2:30 p.m. in the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. Lewis will discuss topics from his book, 935 Lies: The Future of Truth and the Decline of America’s Moral Integrity, involving the most significant misrepresentations by those in power in the U.S., government and major corporations, as well as the role of journalists in exposing them. Lewis is a tenured professor of journalism and the executive editor of the Investigative Reporting Workshop at the American University School of Communication in Washington, D.C. Lewis is a former producer for ABC News and 60 Minutes, and founded the Center for Public Integrity, which published roughly 300 investigative reports under his 15-year leadership and won more than 30 national journalism awards. There will be a reception at 3:30 p.m. following the lecture.

Franklin College faculty member to discuss biblical origins of story of creation

Baruch Halpern, the Covenant Foundation Professor of Jewish Studies in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, will discuss the origins of the story of creation in the first chapter of Genesis. Open free to the public, the talk will be held Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. at Congregation Children of Israel, located at 115 Dudley Drive. Halpern will review evidence that suggests Genesis is the result of a dialogue among the people of the ancient Middle East. An internationally recognized scholar whose work combines ancient history, archaeology and religious studies, Halpern has authored four books, including The First Historians and David’s Secret Demons: Messiah, Murderer, Traitor, King, which used historical and archaeological evidence to examine the life of King David of Israel. Halpern also co-directed archaeological excavations of the ancient city Megiddo in Israel, edited two scholarly book series and has appeared in several documentaries on biblical history.

UGA Libraries now houses items related to national program for gifted students

The UGA Libraries is now the repository of materials relating to the U.S. Presidential Scholars, an addition that will complement collections relating to gifted education. The U.S. Presidential Scholars program was established in 1964 by President Lyndon Johnson to honor some of the nation’s most distinguished graduating high school seniors. In 1979, the program was extended to recognize students who demonstrate exceptional talent in the visual, creative and performing arts. Each year, up to 141 students are named as Presidential Scholars, one of the nation’s highest honors for high school students. The Presidential Scholars Alumni Association, which is a private organization separate from the program, was founded in 1996 to organize the alumni and make the Presidential Scholars a lifelong experience. The materials were deposited with the university archives in the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries in June on behalf of the alumni association by John Knox, an associate professor of geography at UGA and a 1983 Presidential Scholar who is vice chair of the alumni association and served as editor-in-chief of Fifty Years of U. S. Presidential Scholars: In Pursuit of Excellence, published this year. The collection includes photos and scrapbooks from Presidential Scholar alumni in addition to the memories and observations included in the anniversary publication. Additional material will be gathered through the alumni association for the collection. Presidential Scholars alumni include almost 7,000 people, the top high school scholars of the last 50 years. The group has 59 Rhodes Scholars, 43 Marshall Scholars, university presidents, Grammy winners, Pulitzer winners, a U.S. poet laureate, a governor, an ambassador and a Miss America.

Office of Government Relations

Big impact: Retreat gives legislative staffers up close look at university By Stephanie Schupska schupska@uga.edu

Julianne Schmidt is used to people smacking her research equipment around, knocking into it with their heads and dropping it on the ground. An assistant professor of kinesiology in the College of Education, she spends her days studying concussions, and her key tool in the task is a football helmet loaded with sensors. On Aug. 21, instead of explaining the technology to football players—she uses the UGA football team as her primary source of data—she stood in front of a group of federal legislative staffers, 28 individuals who potentially could influence the funding that flows into her lab. “Right now, we don’t know how concussions happen,” she told the group. “And if we don’t understand that, we can’t prevent them.” The UGA Biomechanical Lab was just one stop among many that the legislative staffers—representing 13 of Georgia’s 16 House and Senate offices—made during their day and a half on campus. They heard talks about the importance of increasing UGA’s research profile from Pamela Whitten, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, and had lunch with head football coach Mark Richt. They also learned about the future of molecular medicine at UGA from Steve Dalton, GRA Eminent Scholar of Molecular Cell Biology and enjoyed a discussion about national security with Stefanie Lindquist, dean of the School of Public and International Affairs, and Loch Johnson, Regents Professor of Public and International Affairs. The staffers ended their retreat with talks on concussion research and muscle exercise physiology by Schmidt; Ron Courson, the UGA Athletic Association director of sports medicine; Kevin McCully, a professor of exercise science; and Janet Buckworth, head of the kinesiology department. On Aug. 20, they also donned hard hats for a glimpse at the partnership that

Peter Frey

Wearing a helmet wired with accelerometers, Travis Fetchko, a research assistant, hits a helmet held by Julianne Schmidt, an assistant professor in the College of Education. The accelerometers transmitted the impact data to a computer, which displayed the results to a group of federal legislative staffers visiting the Biomechanical Lab.

has formed between the university and the Caterpillar plant located in west Athens. During the tour, Don Leo, dean of the UGA College of Engineering, and Todd Henry, Caterpillar operations manager, discussed how the university and community are working together. Approximately 20 UGA engineering students have participated in Caterpillar internships and work cooperatives, while almost 100 others have experienced educational tours and overviews of the local plant, Leo said. Alumni from the college now are employed at Caterpillar in direct engineering positions, enhancing the plant’s growing workforce—expected to employ as many as 1,400 people by 2018. In return, Henry serves as a leading member of the college’s Engineering Advisory Board. The two entities also have collaborated as benefactors for community charities. “This was an excellent opportunity to showcase a successful collaboration between two institutions that share a common goal of economic growth for Georgia,” Leo said. The university has been showcasing

Franklin College of Arts and Sciences

its strengths, priorities and research projects to legislative staffers for years. This year, the Office of Government Relations, which hosts the retreat, saw the number of attendees jump from 19 to 28. “Our goal every year is to give federal staff a firsthand account of what UGA is,” said Andrew Dill, UGA’s director of federal relations. “We’re showing them that UGA is a good steward of the federal funds we receive for research, which is critical not only for education and innovation but job creation in our state.” Jennifer Choudhry, the legislative director for Rep. Doug Collins (R-09), said it was “incredible to see firsthand how UGA maximizes every dollar of federal research funds to make cutting edge breakthroughs that have the potential to radically change the world we live in for the better. “As a land-grant university, the work of the faculty and students at UGA is truly making the state of Georgia a better place and redefining what it means to educate and empower students,” she said. See RETREAT on page 4

Public Service and Outreach

Institute for Women’s Studies to Two faculty host fall weekly speaker series members named By Terri Hatfield tlhat@uga.edu

The Institute for Women’s Studies’ Friday Speaker Series for fall semester will begin Sept. 12. Open free to the public, all talks will be held from 12:20-1:10 p.m. in Room 250 of the Miller Learning Center. Dates, topics and speakers are: • Sept. 12, “ ‘Kind of Natural, Kind of Wrong’: Young People’s Beliefs About the Morality, Legality and Normalcy of Sexual Aggression in Public Drinking Settings,” Justine Tinkler, an assistant professor of sociology. • Sept. 26, “Social Media as a CounterSpace for Campus Sexual Assault Activism,” Chris Linder, an assistant professor of counseling and human development services. • Oct. 3, “Playing Femininity: The Construction and Commodification of the Woman Gamer,” Shira Chess, an assistant professor of journalism. • Oct. 10, “The Queer Politics of A Cappella: The Flirtations,” Matthew Jones, an instructor in women’s studies. • Oct. 17, “I’m So Digitally Alone: Internet, Touch and Proximity,” Marni Shindelman, a lecturer in the Lamar Dodd School of Art.

• Oct. 24, “Critical Reflections on Teaching in Women’s Studies at the University of Georgia,” Nichole Ray, a lecturer in women’s studies. • Nov. 7, “Y’all Wear Dresses to Football Games? The Performance of Femininity on Game Day in the SEC,” Mardi Schmeichel, an assistant professor of education theory and practice, along with Stacey Kerr, a doctoral candidate and graduate teaching assistant in educational theory and practice, and Chris Linder. • Nov. 14, “Recasting FrancoCaribbean Women’s Plays on the New York Stage: Transnational Performances of Race and Gender,” Emily Sahakian, an assistant professor of theatre and film studies and English. The Friday Speaker Series is in its 27th year of presentations by faculty, graduate students and community members who showcase their current research on gender and women’s studies. A unit of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, the Institute for Women’s Studies brings together multidisciplinary perspectives on women and gender from across all schools and colleges at UGA. More information on the institute is at http://iws.uga.edu.

fall PSO Fellows By Maegan Snyder mrudd@uga.edu

Two UGA faculty members have been named Public Service and Outreach Fellows for the 2014 fall semester. Theodore Kopcha, an assistant professor of learning, design and technology in the College of Education, is working with the Archway Partnership to help integrate more technology in K-12 settings around the state. He will use his fellowship to build relationships with education professionals in various Archway communities and help them design and implement technology-integration plans for the classroom, as well as train them on new technologies. Rosanna Rivero, an assistant professor in the College of Environment and Design, is collaborating with Georgia Sea Grant, UGA Marine Extension and the Carl Vinson Institute of Government as they address issues and hazards in Georgia’s coastal communities. She will use her fellowship to serve as an environmental planner, developing guidelines for local government to implement performance measures for community resilience and planning for natural hazards such as sea level rise.

For a complete listing of events I 7 8 5 at the University of Georgia, check the Master Calendar on the Web (calendar.uga.edu/). The following events are open to the public, unless otherwise specified. Dates, times and locations may change without advance notice.

GUIDE UGA

Sara Freeland

Botanical Garden to hold Insect-ival! Family Festival By Kimberly Parks kimparks@uga.edu

The State Botanical Garden will host the 22nd annual Insect-ival! Family Festival Sept. 13 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Visitor Center and Conservatory. The event will feature educational games, discovery stations, roach races, an active beehive and an insect tasting. The popular butterfly release will take place at 11 a.m. on the lawn of the International Garden. Garden volunteer Ann Blum has compiled 18 educational puppet shows that she has written for the annual festival. A signed copy of her book of puppet shows with supplemental information about each topic will be available for purchase. Tickets are $5 per person or a maximum of $20 per family. Children younger than 2 will be admitted free. Preregistration is not required. For more information, see botgarden.uga. edu or call 706-542-6156. Insect-ival! is sponsored by EarthShare of Georgia, the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, the UGA Lund Club, the UGA entomology department and the Georgia Museum of Natural History.

EXHIBITIONS Bernd Oppl: Inhabited Interiors. Through Sept. 16. Alonzo and Vallye Dudley Gallery, Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu. Archway Partnership/CED Summer Internship Exhibit. Through Sept. 26.

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Introducing Hubert Bond Owens: Pioneer of American Landscape Education. Through Oct. 1. Jackson Street Building.

Ecology/ICON Conservation Seminar “Honey Bee Declines in Perspective,” Keith Delaplane, entomology. 1:25 p.m. Ecology Building auditorium. 706-542-7247, bethgav@uga.edu.

Lecture “‘Kind of Natural, Kind of Wrong:’ Young People’s Beliefs About the Morality, Legality and Normalcy of Sexual Aggression in Public Drinking Settings,” Justine Tinkler, sociology. 12:20 p.m. 250 Miller Learning Center. 706-542-2846, tlhat@uga.edu. (See story, page 2).

Shapes That Talk to Me. Through Oct. 19. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu. XL. Sept. 13 through Nov. 16. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu. An Archaeologist’s Eye: The Parthenon Drawings of Katherine A. Schwab. Sept. 13 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. Terra Verte. Through May 31. Jane and Harry Willson Sculpture Garden, Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 Workshop “Encouraging Collaboration with Blogs.” 2 p.m. 372 Miller Learning Center. 706-583-0067, tchagood@uga.edu. Adult and Pediatric CPR/AED/First Aid Course Upon successful completion of the course, participants will receive American Red Cross certifications in adult and pediatric CPR/AED and first aid, valid for two years. $65. 5 p.m. 213 Ramsey Student Center. srking@uga.edu.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 Ecology Seminar “Sex, Stochasticity and the Spread of Biological Invasions,” Tom Miller, Rice University. Hosted by John Drake. 4 p.m. Ecology Building auditorium. 706-542-7247, bethgav@uga.edu. Visiting Artist/Scholar Lecture Ry Rocklen is a contemporary artist based in Los Angeles who primarily works in sculpture. 5:30 p.m. S151 Lamar Dodd School of Art. 706-542-0116.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 Conference State of Public Health Conference. Though geared toward public health professionals, the event is open to the public. $25. 9 a.m. Georgia Center.

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/.

Guest Lecture “The Role of the Student Affairs Professional: Reflections by a College President,” Walter M. Kimbrough, UGA alumnus and president of Dillard University. 3 p.m. 171 Miller Learning Center. 706-542-8229, kyletsch@uga.edu.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11 Preparedness month Resource Fair Representatives will be on hand from the UGA Police Department, the Environmental Safety Division, the College of Public Health, National EMS, the UGA Community Emergency Response Team, the College of Pharmacy. 10 a.m. Tate Student Center plaza. 706-542-5845, shembree@uga.edu. lecture “Learning to Play: Building an Immersive Classroom with Video Games,” Jeffrey Berejikan, Meigs Professor of International Affairs. 1 p.m. Reading Room, Miller Learning Center. 706-583-0067, tchagood@uga.edu. Lecture Gina Young, who responded to the 9/11 attacks in New York City, will discuss her role as an FBI agent as well as give a personal account of responding to the attack while not knowing about the welfare of her husband, who was also an FBI agent responding to the attack. 3 p.m. Chapel. 706-542-5845, shembree@uga.edu. 2nd Thursday Concert A performance by the UGA Symphony Orchestra and Mark Cedel, director of orchestral activities. $18; $5 with a UGA student ID. 7:30 p.m. Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall. 706-542-4752, musicpr@uga.edu.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 Men’s Tennis Southern Intercollegiate Championships. Through Sept. 15. Dan Magill Tennis Complex. 706-542-1621. Brown bag lunch “Building University and School District Partnerships.” Faculty from across UGA are invited to bring a brown bag lunch and learn more about the UGA College of Education and Clarke County School District’s Professional Development School District Partnership. Noon.

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G-23 Aderhold Hall. ericag@uga.edu.

Artful Conversation An in-depth discussion of selected works in the exhibition XL. 2 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu.

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706-542-4369. (See story, page 1).

The Prints of Mary Wallace Kirk. Through Oct. 12. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu.

SEPTEMBER

Jackson Street Building.

Works by Ginny McLaren. Through Oct. 5. State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6156, ckeber@uga.edu.

The 22nd Insect-ival! Family Festival will take place Sept. 13 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the State Botanical Garden.

columns.uga.edu Sept. 8, 2014

reading Hilton Als, staff writer and drama critic at The New Yorker, will read from his work. 6 p.m. M. Smith Griffith Auditorium, Georgia Museum of Art. Volleyball vs. UNC Asheville. Part of the Benson Hospitality Invitational. 7 p.m. Ramsey Student Center. 706-542-1621. Soccer vs. Mercer. 7 p.m. Turner Soccer Complex. 706-542-1621.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 22nd Annual Insect-ival! $5; $20 per family. 9:30 a.m. State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6156, ckeber@uga.edu. (See story, left). Volleyball vs. Harvard. Part of the Benson Hospitality Invitational. 1 p.m. Ramsey Student Center. 706-542-1621.

Volleyball vs. North Carolina State. Part of the Benson Hospitality Invitational. 7 p.m. Ramsey Student Center. 706-542-1621.

Coming Up Workshop Sept. 16. “Reacting to the Past: Flipping Your Course to Inspire Engaged Student Learning.” 2 p.m. Instructional Plaza. 706-583-0067, tchagood@uga.edu. HUgh Hodgson Faculty Series Recital Sept. 16. Viola professor Maggie Snyder will perform with faculty accompanists Anatoly Sheludyakov and Damon Denton. $10; $5 with a UGA student ID. Ramsey Concert Hall. (See story, below). Guest Lecture Sept. 17. Charles Lewis will discuss topics from his book 935 Lies: The Future of Truth and the Decline of America’s Moral Integrity, which involves the most significant misrepresentations by those in power in the U.S., government and major corporations as well as the role of journalists in exposing them. A reception will follow the lecture. 2:30 p.m. Special collections libraries. 706-201-5373, freemans@uga.edu. (See Digest, page 2). Football Sept. 20. vs. Troy. To be televised on the SEC Network. Noon. Sanford Stadium.

Violist Maggie Snyder to open Hodgson Faculty Series By Joshua Cutchin jcutchin@uga.edu

Viola professor Maggie Snyder will present the opening recital of the 2014-2015 Hugh Hodgson Faculty Series Sept. 16 at 8 p.m. in Ramsey Concert Hall. Tickets to the performance, which also features faculty accompanists Anatoly Sheludyakov and Damon Denton, are $10, $5 for UGA students with ID. “It’s a varied program with a wide emotional range,” said Snyder, who has been on faculty at the Hodgson School of Music since 2010. “The deepest piece is probably Dmitri Shostakovich’s Sonata for Viola and Piano. When he wrote it, he knew he was dying and that it would very likely be the last piece he composed.” The sonata was Shostakovich’s final composition, completed just weeks prior to his death in 1975. It directly borrows melodic material from works throughout his life, a hallmark of Shostakovich’s style, as well as the works of fellow

composers, such as Ludwig van Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. In addition to the Shostakovich sonata, Snyder’s performance also will include Franz Schubert’s “Arpeggione” sonata, J.S. Bach’s Sonata for Viola de Gamba No. 1 in G major and Georges Enescu’s Concertpiece for Viola and Piano. “In my opinion, Enescu’s work is among the most underappreciated and beautiful in the viola repertoire,” Snyder said. “It has a great French Impressionistic character that really appeals to audiences and draws them in.” Snyder has performed in a variety of domestic and international venues, including the Kennedy Center, the Seoul Arts Center and concert halls in Russia, Mexico and Greece. In May 2009 she made her Carnegie Hall debut in Weill Recital Hall with her sister duo, Allemagnetti. Snyder also serves as principal viola of the Chamber Orchestra of New York and artist-faculty member of North Carolina’s Brevard Music Festival.

To submit a listing for the master calendar and columns: Post the information about the event to the Master Calendar website (calendar.uga.edu/) first. Listings for Columns are gathered from the Master Calendar 12 days before the publication date. Events not posted by then may not be printed. 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.

Next Columns copy deadlines: Sept. 10 (for Sept. 22 issue), Sept. 17 (for Sept. 29 issue), Sept. 24 (for Oct. 6 issue).

4 Sept. 8, 2014 columns.uga.edu EXCHANGE from page 1 chance to showcase what they have and it helps them with global competitiveness.” UGA students offered recommendations on cosmetic tourism, the fiscal health of the elderly, big business families “Chaebol” and their influence over politics, the Seoul Metro line, air pollution, urban planning for the super aged, suicide prevention, alcohol policy, gender equality and e-government. Tommy Valentine, a second-year MPA student, wrote a policy review on transportation. “The Seoul case study gave me a chance to expand my professional and academic understanding, but also to learn practical applications that could be applied in Athens-Clarke County,” Valentine said. “Seeing what (Seoul Transport Operations and Information Service) is doing with transportation, Seoul’s aggressive park program, and really just seeing government at this scale, has been beneficial to me.” “Many of our alumni interested in local government stay in Georgia, and I think it is important for our students to have exposure to other areas to have a different perceptive on policy,” said Christensen, who teaches courses in intergovernmental relations.

ORGAN from page 1

director of UGA’s Developmental Biology Alliance. “But we jumpstarted the process just by expressing a single gene that was sufficient to initiate the entire process and orchestrate organ development.” Researchers took cells called fibroblasts from a mouse embryo and reprogrammed them directly into a completely unrelated type of cell by increasing levels of a protein called FOXN1, which guides development of the thymus in the embryo. When mixed with other thymus cell types and grafted onto the kidneys of genetically identical mice, these cells formed a gland with the same structure, complexity and function as a regular, healthy thymus in only four weeks. The lab-grown thymus also was capable of producing T-cells on its own. The research team, led by scientists from the University of Edinburgh, hopes that further refinement of their lab-made cells could form the basis of a thymus transplant for people with weakened immune systems. “The ability to grow replacement organs from cells in the lab is one of the holy grails in regenerative medicine,” said Clare

Sam Aguilar is a second-year MPA student studying local government. He hopes one day to serve as a city manager in Georgia. “I really wanted to get a sense of what public administration and policy are like in other countries, and I know Seoul is a very advanced country both technologically and in their government,” Aguilar said. “I wanted this opportunity to see what they are doing, and then apply that to what I’m going to be doing in the future.” Ben Brunjes is entering his third year as a doctoral student in public administration. For him, it was the comparative value that brought him to Seoul. “This is an amazing opportunity to explore another culture and learn about public administration in a new way,” he said. “Comparatively, you can look at what is happening in the U.S. and in Georgia and what is happening in Seoul and South Korea. But also, it is just an incredible experience to see what is done in this country and to see how people take similar ideas and implement them in very different ways.” For more information about the program, contact MPA director and graduate coordinator Deborah Carroll at dcarroll@uga.edu.

Blackburn, a professor of tissue stem cell biology at the University of Edinburgh and principal investigator for the project. “But the size and complexity of lab-grown organs has so far been limited. “By directly reprogramming cells, we’ve managed to produce an artificial cell type that, when transplanted, can form a fully organized and functional organ,” she also said. “This is an important first step toward the goal of generating a clinically useful artificial thymus in the lab.” Thymus disorders sometimes can be treated with infusions of extra immune cells, or transplantation of a thymus organ soon after birth, but both are limited by a lack of donors and problems matching tissue to the recipient. While several studies have shown it is possible to produce collections of distinct cell types in a dish, such as heart or liver cells, scientists haven’t yet been able to grow a fully intact organ from cells created outside the body. “There is still a long way to go before this could enter clinical trials or become a treatment, but it is extraordinarily exciting,” Manley said.

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importance to Georgia and the nation. • Steven Woolf, director of the Center for Health and Society at Virginia Commonwealth University, will explore health disparities in the U.S. and social factors that affect health. • Jean O’Connor, director of the Chronic Disease Prevention Section in the Georgia Department of Public Health, will share current state efforts to reduce some of Georgia’s leading causes of death and disability. • Corinne Graffunder, acting associate director of policy for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will discuss the role of the Affordable Care Act in implementing national prevention strategies. • Randy Wykoff, dean of the East Tennessee State University College of Public Health, will share lessons from Tennessee’s efforts to connect health and economic development efforts in Appalachia. Workshops and poster presentations will tackle a variety of key public health issues. Session topics will include Medicaid expansion, quality improvement, childhood obesity, HIV and community health promotion tool improvement. Workshops also will cover building collaborations and partnerships and integrating public health and primary care. “The topics we address this year have been selected from abstracts submitted by public health faculty and students, policymakers and practitioners from across the state, so they reflect current and pressing issues in Georgia,” Davis said. “Our goal is to continue to grow the State of Public Health Conference as a forum for nurturing statewide, multi-sector efforts to transform the health of our communities.” The college, in partnership with the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, will unveil a new leadership training program at the conference. Beginning in March 2015, the UGA Public Health Leadership Academy will identify, train and inspire a network of public health leaders to transcend boundaries, work collaboratively and foster a culture of health in their communities. Individuals across multiple sectors in their community, in traditional health and health-care related areas as well as others engaged in a range of community efforts will be chosen for the academy. “This collaborative opportunity will be a unique approach to leadership development as we bring together a cross-section of individuals who are committed to addressing community public health issues,” said Matt Bishop, director of the Fanning Institute, a public service and outreach unit. Registration for the event is $25. For more information or to register online, visit http://t.uga.edu/Qi.

technology, bioinformatics and data mining. “It’s nice to see how a friendship and fondness for computers and genomics evolved into a career-long collaboration and commitment to training the next generation of infectious disease researchers in the newest technologies,” said Kissinger, who is also a member of UGA’s Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases and director of the Institute of Bioinformatics. In the past 10 years, Kissinger and Oliveira have provided extended training to 24 Brazilian pre- and post-doctoral scholars and short courses to more than 500 students through a National Institutes of Health training grant. One of the most significant outcomes of this partnership was the creation of SchistoDB, a rich resource of genomic data for blood flukes in the genus Schistosoma, which cause disease in millions of people worldwide. As part of her new professorship, Kissinger will provide training and expertise to Brazilian researchers to expand SchistoDB to include data from all flatworms and fully incorporate these organisms into the NIH-funded Bioinformatics Resource Center for Eukaryotic Pathogens at EuPathDB.org. This incorporation will allow the global scientific community to freely access genomes and new data about organisms that cause myriad diseases. The partnership also will add new data to existing EuPathDB.org databases for diseases like leishmaniasis, Chagas’ disease and malaria. “The inclusion of flatworm parasites into the EuPathDB family of databases will provide a new suite of tools to a community of parasite researchers that is not adequately served by model organism databases because of extreme evolutionary divergence,” Kissinger said. Kissinger will spend up to two months each year in residence to provide in-depth training and to strengthen the collaboration. The award also will sponsor a Brazilian postdoctoral researcher and three graduate students. Each graduate student will spend a year at UGA, where they will receive training from team members in Kissinger’s research group. Kissinger’s professorship adds to the growing number of UGA-Brazilian collaborations, including UGA’s Portuguese Flagship Program, which provides UGA students with an immersion into the culture and language. “I’m excited to contribute to the growing interest in Brazil and UGA’s Portuguese Flagship Program,” Kissinger said. “Being fluent in Portuguese myself, I’m thrilled that others at UGA will be exposed to the beauty of this language and culture.”

Staffers like Choudhry meet with 30-plus people every day as they serve their legislator’s congressional district. For Dill, who works daily with UGA faculty members who have traveled to Washington, D.C., hosting congressional staff in Athens makes his job easier. “Having the opportunity to showcase UGA’s priorities changes the dynamic of a relationship,” he said, “which I think is important for the university. To have a visual to show the staffers and to be able to take them to see something, the impact of that is resounding.” Congressional staff spend most of their days hearing about the new and innovative. But even they can be surprised. “I hadn’t realized that UGA has been so much at the forefront of research on concussions,” said Jay Sulzmann, legislative director for Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga). “I was also impressed to hear about the average GPA for the incoming freshman class,” which this year averages 3.9 on a 4.0 scale. “One thing that wasn’t new to me but that I thought was very helpful was having the whole group hear about the advancements in pluripotent stem cell research,” he said in reference to Dalton’s research, “that have enabled this research to be carried out without the ethical or sanctity of life concerns that were widely debated several years ago. It’s a great story that hasn’t gotten nearly enough attention in the press.”

Bulletin Board Sales tax exemption certificates

UGA sales tax exemption certificates are now available at http://t.uga.edu/Te. Departments no longer need to request a certificate from salestax@uga.edu or from Procurement. This change provides immediate access to a document commonly needed for purchases. The sales tax exemption certificate is only applicable for goods delivered to or provided in the state of Georgia. Questions about providing a sales tax exemption certificate to an external party can be emailed to procure@uga.edu.

Learning assessment course

The Office of Academic Planning is offering a new course open to any UGA faculty member interested in learning how to better assess learning outcomes at the program and course level. In seven sessions, participants will have hands-on practice developing tools for assessment and will build a network of support with colleagues from other disciplines. Department heads and faculty in charge of program assessment are strongly encouraged to enroll. The course will meet in Room 137 of

the Tate Student Center from 2-3:15 p.m. on Sept. 16, Oct. 21, Nov. 18, Jan. 20, Feb. 17, March 17 and April 21. The course will be taught by Leslie Gordon, associate director for assessment. Questions about the course can be directed to Gordon at gordonls@uga.edu. Interested faculty can register at http://t.uga.edu/Tf until Sept. 15. Enrollment is limited to 30 participants. Bulletin Board is limited to information that may pertain to a majority of faculty and staff members.

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