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UGA students, faculty attend 50th anniversary of civil rights milestone INSTRUCTIONAL NEWS
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The University of Georgia Kodo to make Athens debut March 29 at Performing Arts Center
Vol. 42, No. 30
March 23, 2015
www.columns.uga.edu
UGA GUIDE
4&5
Finalists for dean of Graduate School to give presentations By Sam Fahmy
Andrew Davis Tucker
Hiral Patel, a fourth-year microbiology major, measures the petals of sunflowers while working on research under Lisa Donovan, a professor of plant biology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.
Student showcase
sfahmy@uga.edu
The finalists and the dates of their presentations are:
Four finalists for the position of dean of the UGA Graduate School will visit campus to meet with members of the university community. A committee chaired by Craig H. Kennedy, dean of the College of Education, conducted a national search to identify the finalists. The committee was assisted by the UGA Search Group in Human Resources. Each finalist will make a public presentation from 9:30-10:30 a.m. in the Tate Student Center Reception Hall (Room 135). The CVs of the finalists, along with their full campus visit itineraries and candidate feedback forms, are available online at http://t.uga.edu/1lC.
• Suzanne Barbour, program director in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences of the National Science Foundation, March 23. • Juli Wade, professor and chair of the psychology department at Michigan State University, March 25. • William Graves, professor of horticulture and associate dean of the Graduate College at Iowa State University, March 30. • Carolyn Drews-Botsch, professor and vice chair of academic affairs in the epidemiology department at Emory University, April 7.
Record-setting CURO Symposium to highlight ACADEMIC AFFAIRS Pulitzer Prize-winning scholar undergraduate research at UGA By Camie Williams a record-setting 388 students. undergraduates in 2010. In fall “We are very pleased by the 2014, the CURO Research to deliver Charter Lecture camiew@uga.edu Nearly 400 UGA students will present original research projects in fields ranging from history to engineering and health at the upcoming Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities Symposium. The event, which includes oral presentations and poster sessions, is scheduled for March 30-31 at the Classic Center in Athens. It is open free to the public. The annual CURO Symposium was created in 1999 to highlight undergraduate student research achievements in all disciplines. Participation in the program has increased by 50 percent in the past year to
remarkable growth we are seeing in student—and faculty—participation in CURO in recent years, which has been made possible by the strong support of campus leaders, especially the central administration,” said David S. Williams, associate provost and director of the Honors Program. “It is increasingly important to provide students meaningful opportunities to extend their learning beyond the traditional classroom setting, and it is exciting that CURO is one of the programs that helps UGA to be a national leader in this regard.” CURO is administered by the Honors Program but expanded to become available to all
Assistantship, which provides $1,000 stipends to 250 undergraduates, was launched as part of a series of academic enhancements announced by President Jere W. Morehead and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Pamela Whitten. CURO has offered $3,000 summer fellowship grants for nearly a decade. Projects range from laboratory work to humanities research. Some examples include: • A study on “Internalized racism, linguistic discrimination and the policing of ethnic identity on Twitter” by fourth-year linguistics student Minh Nguyen.
See CURO on page 8
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
By Camie Williams camiew@uga.edu
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and legal scholar Edward Larson will return to UGA to deliver a Charter Lecture titled “George Washington and America’s Second Revolution.” The lecture, open free to the public, will be held April 23 at 11 a.m. in the Chapel. Larson is University Professor of History and Darling Chair in Law at Pepperdine University. Focusing on the issues of law, science and politics from a historical perspective, he is the author of more than 100 articles and nine books, including the Pulitzer Prizewinning Summer for the Gods: The
Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion. His latest book, The Return of George Wa s h i n g t o n : 1783-1789, Edward Larson has reached the New York Times best-sellers list. Larson taught at UGA for two decades, serving as chair of the history department as well as the Richard B. Russell Professor of American History and holder of the Herman E. Talmadge Chair of Law. In 1992, he received the Richard B. Russell Award for Undergraduate See CHARTER on page 8
School of Music violinist named Regents Professor SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK By Camie Williams camiew@uga.edu
Levon Ambartsumian, Franklin Professor of Violin in UGA’s Hugh Hodgson School of Music, has been named a Regents Professor, effective July 1. Regents Professorships are bestowed by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia on faculty members whose scholarship or creative activity is recognized nationally and internationally as innovative and pacesetting.The professorship includes a $10,000 salary increase and is granted for an initial period of three years, which may be renewed. An acclaimed violinist who
has performed and taught classes on four continents, Ambartsumian has elevated UGA’s music program in his two decades on campus. He Levon is the founder Ambartsumian and conductor of the renowned ARCO Chamber Orchestra as well as a featured soloist who has toured the globe and recorded 40 music albums. “Dr. Ambartsumian provides his students, many of whom have gone on to prominent positions in orchestras around the world, with
unparalleled instruction and mentorship while displaying a virtuosity that places him among the ranks of the world’s finest violinists,” said Pamela Whitten, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “His contributions to the performing arts—not just at the University of Georgia but internationally—are nothing short of extraordinary.” Ambartsumian joined UGA’s faculty in 1995, two years removed from a 25-year career at the Moscow Conservatory, an internationally renowned training ground for violinists, where he earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. Ambartsumian, who also was appointed to the Central Music School while
See PROFESSOR on page 8
Civil rights historian to give Hollowell Lecture April 2 By Laurie Anderson laurie@uga.edu
Civil rights historian Tomiko Brown-Nagin will deliver UGA’s fourth annual Donald L. Hollowell Lecture April 2 at 7 p.m. at the historic Morton Theatre in downtown Athens. Brown-Nagin, the Daniel P. S. Paul Professor of Constitutional Law and a professor of history at Harvard University, will give a talk titled “ ‘The Civil Rights Queen’: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Racial and Gender Equality
in America.” The lecture is open free to the public. “We are honored and delighted to have Tomiko Brown-Nagin speak at this Tomiko year’s lecture,” Brown-Nagin said R. Baxter Miller, a professor of English and African American Studies in the Franklin College of Arts
See HOLLOWELL on page 8
2 March 23, 2015 columns.uga.edu
HUMAN RESOURCES
Around academe
Barbara Walters donates $15 million to New York’s Sarah Lawrence College
One of Sarah Lawrence College’s most prominent alumnae, TV journalist Barbara Walters made a gift of $15 million to the college in Yonkers, New York. The gift will be used to establish the Barbara Walters Campus Center. This gift represents the largest single donation that the 89-year-old private liberal arts college has received. The Walters Center will serve as a multiuse building that will be a venue for student life and campus community, with social and academic spaces as well as dining facilities. The building also will house the papers and video archives of the iconic journalist.
$50M in grants will be awarded to 18 Michigan community colleges
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announced that $50 million in grants will be awarded to 18 community colleges across the state. The awarded grants will come from the Community College Skilled Trades Equipment Program, which is an effort to help meet a demand for good-paying jobs. The grant program was created to provide funding that enables Michigan’s community colleges to purchase equipment needed for education programs that have high-wage, high-skill and high-demand occupations such as welding, health care and robotics.
Create a gardening plan now
News to Use
To reap a hearty harvest, Bob Westerfield, UGA Extension consumer horticulturist, suggests creating a garden plan before putting hoe to soil. “You need to know where everything is planted, how much you planted, the varieties you planted, the dates you planted them and when you fertilized,” he said. “All of this information will help you solve problems, and avoid them, down the road.” Select vegetables to consume, and plant only enough to fill predetermined needs. Westerfield also recommends planting in an east-west direction. Keeping accurate records also helps gardeners rotate crops. Tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant and peppers are in the same plant “family,” he said. Avoid planting any of these in the same location of each other for up to three seasons. Plant another “family” of vegetables in that spot. To extend the garden’s harvest, stagger planting, too. For example, plant a few new squash plants every two or three weeks. This method also helps with pest control. Also, don’t use too many plants and overcrowd the garden. Plants need space for ventilation and to keep the chance of disease down. Taller crops like okra, corn and sunflowers grow tall and will shade other crops. Keep this in mind when designing plant rows early in the season. Vegetables also mature at different times and rates. Keep notes on the varieties planted, taste and whether plant performed to expectations. Next winter, consult these notes before ordering seeds for the next garden. Source: UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
UGA ranked No. 10 on Kiplinger’s Personal Finance list of 100 best values among public colleges and universities for 2015.
TOP
UNC at Chapel Hill Virginia Florida California, Berkeley UCLA Michigan College of William and Mary Wisconsin-Madison Maryland, College Park UGA
Source: Kiplinger’s Personal Finance
By Matt Chambers mattdc@uga.edu
Two sessions on upcoming changes to retiree health insurance from the University System of Georgia, which includes UGA, will be held on campus April 3. The first of two identical informational sessions will be from 10 a.m. to noon with the second following from 2-4 p.m. Both events, which are open to USG retirees and active employees, will be held in Masters Hall of the Georgia Center for Continuing Education. USG representatives will discuss the plan that will provide supplemental health care coverage for Medicare-eligible retirees through a private retiree health care exchange instead of through the USG health care plan. The change, which was approved by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia in 2013, goes into effect Jan. 1, 2016. “Anyone who is retiring soon, anyone who is retired and Medicare-eligible or active USG employees who want to hear more about the change should plan to
attend one of the sessions,” said Travis Jackson, UGA’s interim senior director of employee benefits. USG is holding informational sessions at each of its colleges and universities next month, Jackson said. According to information sent to retirees by the USG office, the change to a private health care exchange for retirees “will allow USG to continue to provide a viable, sustainable retiree benefit for our current and future retirees.” The information also said that a private exchange “presents an opportunity to provide a similar health care benefit to retirees yet in a more efficient, cost-saving way while also providing a broad range of options and choices for retirees.” Moving to a private exchange with millions of other retirees will save USG money by spreading the cost of claims as well as the risks. There will be advantages for retirees as well, according to the USG information. A private exchange will provide a larger range of plan options, both in design and selection of health insurers,
INFORMATION SESSIONS
Topic: Retiree health insurance changes Where: Georgia Center Masters Hall When: April 3 Session 1: 10 a.m. to noon Session 2: 2-4 p.m.
including the insurers offered today to the Medicare-eligible population: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia and Kaiser. Retirees will be able to work with expert benefit advisers and access decision tools to help them select and enroll in coverage. There also will be advocacy services to assist after enrollment. The USG information sent to retirees said the system expects “retirees will continue to receive a similar level of health care coverage that they have been previously provided.” Jackson said the USG will continue to communicate and update UGA on the plan, and his area in Human Resources will pass along any communications when they are received.
UGA LIBRARIES
‘Georgia Review’ sets special rate for UGA community By Stephen Corey scorey@uga.edu
The Georgia Review is marking its 69th year of continuous publication with a special one-year subscription rate for all members of the UGA community. The new rate—$30 rather than the regular $40—goes into effect March 23 with the release of the spring 2015 issue of the quarterly journal. In addition to frolicking comic art, the spring issue contains a poem by the winner of The Georgia Review’s second annual Loraine Williams Prize, Scott Russell Sanders’ distinctly nonfrolicking essay “Writing While the World Burns.” The issue also includes new work by Georgia poet laureate Judson Mitcham. The poem “Of Yalta” by the previously unpublished Erin Adair-Hodges was selected by The Georgia Review editors from among the many hundreds of entries for the $1,000 Loraine Williams Prize. Adair-Hodges teaches at Central Arizona Community College in Albuquerque; Williams is an Atlanta-based patron of the arts. In “Writing While the World
Burns,” Sanders, an essayist and environmental watchdog, conjures first the environmental state of Earth in the year 2100 based on current scientific predictions, and then a young woman from that future, “Rachel,” who has inherited her great-grandmother’s library from the
early 21st century. What, Sanders asks, does Rachel find and not find in those books that might help her understand what writers did and didn’t do to help prevent the terrible pass to which her world has come? Mitcham, a UGA alumnus who first appeared in The Georgia Review in 1983, has published several books with the University of Georgia Press and was inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame in 2013. His writing often focuses on family, and in this issue’s “Alto” he makes music and a metaphor from the coincidence of his mother’s dying in the same hour as the great operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti. Artist Bianca Stone’s “Angelic Texting” graces the cover of the spring issue with colorful, whimsical, literally floating young women, and her 12-page sequence “We Dust the Walls: A Poetry Comic” is a sui generis interior art portfolio. For more information about The Georgia Review, stop by the literary journal’s office on the seventh floor of UGA’s main library, call 706-542-3481 or visit www.thegeorgiareview.com.
INSTITUTE OF HIGHER EDUCATION
Great Value
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Info sessions on upcoming changes to retiree health insurance to be held
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Janet Beckley
50th anniversary conference to celebrate successes By Margaret Blanchard mblanch@uga.edu
The UGA Institute of Higher Education will hold a 50th anniversary conference March 30 at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education. The conference will bring together alumni, faculty, students, staff and friends to celebrate the past successes of the institute and chart a path for the future. “We are excited to celebrate this special anniversary of sustaining excellence within the field of higher education,” said Libby Morris, director of the institute. “We’re proud of the institute’s legacy and reputation in research, instruction and public service. The conference is a great way for us to connect with our alumni, friends and supporters.” Keynote speakers include Houston Davis, executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer for the University System of Georgia, and Richard Rhoda,
executive director emeritus of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. Additional sessions will explore student access, higher education at the national and global levels and how the higher education institution is evolving. Events, times, topics and speakers include: • 9:15-10:30 a.m., opening session and keynote, “Higher Education at the State Level: Overview of Initiatives and New Directions,” Davis. • 10:45-11:45 a.m., “Emerging Approaches to Improving Student Access, Success and Attainment,” moderated by Erik Ness, associate professor, IHE. • Noon to 1:15 p.m.,“IHE at 50!” Morris and Parker Young, a professor emeritus of higher education. • 1:30-2:30 p.m., keynote, “Higher Education at the National Level: Changes, Challenges and Responses,” Rhoda. • 2:45-3:45 p.m., “The Rapidly Evolving Higher-Education Institution,”
moderated by Jim Hearn, associate director, IHE. • 4-5 p.m.,“Global Universities: Knowledge, Power and People in International Context,” moderated by Sheila Slaughter, McBee Professor of Higher Education. The 50th anniversary events are supported in part by the Office of the President, the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost and through the support of alumni and friends. Preconference events will be held March 29.There will be a panel on “Wish I Knew Then What I Know Now” from 2-4 p.m. at the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development. An opening reception will be held at 5 p.m. at the IHE in Meigs Hall. An open house is scheduled in Meigs Hall March 31 from 9-11:30 a.m. Open to the public, the anniversary costs $50 to attend. To register, see ihe.uga.edu/anniversary.
RESEARCH NEWS
columns.uga.edu March 23, 2015
3
Digest Award-winning author to take part in March 26 reading, discussion
Andrew Davis Tucker
Rebecca Terns, a senior research scientist in biochemistry and molecular biology, left, Yunzhou Wei, a postdoctoral research associate in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences biochemistry and molecular biology department, center, and Michael Terns, Distinguished Research Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, authored a study that identified a key link in how bacteria respond and adapt to foreign invaders.
Search and destroy
Researchers identify key link between virus recognition, destruction in bacterial immune system By Alan Flurry
aflurry@uga.edu
An immune system that helps bacteria combat viruses is yielding unlikely results, such as the ability to edit genome sequences and potentially correct mutations that cause human disease. UGA researchers Michael and Rebecca Terns were among the first to begin to study the bacterial immune system. They now have identified a key link in how bacteria respond and adapt to foreign invaders. The new study, authored by the Terns and Yunzhou Wei, a postdoctoral research associate in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences biochemistry and molecular biology department, was published recently in Genes & Development. A bacterium gains immunity against a virus through a sophisticated process of acquiring a fragment of the viral DNA and incorporating the sequence into its own genome. This virus identification sequence is kept in a locus commonly known as a CRISPR, which stands for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats. CRISPR-associated proteins then use the sequence to recognize and destroy viruses. A CRISPR-associated protein
known as Cas9 destroys invading viral DNA and has been co-opted as a tool for programmable genome editing.This new tool provides a way to make gene deletions, corrections of mutations and additions of new genes in any genome. The UGA study highlights the discovery of a new role of the Cas9 protein in the initial acquisition of the invader sequence. “The recognition that this enzyme functions both in capture and in killing provides us with a link between those two processes that we think is involved in ensuring that the process is specific for the virus and avoids potential damage to its own genome,” said Rebecca Terns, a senior research scientist in biochemistry and molecular biology. “Our findings implicate Cas9 in the recognition of a secondary, invader-confirmation signal called a PAM.” In the study, the team describes the basic set of machinery that is required to obtain a specific fragment of viral sequence and insert the fragment in a specific location. “That Cas9 is involved in both processes represents a major step forward in understanding how bacteria discern which DNA to cut and how the enzyme confirms the decision,” said Michael Terns, Distinguished Research Professor
of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Though biologists have studied bacteria for nearly a century, this immune system was discovered only in the last 10 years. The field of CRISPR-CAS bacterial immunity has become the focus of intense interest in biotechnology and biomedical research. “Cas9 is a component of the immune system that can be engineered by programming it with an RNA of your choice, to go and cut a piece of DNA of your choice,” Michael Terns said. “It’s an enzyme that we can give a sequence and tell it to go cut a DNA that matches.” The breakthrough illustrates the importance of fundamental research: By investigation of a basic biological pathway—virus defense by bacteria— scientists have developed an unanticipated reagent that could cure genetic diseases in humans. “Computational biologists looking at the sequences of bacterial genomes made the observations that led them to hypothesize that this system existed. We started doing experiments to test the hypothesis and discovered this immune system,” Rebecca Terns said. “The way that this immune system captures invader sequences is amazing and unprecedented in biology.”
FRANKLIN COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES Neuroscientists explain link between stress resilience, exercise By Andrew Lowndes lowndes@uga.edu
Exercise improves the ability to persevere through hard times. In a series of recent experiments, UGA neuroscientists have begun to unravel the link between long-term stress resilience and exercise. The study, published in the journal Neuropharmacology, reveals that a neuropeptide, a molecule used by neurons to communicate with each other, is a necessary piece of the puzzle. That neuropeptide is called galanin. Researchers demonstrated, in an animal model, that galanin protects neurons from degeneration caused by stress. When rats exercised, and galanin was blocked, the rats were as anxious as if they hadn’t exercised at all. Researchers also showed that galanin reverses the negative effects of stress among sedentary rats. The anatomical evidence
suggests that galanin contributes to stress resilience by preserving the way neural connections are strengthened or weakened over time, a process called synaptic plasticity. “We were able to show that stress, just a single exposure to stress, caused a decrease in synapse formation,” said Philip Holmes, the study’s principal investigator and a professor of psychology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. The team, which included the paper’s first author, Natale Sciolino, used mild foot shocks and a plus-shaped maze to measure anxiety-like behavior in the rats. Stressed rats that exercised or received galanin were more willing to explore the maze, a sign of resilience. Stressed sedentary rats, however, did not want to explore. In one experiment, researchers gave rats that exercised a drug to prevent the action of galanin, and these rats stayed
put as often as the sedentary group. “We found this protective effect of exercise, but we could block it with the galanin antagonist, so that was really exciting because that told us that galanin was necessary for the beneficial effects of exercise,” Holmes said. Sciolino, who was finishing her doctorate at the time of the experiment, began investigating the connection between exercise and galanin after Holmes and David Weinshenker, a professor of human genetics at Emory University, received a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for addiction research in 2010. “We know that stress is the most common cause of relapse in people with drug dependence, and we were able to show that either exercise or galanin decreased relapse-like behavior in rats given cocaine, so the ability of exerciseinduced galanin to reduce stress makes sense,” Weinshenker said.
Award-winning author Susan Power will hold a reading and discussion on “Indigenous Process in Writing Novels—Writing as Ceremony” March 26 at 4:30 p.m. in the north psychologyjournalism auditorium. A reception and book signing will follow. Power, who lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota, is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and a native Chicagoan. A graduate of Harvard College, Harvard Law School and the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Power is the author of three books: The Grass Dancer, a novel; Roofwalker, a story collection; and the recently released novel Sacred Wilderness. A more informal reading will take place March 26 at 6:45 p.m. at Avid Bookshop, 493 Prince Ave.
Cancer physician, scientist to present seminar on anti-cancer agent development
Internationally recognized cancer physician and scientist Dr. Daniel Von Hoff will give a seminar on new anti-cancer agent development at the College of Pharmacy March 27 at 3 p.m. in 201 Pharmacy South auditorium. The UGA community is invited to attend the reception that will follow. His seminar, “New Anti-cancer Agent Development: The Dog Bit Off My Ear to the Thundergod Vine,” is sponsored by the UGA Cancer Center. Von Hoff is a distinguished professor and physician-in-chief at the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. Researchers from the UGA’s Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, including Michael Pierce, director of the UGA Cancer Center, Mike Tiemeyer and Lance Wells, are collaborating with Von Hoff and Caerus Therapeutics to identify cell surface glycans that can assist in early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and monitoring of this cancer during its treatment.
School of Law to host conference
The UGA School of Law’s student-edited Journal of Intellectual Property Law will host its first Music and Technology Conference March 27 beginning at 3 p.m. at the historic Morton Theatre, 195 W. Washington St. Open free to the public, the event will bring together some of the industry’s top entertainment attorneys as well as policy advocates and technologists from across the country. The event is free to attend. For attorneys seeking continuing legal education credits, two are available for a cost of $30. For more information, visit https://jiplconference.wordpress.com/ or contact Brian D. Stoltz, conference organizer and thirdyear law student, at bdstoltz@uga.edu.
UGA, community partners to hold school lunch cooking competition March 28
Local chefs will take on the School Lunch Challenge creating tasty dishes that meet U.S. Department of Agriculture requirements for the National School Lunch Program, and local residents will have a chance to sample the creations at the cooking competition March 28 from 2-4 p.m. in the cafeteria of Barrow Elementary School. The competition will be free to the public, but attendance will be capped at 150 people. Tickets are available at http://tinyurl.com/kykpbw9. The event will center on a cooking competition, which invites participating teams, drawn from local restaurants and nonprofit organizations and advised by members of the Clarke County School District nutrition staff, to create dishes in accordance with USDA guidelines for the National School Lunch Program. Student judges will vote to determine an overall winner. The winning team’s recipe will be incorporated into the CCSD school lunch menu during the 2015-2016 school year.
PERIODICALS POSTAGE STATEMENT Columns (USPS 020-024) is published weekly during the academic year and biweekly during the summer for the faculty and staff of the University of Georgia by the UGA News Service. Periodicals postage is paid in Athens, Georgia. Postmaster: Send off-campus address changes to Columns, UGA News Service, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Athens, GA 30602-1999.
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 EXHIBITIONS
925,000 Campsites: The Commodification of an American Experience. Through March 27. Jackson Street Building, 285 S. Jackson St. Keith Wilson: Desire Path. Through April 17. College of Environment and Design exhibit hall. Small Truths: Pierre Daura’s Life and Vision. Through April 19. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817, hazbrown@uga.edu. Pierre Daura (1896-1976): Picturing Attachments. Through April 19. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817, hazbrown@uga.edu.
Takashi Okamoto
Kodo to make UGA debut at Performing Arts Center By Bobby Tyler btyler@uga.edu
The UGA Performing Arts Center will present Kodo March 29 at 7 p.m. in Hodgson Concert Hall. The internationally acclaimed Japanese taiko drummers will make their Athens debut in a new show titled “One Earth Tour: Mystery.” Tickets for Kodo are $35-$45 and are discounted for UGA students. Tickets can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center box office, online at pac.uga.edu or by calling 706-542-4400. Based on Sado Island in Niigata, Japan, Kodo made its debut at the Berlin Festival in 1981. Since that time, the ensemble has given more than 5,500 performances in 46 countries under the theme “One Earth.” The group spends one-third of the year touring the world, one-third touring Japan and one-third on Sado Island. Kodo gives high-energy performances that transcend borders and genres. The ensemble evokes the age-old celebrations of the agricultural cycle, yet pairs ancient pieces with new compositions by respected Japanese composers—from jazz pianists to kabuki masters—and by Kodo members. Kodo’s vision has inspired performing arts ensembles worldwide, including the Blue Man Group, with whom Kodo recently collaborated on a piece that garnered an international Emmy nomination. Founders of Cirque du Soliel traveled to Sado to learn from Kodo, incorporating elements into their classic piece, “Mystère.” “One Earth Tour: Mystery” was created by Tamasaburo Bando, Kodo’s artistic director. The show premiered in Japan in 2013, and the 2015 North American tour marks the production’s international debut.
Chaos and Metamorphosis: The Art of Piero Lerda. Though May 10. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817, hazbrown@uga.edu. “OC” Carlisle Solo Art. Through May 11. Candler Hall. Food, Power and Politics: The Story of School Lunch. Through May 15. Russell Library Gallery, special collections libraries. Terra Verte. Through May 31. Jane and Harry Willson Sculpture Garden, Georgia Museum of Art. The Pennington Radio Collection. Through December. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, special collections libraries. 706-542-8079, jclevela@uga.edu.
MONDAY, MARCH 23 CONNECT CONFERENCE Lambda Alliance, in collaboration with community and campus support, will host the Connect Conference, which is centered on the LGBTQA community, creating solidarity and community-building in general. $25; free with a valid UGACard. 8 a.m. Grand Hall, Tate Student Center. 706-542-4077, joshuafl@uga.edu. GRADUATE SCHOOL DEAN FINALIST PRESENTATION Presentation by Suzanne Barbour, a candidate for dean of the Graduate School. Barbour is program director in the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences of the National Science Foundation. 9:30 a.m. 135 Tate Student Center. (See story, page 1). FACULTY COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FAIR Faculty can explore opportunities for research and teaching partnerships. 4 p.m. Reception Hall, Tate Student Center. 706-542-0535, swilder@uga.edu. (See Bulletin Board, page 8). FILM SCREENING Daughter from Danang. Part of the Women’s History Month Film Festival. 6:30 p.m. 214 Miller Learning Center. RECITAL Guest bassoonist Lia Southern will visit the Hugh Hodgson School of Music for a special performance. 6:30 p.m. Edge Recital Hall, Hugh Hodgson School of Music. 706-542-4752, musicpr@uga.edu.
TUESDAY, MARCH 24 PANEL DISCUSSION “Digital Disruption: The Latest Ideas Driving Change.” Part of the College of Family and Consumer Sciences Thinc. Week, this panel will bring together several digital entrepreneurs to discuss how they are using technology in their businesses. 3:30 p.m. 271 special collections libraries. 706-542-4856, sworthy@uga.edu.
Slingshot festival to bring music, art, tech, comedy By Dave Marr
davemarr@uga.edu
The third annual Slingshot festival, which brings worldclass innovators in music, electronic art, technology and comedy to more than a dozen venues throughout downtown Athens, will take place March 26-28. Supported by the UGA Jane and Harry Willson Center for Humanities and Arts, the Lamar Dodd School of Art, the Georgia Museum of Art and the Athens Music Project, a Willson Center Faculty Research Cluster, the festival will include a tech conference at the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. “Welcome to ATH 2015,” said Athens musician Michael Stipe of R.E.M., a fan of the festival. “The curve just changed again with Slingshot.” The festival’s co-founders and organizers are Eric Marty, an instructor in UGA’s Lamar Dodd School of Art, and Kai Reidl, a doctoral candidate in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music. In addition to attracting national and international talent, Slingshot organizers take pride in the festival’s ability to serve as a showcase for Athens itself. Musical highlights of the festival will include DJ sets by James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem and DJ Windows 98 (Win Butler of Arcade Fire) as well as performances by Jamie XX, Nosaj Thing and Reptar. Comedy Night headliners include Kyle Kinane, Ron Funches and Kurt Braunohler. The festival also will include a screening of Salad Days, a documentary about the Washington, D.C., punk scene. The full festival schedule and details on all events and artists is at http://www.slingshotathens.com/. Festival passes and tickets to individual events are available at http://www.slingshotathens.com/tickets/.
ECOLOGY SEMINAR “Sex Differences in Parenting,” Allen Moore, Distinguished Research Professor and head of the genetics department at UGA. Reception precedes seminar in lobby. 4 p.m. Ecology building auditorium. 706-542-7247, bethgav@uga.edu. VISITING ARTIST AND SCHOLAR LECTURE Keith Wilson, San Francisco-based visual artist and filmmaker. 5:30 p.m. S151 Lamar Dodd School of Art. BOOK CLUB MEETING March’s selection: Revolutionizing Expectations: Women’s Organizations, Feminism, and American Politics, 1965-1980 by Melissa Estes Blair. 5:30 p.m. 258 special collections libraries. 706-542-5788, jlevinso@uga.edu. BASEBALL vs. Mercer. $5-$8. 6 p.m. Foley Field. 706-542-1231. WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH KEYNOTE ADDRESS “Indigenous Feminist Narratives,” Andrea Smith, an associate professor of media and cultural studies at the University of California Riverside. 6:30 p.m. 148 Miller Learning Center. 706-542-0066, tlhat@uga.edu. CONCERT The UGA Wind Symphony and conductor Jaclyn Hartenberger will give a free concert. 6:30 p.m. Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall. 706-542-4752, musicpr@uga.edu. FILM SCREENING Stanno Tutti Bene (Everybody’s Fine). A 1991 film directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. The fourth and last film in Cinecitt 7, the seventh annual Italian movie series dedicated to Marcello Mastroianni. In Italian with English subtitles. 7 p.m. 148 Miller Learning Center. pizzuti@uga.edu. UNIVERSITY THEATRE PERFORMANCE Hot Georgia Sunday. 8 p.m. $12, $7 for students. Also to be performed March 25-29 at 8 p.m. and March 29 at
Calendar items are taken from Columns files and from the university’s Master Calendar, maintained by 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/.
2:30 p.m. Cellar Theatre, Fine Arts Building.
CONCERT Pianist Andrew Tyson will perform. $28. 8 p.m. Ramsey Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center. 706-542-4400, ugaarts@uga.edu.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 25 GRADUATE SCHOOL DEAN FINALIST PRESENTATION Presentation by Juli Wade, a candidate for dean of the Graduate School. Wade is a professor and chair of the department of psychology at Michigan State University. 9:30 a.m. 135 Tate Student Center. (See story, page 1). AWARD-WINNING FACULTY SERIES WORKSHOP “Coloring Outside the Lines: Pushing Boundaries Through Diverse Teaching.” 1:30 p.m. 277 special collections libraries. 706-583-0067, tchagood@uga.edu. COMPARATIVE LITERATURE JAMBOREE For the second year, this spring festival event will feature and highlight the diverse cultures and programs housed in the comparative literature department. Faculty and students will wear their native costumes, and each program will display artifacts and information about it. There will be music, food and fellowship. 2:30 p.m. Joseph E. Brown Hall. 706-542-2360, mamo@uga.edu. CLIMATE SEMINAR “Calculation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Poultry Production Farms,” Claudia Dunkley, UGA Extension poultry scientist. 3:30 p.m. 213 Miller Learning Center. 706-542-2151, varlamof@uga.edu. UNIVERSITY COUNCIL MEETING 3:30 p.m. Tate Student Center Theatre. 706-542-6020, hathcote@uga.edu. WORKSHOP “What Are You Going to Wear?,” a critical workshop on dress codes for future teachers and students. Participants will receive a certificate of participation from the Feminist Scholar-Activists. 5 p.m. 116 Aderhold Hall. 706-621-8159, fsa@uga.edu. BASEBALL vs. Kennesaw State. $5-$8. 5 p.m. Foley Field. 706-542-1231.
GREEN ON THE SCREEN University Housing’s Green on the Screen will present Shored Up. 7 p.m. Fireside Lounge, Rooker Hall. 706-542-8325, carrie.campbell@uga.edu.
THURSDAY, MARCH 26 FIRST AID CLASS Participants will receive first aid training and certification. Class size is limited. $25. 8:30 a.m. Conference Room A, University Health Center. 706-542-8707, aambo@uhs.uga.edu. SENSORY OVERLOAD CONFERENCE Through March 27. Slingshot festival of music, art and tech presents Sensory Overload, a big data and data perceptualization sate-of-the-art conference. 271 special collections libraries. 706-583-0873, dgeller@uga.edu. (See story, left). 2015 J.G. WOODROOF LECTURE “Clean Label Trends in the Food Industry: Challenges and Opportunities,” Erika Smith, technology director at General Mills. 12:30 p.m. Room KL, Georgia Center. 706-542-3045, karens@uga.edu. GUEST LECTURE “Indigenous Process in Writing Novels—Writing as Ceremony,” Susan Power, a best-selling author. Part of Women’s History Month. 4:30 p.m. North psychologyjournalism auditorium, Instructional Plaza. lhowe1@uga.edu. (See Digest, page 3).
FRIDAY, MARCH 27 WOMEN’S GOLF LIZ MURPHEY COLLEGIATE CLASSIC UGA Golf Course. 706-542-1621. A UGA MORNING OF MINDFULNESS 9:30 a.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4905, kstahl@uga.edu. (See Bulletin Board, page 8). TERRY LEADERSHIP SPEAKER SERIES LECTURE Speaker: Arthur Blank, co-founder of Home Depot and owner of the Atlanta Falcons. 10:10 a.m. Chapel. 706-542-5234, aldrich@uga.edu. WOMEN’S STUDIES FRIDAY SPEAKER SERIES LECTURE “Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History: Georgia Women Shape the 20th Century,” Kathleen Clark, an associate professor in the history department. 12:20 p.m. 148 Miller Learning Center. 706-542-2846, tlhat@uga.edu. TEDxUGA TED Talks explore “ideas worth spreading.” Speakers include UGA faculty Myriam Quispe-Agnoli, John Drake, Sonia Altizer, Dawn Bennett-Alexander and Han Park. Tickets are sold out. Will be streamed live at http://tedxuga.com/livestream. 2 p.m. Grand Hall, Tate Student Center.
SEMINAR “New Anti-cancer Agent Development: The Dog Bit Off My Ear to the Thundergod Vine,” Dr. Daniel Von Hoff, a distinguished professor and physician-in-chief at the Translational Genomics Research Institute. 3 p.m. 201 Pharmacy South auditorium. (See Digest, page 3). GUEST LECTURE “Public Ideologies of Immigration and Their Effects on Policy,” Alejandro Portes, a professor of sociology and founding director of the Center for Migration and Development at Princeton University and professor of sociology and law at the University of Miami. 3:15 p.m. M. Smith Griffith Auditorium, Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-3997, elizag@uga.edu. POLITICAL SCIENCE COLLOQUIUM Ken Kollman, a professor of political science at the University of Michigan, will discuss “A Comprehensive Theory of the Dynamics of Partisanship.” 3:30 p.m. 302 Baldwin Hall. 706-542-2057, jmaltese@uga.edu. MEN’S TENNIS vs. Vanderbilt. 5 p.m. Dan Magill Tennis Complex. 706-542-1621. CONCERT The UGA Steel Band will hold its spring concert. The group, known as the “Pan Dawgs,” will perform in the style of the Caribbean with electric bass and drums. 6 p.m. Ramsey Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center. 706-542-4752, musicpr@uga.edu. FILM SCREENING Nightcrawler (2014) will be shown March 27 at 6 and 9 p.m. and March 28-29 at 3, 6 and 9 p.m. $2; $1 for UGA students who pay activity fees. Tate Student Center Theatre. 706-542-6396.
EXHIBITION OPENING Jay Robinson: Quarks, Leptons and Peanuts. Through June 21. This exhibition will feature the work Jay Robinson has created since a fire in the mid-1990s destroyed his home and studio. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817, hazbrown@uga.edu. (See story, below right). SATURDAY MORNING CLUB PERFORMANCE For children ages 4 to 12 to learn about music and dance. $10; $6 for children. 10 a.m. Hodgson Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center. 706-542-3301, btyler@uga.edu. (See story, right).
Dance company to perform at Saturday Morning Club By Bobby Tyler btyler@uga.edu
The Performing Arts Center will present UGA’s CORE Dance Company in the next installment of the Saturday Morning Club March 28 at 10 a.m. in Hodgson Concert Hall. The family event will showcase creative movement processes, dance excerpts from different styles and interactive dances that will include volunteers from the audience. Tickets for each performance are $10, $6 for children. Tickets can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center box office, online at pac.uga.edu or by calling 706-542-4400. The Saturday Morning Club is designed for children ages 4 through 12 and their parents and grandparents. The final performance of the season will feature the UGA Symphony Orchestra on April 18. The Saturday Morning Club is presented in partnership with Athens Regional Health System.
SUNDAY, MARCH 29 IHE CONFERENCE Through March 31. Institute of Higher Education alumni, faculty, staff and students will gather to celebrate the institute’s past and chart a path for the future. $50. Georgia Center. 706-542-0570, sheffiel@uga.edu. (See story, page 2). PERFORMANCE Kodo, Japanese drumming ensemble. $35-$45. 7 p.m. Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center. 706-542-4400, ugaarts@uga.edu. (See story, above left).
MONDAY, MARCH 30 2015 CURO SYMPOSIUM The 2015 Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities Symposium will be held through March 31. Classic Center, 300 N. Thomas St. (See story, page 1).
Robinson exhibition to open at Georgia Museum of Art
GRADUATE SCHOOL DEAN FINALIST PRESENTATION Presentation by William Graves, a candidate for dean of the Graduate School. Graves is a professor of horticulture and associate dean of the Graduate College at Iowa State University. 9:30 a.m. 135 Tate Student Center. (See story, page 1).
By Jennifer Chicas
LECTURE “Surviving to Thriving: How to Empower the Poor Through Simple Sustainable Agriculture Technology Solutions,” William Kisaalita, a professor in the College of Engineering. Kisaalita has returned from Uganda and will be sharing lessons learned in developing and successfully deploying these types of solutions in sub-Saharan Africa. 3:35 p.m. 103 Conner Hall. 706-542-8084, sustainag@uga.edu. CONCERT Hugh Hodgson School of Music professor Jean MartinWilliams and the UGA Horn Choir will present a spring concert. 6 p.m. Ramsey Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center. 706-542-4752, musicpr@uga.edu. FILM SCREENING The Punk Singer: A Film About Kathleen Hanna. Part of the Women’s History Month Film Festival. 6:30 p.m. 214 Miller Learning Center.
COMING UP GRADUATE SCHOOL DEAN FINALIST PRESENTATION April 7. Presentation by Carolyn Drews-Botsch, a candidate for dean of the Graduate School. Drews-Botsch is a professor and vice chair of academic affairs in the department of epidemiology at Emory University. 9:30 a.m. 135 Tate Student Center. (See story, page 1).
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.
4&5
MUSIC AND TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE Hosted by the School of Law’s student-edited Journal of Intellectual Property Law. 3 p.m. Morton Theatre, 195 W. Washington St. bdstoltz@uga.edu. (See Digest, page 3).
SATURDAY, MARCH 28
GUEST LECTURE Helga Mullneritsch will discuss her work on cookbooks and women’s lives in 19th-century central Europe. Mullneritsch is a doctoral candidate in the German section in cultures, languages and area studies at the University of Liverpool. 5:30 p.m. 153 Miller Learning Center. 706-542-3663, german@uga.edu.
columns.uga.edu March 23, 2015
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jchicas@uga.edu
The Georgia Museum of Art will present the exhibition Jay Robinson: Quarks, Leptons and Peanuts from March 28 through June 21. Organized by William U. Eiland, director of the museum, and Todd Rivers, head preparator, the exhibition will feature the work Robinson has created since a fire destroyed his home and studio in the mid-1990s. After the fire, Robinson’s work moved in a different direction, and he reinvented himself as an artist, taking inspiration from science. He started studying molecular physics and constellations, moving toward abstraction from a previously realistic approach. Despite the fact that he will turn 100 this year, he continues to create art, painting in the burned studio that he later rebuilt. One painting, an untitled African scene, survived the fire and will be shown in the exhibition. The Detroit-born artist earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 1937 and later attended Cranbrook Academy of Art, one of the few institutions dedicated to design. There, he studied under Zoltan Sepeshy, Charles Eames and Harry Bertoia, all of whom had a strong influence on Robinson’s methods. In 1950, he traveled to Africa after being awarded a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Fellowship. The American Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Institute of Arts and Letters purchased seven of his paintings of his travel documentations for presentations and institutions. His painting of Billie Holiday singing, based on a drawing he made of her from life, is in the museum’s collection but has been out on loan in the traveling exhibition The Visual Blues: The Harlem Renaissance. This is the second exhibition of Robinson’s work at the museum. In 2006, Jay Robinson featured 31 works including sculptures, drawings, oil paintings and mixed-media creations.
NEXT COLUMNS DEADLINES March 25 (for April 6 issue) April 1 (for April 13 issue) April 8 (for April 20 issue)
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Three researchers from the UGA College of Education were named “outstanding reviewers” for journals produced by the American Educational Research Association. Martha Carr, Julie Kittleson and Pedro Portes will be honored during a ceremony at AERA’s annual meeting in April. Carr, a professor in the educational psychology department, and Portes, holder of the Goizueta Foundation Distinguished Chair Martha Carr in Latino Education and executive director of the Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education, were named outstanding reviewers for the American Educational Research Journal section on teaching, learning and human development. Kittleson, an associate professor in the mathematics and science education department and on-site instructor in the UGAJulie Kittleson Clarke County School District’s Professional Development School District, was named outstanding reviewer for the journal Educational Researcher. Each year, the editors of AERA journals name expert peers who have helped identify the highest-quality articles for publication. The annual honor Pedro Portes recognizes scholars who have provided outstanding professional service to the journals, AERA and to educational research. The Georgia Association of Teachers of Family and Consumer Sciences named UGA Extension consumer economics specialist Michael Rupured its 2015 postsecondary teacher of the year. Rupured was presented the award at the GATFCS annual conference in Savannah. He is now eligible for the Georgia Association of Career and Technical Education Postsecondary Teacher of the Year award, which will be announced in July. Rupured began his career with UGA Extension in 1999 following Michael Rupured an eight-year stint at Kentucky State University’s Extension program and two years as a program leader at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He was named assistant to College of Family and Consumer Sciences Dean Linda Kirk Fox in 2013. Carla Williams, executive associate athletic director for the UGA Athletic Association, was named one of the top-10 Senior Woman Administrators in the NCAA by the website CollegeAD.org. Williams is the administrator for UGA’s women’s basketball, gymnastics and men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs. She has supervisory responsibility for academic support services, compliance, sports medicine, human resources and student services. Nationally, Williams has served on the executive committee of both the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators as well the NCAA’s Woman of the Year Selection and Women’s Basketball Issues committees. Williams has been a member of the SEC Executive Committee and the Women’s Basketball Scheduling Committee. At UGA, she was a team member for the university’s reaccreditation with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and has been on search committees for numerous campus leadership positions. Kudos recognizes special contributions of staff, faculty and administrators in teaching, research and service. News items are limited to election into office of state, regional, national and international societies; major awards and prizes; and similarly notable accomplishments.
FACULTY PROFILE
Clint Thompson
Peng-Wah Chee, a professor of crop and soil sciences in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, leads a UGA research program designed to enhance cotton, Georgia’s top row-crop industry.
UGA plant breeder leads program to boost state’s top row-crop industry By Clint Thompson cbthomps@uga.edu
A career in cotton breeding wasn’t the first career path Peng-Wah Chee envisioned as a child growing up in Malaysia, but it’s turned out to be the right one for the UGA scientist. Southeast Asia, Chee’s homeland, thrives on agriculture, with farmers growing fruits like bananas, coconuts and pineapples.The three primary commodity exports are rubber, palm oil and cocoa. Chee always was interested in science and agriculture, but his true passion lies in plant breeding and genetics, the area of study he pursued at North Dakota State University, where he earned his doctoral degree in 1998. Now working in the heart of cotton country, Chee leads a UGA research program designed to enhance Georgia’s top row-crop industry. A member of the faculty in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences on the UGA Tifton campus for 15 years, Chee said the biggest challenge in cotton breeding is simultaneously improving lint yield and fiber quality. “In the last 15 years, we have added genomics to our breeding toolbox to help us develop a better cotton variety. The genomics tool we have available now will have a huge impact moving forward. Fifteen years ago, we basically knew nothing about these genes in the cotton genome, but now we do,” Chee said. In 2012, Chee was involved in an international consortium led by CAES scientist Andrew Paterson. The focus of the consortium was to sequence the cotton genome, which allowed UGA researchers to pinpoint genes for characteristics such as resistance to certain diseases, yield and quality. With this
knowledge, Chee now manipulates the cotton genome and designs more efficient and proficient cotton plants. Chee also has made significant progress in understanding the genetics of fiber quality. “Cotton is an industrial crop, meaning that it’s grown as a commodity or raw material for industrial goods, rather than as food for consumption. Because the textile industry is highly mechanized, stringent requirements have been imposed on raw fiber to satisfy the manufacturing process,” Chee said. “While lint yield is the most important criteria for cotton producers, fiber quality also is very important because each 480-pound bale of cotton being sold in the market has to meet certain minimum quality standards, and if these standards are not met, it can result in significant price discounts.” Further, Chee has advanced understanding of the inheritance of resistance and developed tools for incorporating nematode-resistant genes into modern cultivars. “Our lab has developed DNA markers for the resistance genes that will allow breeders to make selections in breeding populations without having to traditionally screen for individual plants to identify those that are resistant,” Chee said. DNA markers allow for a quicker and less expensive screening process than traditional screening methods. Unlike 20 years ago when U.S. cotton was grown and used here, today’s cotton is produced here, but is most often exported. “To stay competitive with cotton produced in Australia, Brazil, India or other cotton-producing countries, we need to provide growers with cotton cultivars that have better quality than what is now available,” he said. “We have commercial cultivars with acceptable fiber quality, but
FACTS
Peng-Wah Chee
Professor Crop and Soil Sciences College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Ph.D., Plant Breeding and Genetics, North Dakota State University, 1998 M.S., Plant Breeding and Genetics, Montana State University, 1994 B.S., Agronomy, Montana State University, 1992 At UGA: 15 years
none of them are exceptional.” He also works to improve cotton’s resistance to parasitic nematodes, microscopic worms that damage the plant’s root system and prevent the plant from getting appropriate amounts of water and nutrients. Nematode-resistant cotton cultivars offer growers a cost-effective way to manage the pest. Using resistant varieties also allows farmers to grow more environmentally friendly crops because less pesticide is used. U.S. farmers need improved cotton cultivars to stay competitive with cotton-producing countries overseas and with synthetic fiber manufacturers. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. ranks third in cotton production behind China and India, and produces more than $25 billion in cotton products and services annually. Georgia has the second largest cotton acreage in the country. According to the UGA Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development, cotton is a $1.2 billion industry and accounts for 42 percent of Georgia’s row-crop production.
TERRY COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
UGA community mourns passing of associate professor Carolyn Dehring, an associate professor of real estate in the insurance, legal studies and real estate department of the Terry College of Business, died March 11 following an extended illness. She was 47. A native of Milwaukee, Dehring graduated from Valparaiso University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and received master’s degrees in economics and business administration from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She earned her doctorate in finance from
the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. Dehring joined Terry College in 2003, where she also served as a graduate coordinator for the real estate program Carolyn Dehring and was a member of the Science Advisory Committee for Coweeta LTER. She authored and co-authored
numerous scholarly articles in journals such as Land Economics, Regional Science and Urban Economics and the Journal of Real Estate, Finance and Economics. Dehring is survived by her husband, Christopher; children, Noel and Brianna; numerous brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces, and cousins across the country as well as an incredible number of loving and supportive friends. A celebration of her life was held March 14 at Living Hope Church in Athens.
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
columns.uga.edu March 23, 2015
From Athens to Selma
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Social work students, faculty attend 50th anniversary of civil rights milestone By Laurie Anderson laurie@uga.edu
On Sunday, March 8, students and faculty from the UGA School of Social Work traveled to Selma, Alabama, to mark the anniversary of an event known today as “Bloody Sunday.” During that event, which occurred 50 years ago this month, state troopers and police brutally attacked peaceful marchers as they attempted to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The demonstrators, mostly AfricanAmerican, were on their way to the state capital of Montgomery to advocate for equal voting rights. The televised violence shocked the nation and played a critical role in the passage of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. The trip occurred during National Social Work Month, whose theme this year is “Social Work Paves the Way for Change.” June Gary Hopps, the Thomas M. “Jim” Parham Professor of Family and Children Studies, led a group of five faculty members and more than 40 students to Selma’s commemoration of the march. The trip was funded by the Office of the President, the Office of Institutional Diversity and the School of Social Work. “Selma was a turning point for massive social change and social progress,” said Hopps, a veteran of the Atlanta lunch-counter sit-ins of the early 1960s who teaches a graduate class on social problems and public policy. “Fifty years ago we could not have made this trip with such a racially diverse group of students and faculty.” Anna Marie Smith, a graduate student in Hopps’ class, suggested the trip. Smith, a native of Alabama, had heard about plans for the 50th anniversary to be held in her home state and thought it was a good opportunity to gain experiential learning in the area of civil rights. “It was a way for us to witness and learn about direct action,” Smith said. The group left Athens by chartered bus at 6:30 a.m. and picked up more students and faculty at the Gwinnett campus. They arrived in Selma in time to join thousands of people watching a memorial service broadcast from the Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church, where the original march began. Speakers included Andrew Young, the former mayor of Atlanta and a key figure of the 1965 march, as well as U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the
Rosalyn Denise Campbell
Ten of thousands of people—including students and faculty from UGA’s School of Social Work— march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge as part the 50th anniversary observance of “Bloody Sunday.”
Rosalyn Denise Campbell
Rev. Al Sharpton. Sharpton made a particularly strong impression on the group. “He essentially said that we can’t fight for just one set of rights; we have to be for
WEEKLY READER
Book looks at nature’s effect on Civil War
The Blue, the Gray, and the Green: Toward an Environmental History of the Civil War Edited by Brian Allen Drake University of Georgia Press Hardcover: $69.95 Paper: $22.95
Rosalyn Denise Campbell
Megan Baer
Left: June Gary Hopps, the Thomas M. “Jim” Parham Professor of Family and Children Studies, led a group of five faculty members and more than 40 students from UGA’s School of Social Work to the city of Selma’s commemoration of the “Bloody Sunday” march. Top right: UGA students listen during a speech. Bottom right: UGA students link arms in a show of support. More photos of the Selma trip are at bit.ly/UGASSW-Selma2015.
The Blue, the Gray, and the Green is one of only a handful of books to apply an environmental history approach to the Civil War. This book explores how nature—disease, climate, flora, fauna and other factors—affected the war and also how the war shaped Americans’ perceptions, understanding and use of nature. The contributors use a range of approaches that serve as a valuable template for future environmental histories of the conflict. In his introduction, editor Brian Allen Drake, a lecturer in UGA’s history department, describes the sparse body of environmental history literature related to the Civil War and lays out a blueprint for the theoretical basis of each essay. The Blue, the Gray, and the Green provides a provocative environmental commentary that enriches understanding of the Civil War.
equal rights for all—meaning LGBT rights, women’s rights, immigrant rights, anyone who is disenfranchised,” said Jennifer Elkins, an assistant professor of social work.
After listening to the speakers, the group retraced the walk from the church to the Edmund Pettus Bridge with tens of thousands of attendees. Along the way, a variety of individuals and groups chanted, sang and carried signs and banners for various causes, or in memory of those who first marched. Despite a crowd estimated as high as 80,000, the event was remarkably peaceful. The Selma Times-Journal later reported that the Selma Police Department made only two arrests. Hopps and other faculty members said that after the event students would conduct class discussions on the implications of the 50th anniversary and its relevance to social work and marginalized populations. Students also would prepare a report for the president’s office about the impact of the trip on their learning and professional development. Kace Crawford, an undergraduate from Chickamauga who plans to earn a master’s degree in social work, said that walking to the bridge was the highlight of the trip for him. “I don’t know that much about the civil rights movement,” he said. “I think I learned a lot about voting rights and what’s going on today.” Marissa Jones, a graduate student from Miami who wants to work in the mental health field with military families, said it was exhilarating to see large numbers of different races, religions and creeds come together. “Seeing this made me realize that I need to do more. I think it will help me with my advocacy and really, really put my hands to the plow to advocate for those who may not have a voice,” she said. Hopps said she wanted students to learn that developing tolerance and respect for differences is difficult, but of key importance for the professional growth of social workers. “I hope they learn that change is not easy. It is hard, (but) social workers have skills that can help create change,” she said. “They have skills in organization, communication and negotiation—all essential for strong leadership.” Rosalyn Denise Campbell, an assistant professor of social work, said she was thrilled to walk with her students in the footsteps of activists she’d read about, but worried about a younger generation that was unfamiliar with the overt racism of the 1960s. “I was proud of our students because they recognized that there is still work to be done,” she said. “I think the students heard that; that they’re not there to just witness, but to pick up the torch.”
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CYBERSIGHTS
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Editor Juliett Dinkins Art Director Janet Beckley Photo Editor Paul Efland Senior Reporter Aaron Hale
UGA Student Affairs revitalizes website studentaffairs.uga.edu
The Division of Student Affairs has polished up its main website to present a more vibrant face for its programs and services. With large pictures, a reimagined staff directory and event calendar and a department listing that enables swift navigation, the site is both engaging and functional.
Reporter Matt Chambers
“The goal is to guide our audience easily through the online resources of our 19 departments, all while sharing the impact and successes of Student Affairs programming in a visually compelling way,” said Stan Jackson, director of Student Affairs communications.
Copy Editor David Bill 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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CHARTER
CURO
from page 1 • Research on proteins linked to diseases such as cancer, congenital muscular dystrophy and HIV/AIDS, conducted by Danish Singh, a biochemistry and economics double major who worked as a 2014 CURO Summer Fellow. • An exploration of “The Impact of Monsoon Severity on Southeast Asian Bond Markets,” by third-year economics major Carson Aft. • Research on floral trait evolution of wild sunflowers, conducted by fourth-year microbiology major Hiral Patel. “We’re proud to have student representatives like these from all over campus,” said Martin Rogers, associate director of the Honors Program and CURO, who noted that nearly half of the students participating in the symposium are from outside of the Honors Program. “I think it is a demonstration of the excellent learning enrichment opportunities available to undergraduate students at UGA.” The 2015 CURO Symposium, which is also sponsored by the Office of the President,
the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, the Office of the Vice President for Research, the Office of the Vice President for Instruction and the UGA Alumni Association, will begin at 11:15 a.m. March 30 with four concurrent oral sessions. Sonia Altizer, UGA Athletic Association Professor of Ecology in the Odum School of Ecology and recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering from the White House, will give the keynote address at 3:30 p.m. on March 30, and awards for best paper, research and mentoring will be presented. A poster session and reception will follow from 4:30-6:30 p.m. On March 31, students will participate in five concurrent oral sessions from 9:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. A UGA bus marked “Special” will provide transportation to the Classic Center, with stops at the Georgia Center, Tate Student Center and the Arch.
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Teaching, the university’s highest early career teaching honor. “Dr. Larson joins a long and distinguished line of Charter lecturers, and we are delighted to have him back on campus to share his insights on a pivotal moment in our nation’s history,” said Pamela Whitten, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. Larson has lectured on four continents and has served as a visiting professor of law at Stanford University and as a visiting professor teaching American constitutional law at the University of Melbourne. He has delivered endowed or named lectures at more than 40 colleges or universities and is interviewed frequently for broadcast and print media. Larson was a resident scholar at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Study Center in 1996; held the Fulbright Program’s John Adams Chair in American Studies for 2001; delivered the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Sarton Award Lecture in 2000; participated in the National Science Foundation’s Antarctic Writers and Artists program in 2003 and
HOLLOWELL
Andrew Davis Tucker
Anquilla Deleveaux, a CURO student and senior genetics major, works on culturing plates with strains of salmonella in a microbiology lab in the biological sciences building.
Bulletin Board UGA Night at Six Flags
The 12th annual UGA Night at Six Flags Over Georgia will be April 17. UGA students, faculty, staff, alumni and their families will have exclusive access to the theme park from 6 p.m. until midnight. Tickets purchased by 4 p.m. on April 10 are $25.50 or $20.50 for students with valid UGACards who pay activity fees on the Athens campus. Tickets purchased April 11-17 are $30.50 or $25.50 for students. Tickets sold online or at the gate are $35.50. All ticket purchasers will receive a voucher for a free return visit June 7, 14 or 21. Parking is free, and children ages 2 and younger will be admitted without charge. Tickets may be purchased weekdays at the Tate Student Center’s cashier window from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., by calling 706-542-8074 or online at http://tate.uga.edu. Student ticket prices are honored at the cashier window only. Tickets ordered online or by phone are subject to the nonstudent rate. A limited number of bus passes are available at a cost of $14 for students and $24 for nonstudents. Bus passes are available for purchase at the cashier window only. For more information, call 706-542-8074 or see http://tate.uga.edu.
Mindfulness practice
The monastics of peace activist, writer and global spiritual leader Thich Nhat Hanh will lead a morning of guided mindfulness practices March 27 at the Georgia Museum of Art. The nuns and monks will offer a brief talk, seated meditations, a walking
meditation from 9:30 a.m. to noon and a mindful eating experience from noon to 1:30 p.m. Participants should bring a brown bag lunch and water; there will be no charge for attendance. Space is limited. The event is co-sponsored by the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Faculty Learning Community on Mindfulness in Education and Research and the Certificate Program in Marriage and Family Therapy. For more information, send an email to katemorrisseystahl@gmail.com or jgale@uga.edu.
40 Under 40 nominations
The UGA Alumni Association is a ccepting nominations for the 2015 40 Under 40, an initiative that recognizes and celebrates UGA’s outstanding young alumni. Nominations will be accepted until April 10 and must be submitted by someone other than the nominee. Each nominee must have earned a graduate or undergraduate degree from UGA and be under the age of 40 by Sept. 1, 2015. Members of the 40 Under 40 Class of 2015 will be notified of their selection in July. Visit www.alumni.uga.edu/40u40 for more information.
Academic honesty facilitators
The Office of the Vice President for Instruction is seeking current full-time employees (professional staff members and faculty) interested in becoming academic honesty facilitators. Information about UGA’s academic honesty resolution process may be found at http://honesty.uga.edu.
2004; served as an inaugural Fellow at the Fred W. Smith Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon in 2013 and 2014; and received an honorary doctorate from Ohio State University in 2004. From 2006 to 2009, he was a panelist on the National Institutes of Health’s Study Section for Ethical, Legal and Social Issues of the Human Genome Project. UGA’s Charter Lecture Series was established in 1988 to honor the high ideals expressed in the 1785 charter that created UGA as the first chartered state university in America. The series, sponsored by the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, brings to campus speakers who discuss ideas of general importance to a free society. Previous speakers have included James R. Clapper, U.S. director of national intelligence; award-winning journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault; as well as poet laureates, scientists, medical experts, leading attorneys and religious leaders.
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and Sciences and interim director of the UGA Center for Social Justice, Human and Civil Rights. “Professor Brown-Nagin is highly respected for her research on citizens who have contributed significant yet unrecognized advancements to civil rights in America.” Brown-Nagin’s 2011 book, Courage to Dissent: Atlanta and the Long History of the Civil Rights Movement, won the Bancroft Prize in American History, one of the nation’s most prestigious awards for a work in the field of history. Brown-Nagin was the first woman of color to win the honor. She currently is working on a biography of Constance Baker Motley, a civil rights attorney who won nine cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and numerous cases in the lower federal courts, including the lawsuit, co-counseled with Donald L. Hollowell, that desegregated UGA. After a groundbreaking career as a civil
rights lawyer, Motley was elected the first female Manhattan Borough president and in 1966 became the first black woman appointed to the federal bench. As a judge on the U.S. District Court in New York, she issued rulings that helped to remove professional barriers for women and criminal defendants. She died in 2005. “It is indeed an honor to have the eminent legal scholar and historian Dr. Tomiko Brown-Nagin speak on the enduring and powerful legacy of Constance Baker Motley, who partnered with Donald Hollowell on a number of civil rights cases in Georgia,” said Maurice C. Daniels, dean of the School of Social Work and a Hollowell biographer. Brown-Nagin earned a doctorate in history from Duke University, a law degree from Yale University, where she edited the Yale Law Journal, and a bachelor’s degree in history, summa cum laude, from Furman University.
PROFESSOR from page 1 Requirements to be a facilitator include an interest in participating in the academic honesty process at UGA, the ability to deal effectively with interpersonal conflict, strong listening skills and time for training. Facilitators should expect a time commitment of at least five hours per semester. Interested applicants should prepare a statement explaining why they wish to become an academic honesty facilitator and include information about any special qualifications, certifications or experience dealing with academic integrity and/or student conduct issues. Statements should be emailed to Debbie Bell, director for academic honesty, at dbell@uga.edu, by March 23.
Faculty Community Engagement Fair
Faculty are invited to explore opportunities for research and teaching partnerships at a Community Engagement Fair March 23 from 4-5:30 p.m. in Reception Hall of the Tate Student Center. This networking opportunity will feature food from Five & Ten and roundtable discussions with leaders from UGA and Family ConnectionCommunities In Schools of Athens to learn about potential areas for faculty research and experiential learning collaborations connected to local community needs. For more information, contact Shannon Wilder at swilder@uga.edu or 706-542-0535. Bulletin Board is limited to information that may pertain to a majority of faculty and staff members.
teaching at the conservatory, came to the U.S. to serve as a temporary faculty replacement at Indiana University before joining the Hodgson School of Music, part of UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. As a musician at the highest international level, Ambartsumian has maintained an impressive performance schedule, including multiple appearances at Carnegie Hall, the Moscow Conservatory and UGA’s Performing Arts Center. During his time at UGA, he has made 18 recordings as a soloist, and his international reputation has attracted and inspired students to come to UGA from around the world. Ambartsumian founded the ARCO Chamber Orchestra, an ensemble composed mostly of advanced string students, in Moscow in 1989 and moved its home base to Athens in 1995. The orchestra has released 20 commercial recordings and performed throughout the South, at Carnegie Hall and in Venice, Italy. Ambartsumian, who also has served as distinguished visiting professor at Camerata Florianopolis Music School in Brazil for the past decade, teaches master classes across the globe, including in Russia, Canada, Brazil, France, Italy, South Korea and the U.S. “Dr. Ambartsumian has had a far-reaching impact on the cultural life of the University of Georgia and its community,” Dale Monson, director of Hugh Hodgson School of Music, wrote in a nominating letter. “Though at his arrival he inherited a young, small and modest violin program, he has helped build this into one of the most significant string programs in the South today. His performances have deeply enriched our cultural experience, and his students have embarked on successful careers throughout the world.” Ambartsumian was named Shining Star of the 2008 Legislative Session by the Georgia House of Representatives. In 2009, he was appointed a senior expert consultant on contemporary string instruments at Glinka State Central Museum of Musical Culture by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.He was named an HonoredArtist of Russian Federation in 1997.