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Hollowell Lecture explores story of federal judge who battled racial, gender bias CAMPUS NEWS
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Male vocal ensemble Rockapella will perform in Hodgson Concert Hall Vol. 43, No. 30
March 28, 2016
www.columns.uga.edu
SPIA public affairs graduate programs among nation’s best By Caroline Paczkowski cparis@uga.edu
Peter Frey
Fikri Avci, left, a faculty member in UGA’s Center for Molecular Medicine, shows CURO student Nikhil Gangasani the chromatography machine used by the lab. Gangasani will present his research at this year’s CURO Symposium.
Bigger and better Undergraduate research symposium at UGA breaks record, tops 400 participants
By Camie Williams camiew@uga.edu
Participation in UGA’s annual undergraduate research symposium has reached a record, with more than 400 students presenting original research projects in fields ranging from art to pathology and computer science at the upcoming Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities Symposium. The CURO Symposium, scheduled for April 4 and 5 at the Classic Center in Athens, includes poster sessions and presentations, and is free and open to the public. Alan Darvill, Regents Professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and director of UGA’s Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, will present the keynote address April 4 at 3:30 p.m. Senior Vice President for
Academic Affairs and Provost Pamela Whitten said that UGA has made expanding undergraduate research opportunities a cornerstone of its initiative to ensure that each of its students engages in experiential learning prior to graduation. “This year’s record CURO Symposium participation and the enthusiastic response to our expanded CURO Research Assistantship program underscore the intellectual curiosity of our students and their strong desire to apply their knowledge outside of the classroom,” she said. CURO is administered by the Honors Program but expanded to become available to all undergraduates in 2010. For the first time, more than half the participants in this year’s symposium are from outside of the Honors Program. In addition to $3,000 summer
fellowship grants, which have been available for nearly a decade, students also can apply for the CURO Research Assistantship, which has provided $1,000 stipends to 250 undergraduates since 2014. The program will expand to 500 students next academic year. “We greatly appreciate the very strong support that CURO receives from the central administration and from faculty members across campus,” said David S. Williams, associate provost and director of the Honors Program. “This allows students to participate in research at UGA for up to a full four years if they choose.” Nikhil Gangasani is one of the 407 students participating in this year’s symposium. With ambitions of becoming a physician, he got involved in a CURO See CURO on page 4
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
University to host two national student startup competitions as part of entrepreneurial push By Sam Fahmy
sfahmy@uga.edu
Students from across Georgia and throughout the nation will be converging on UGA for two events that give young entrepreneurs a chance to pitch their business and consumer brand concepts to a panel of investors and advisers for $35,000 in prize money. UGA’s Next Top Entrepreneur competition, in which eight student teams will compete in front of a live audience for a $10,000 prize,
UGA GUIDE
will be held March 30, with the presentations beginning at 5 p.m. in the Rialto Room of Hotel Indigo in Athens. The inaugural Collegiate Next Great Consumer Brands Competition, in which 10 teams will compete for a $25,000 award and an all-expenses paid trip to attend the Next Great Consumer Brands Conference in New York City, will be held April 7. The reception, which is open to the public, begins at 5:30 p.m. in The Foundry of the Graduate Athens hotel.
Presentations from the three top teams begin at 7 p.m. and will be followed by the announcement of the winning team. Both events are part of a broader effort at UGA to nurture the entrepreneurial talents of students, and they are a part of Athens’ first StartUp Week and UGA’s longrunning Thinc. Week. “These competitions are going to shine a spotlight not just on UGA but on Athens and the state of Georgia as a place where new
See COMPETITIONS on page 4
UGA’s School of Public and International Affairs ranks fourth among graduate schools of public affairs, according to the most recent U.S. News & World Report rankings. SPIA also has three highly ranked specialty programs: in public finance and budgeting, UGA is ranked second, moving up from fifth place in the 2012 rankings; the public management administration program is ranked second; and the public policy analysis program is ranked 18th. “The School of Public and International Affairs is extremely proud of the Master of Public Administration program where the faculty members have demonstrated worldwide impact through their research and where the graduates are among the most accomplished and influential alumni serving in the public and nonprofit sectors,” said Stefanie A. Lindquist dean and Arch Professor of Public
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and International Affairs. At the core of SPIA’s reputation in public affairs is its Master of Public Administration Stefanie Lindquist degree program, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. In addition, the MPA program was recognized recently on both the House and Senate floors of the Georgia General Assembly for 50 years of positive local to global impact. “This is truly a special place and it is only appropriate that our work continues to be recognized as among the best of the best,” said Bradley E. Wright, head of the public administration and policy department. “It is a real honor to work with such an elite group of faculty, staff and students.” Recent accolades also include a
See SPIA on page 4
AU/UGA MEDICAL PARTNERSHIP
Students celebrate residency locations during Match Day By Jennifer Adams j.adams@uga.edu
Resident applicants at the Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership gathered March 18 at noon in George Hall at the UGA Health Sciences Campus for Match Day, an event celebrating the next step in their medical careers. Sealed envelopes addressed to individual students were dropped from lanterns for each of the members of the Class of 2016, and inside each envelope was a personal letter revealing where the student
will pursue his or her postgraduate medical education. An annual event, Match Day takes place after students participate in interviews and visits to residency programs in Georgia and across the country. To determine the postgraduation assignments, the students ranked hospitals where they would like to complete residencies, and hospital residency programs ranked the student applicants. The lists were then submitted to the nonprofit organization National Resident Matching Program in Washington, D.C., which uses an
See RESIDENCY on page 4
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
‘Big Read’ will focus on poetry of California environmentalist By Kristen Morales
the culture and landscape of the South. Launched in 2006, the Big The Athens area will have the Read unites a community around a chance to get to know a California classic novel. Several Georgia cities poet and environmentalist thanks have championed a book since the to a National Endowment for program’s start, including Atlanta, the Arts “Big Read” event held in Savannah and Brunswick. Athens last hosted the Big Read in 2008, conjunction with UGA. UGA College of Education when the community read Bless professor Melisa Cahnmann- Me, Ultima. Taylor has lined up a slate of readCahnmann-Taylor chose Jefings, lectures, hands-on events and fers as a way to “create art in performances as a way to intertwine response to art” rather than a more the work of Robinson Jeffers with See POETRY on page 4 kmorales@uga.edu