UGA Columns May 1, 2017

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Study finds that people are more effective than cartoons when advertising medicines RESEARCH NEWS

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Georgia Museum of Art exhibition takes a hard look at Southern culture Vol. 44, No. 35

May 1, 2017

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UGA GUIDE

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NSF grant will be used to extend STEM minority program

By Camie Williams camiew@uga.edu

Dorothy Kozlowski

Carson Dann, the urban agriculture intern in UGA’s Office of Sustainability, leads the Green Roof Garden initiative.

Up on the roof

Green Roof Garden gives students stake in university’s sustainability efforts

By Saleen Martin

saleen.martin25@uga.edu

There’s something different about the geography-geology building roof.

Instead of the usual flat, gray roof, the geography-geology building is 2,200 square feet of grass, vegetables and green space. Topped with raised beds full of rich soil, plants and produce bursting with color, the Green Roof Garden is a student-run garden that started about seven years ago by a team of faculty and students known as the Athens Urban Food Collective in the geography department.

In the spring, the garden is planted with a range of crops like turnips, radishes, beets, collards, spinach and salad mixes. Carrots were a Green Roof favorite last year.

“They were gorgeous. You

pulled them out of the ground, and the color was the most brilliant. It was just the brightest orange I had ever seen,” said Carson Dann, the urban agriculture intern in UGA’s Office of Sustainability who leads the Green Roof Garden initiative.

The garden has many purposes, including serving as an opportunity for students to learn about gardening. Staffed by Dann and an array of student volunteers, the garden grows kale, collards, radishes, carrots and beets. There’s a fig tree, blueberry trees, blackberries and an herb garden.

The Green Roof Garden donates its produce to Campus Kitchen at UGA, which donates it to Athens families in need, as well as the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia and other institutions working toward food insecurity. Campus Kitchen at UGA is part of the Office of

Service-Learning, which is overseen jointly by the vice presidents for public service and outreach and instruction.

The garden also helps combat high temperatures and overheating.

That’s a primary role of the green roof since its creation in the 1960s to support the UGA Climatology Research Lab—by providing a temperature buffer for the lab. In 2007, the lab allowed other geography faculty and students to share the space and convert some of the green roof area to a vegetable garden.

The garden helps to cool the rooftop by holding storm water, absorbing sunlight and then releasing the water vapor back to the atmosphere, creating a cooling effect similar to the human body producing sweat.

“The plants buffer the building’s See GARDEN on page 8

The University of Georgia will launch a new program to increase underrepresented minority enrollment in graduate programs in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The Bridges to the Doctorate program, which is funded by a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation, builds on the university’s longstanding Peach State Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program.

In the decade since the Peach State LSAMP was established, minority undergraduate enrollment

in STEM fields at UGA has tripled.

Through the new grant, students who successfully complete the undergraduate program will have an opportunity to continue their education at UGA and pursue a doctorate.

“The U.S. is at a critical inflection point with respect to its STEM workforce,” said Graduate School Dean Suzanne Barbour.

“While the overall demographics of the country are changing

See STEM on page 8

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

University establishes Institute for Cybersecurity and Privacy

By Sam Fahmy

sfahmy@uga.edu

The University of Georgia will advance research with implications for economic vitality and national security through its newly created Institute for Cybersecurity and Privacy.

The institute is housed in the department of computer science, part of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, but it will build collaborations with units across campus whose research and scholarship touches on both the technical and non-technical aspects of cybersecurity and privacy.

“Security and privacy vulnerabilities affect every technology we use, from wearable and portable devices such as smart watches and smart phones to national critical infrastructure, such as the power

grid and air traffic control systems,” noted Kang Li, professor of computer science and inaugural director of the ICSP. “The Institute for Cybersecurity and Privacy is committed to helping meet the nation’s cybersecurity research and education needs, and we look forward to working with colleagues in academia, industry and government to further this critical priority.”

Li noted that UGA houses several faculty members with expertise in network and system security, security for mobile devices and the Internet of Things, and cyber-crime attribution, among many other areas related to cybersecurity. Research by faculty members in the ICSP is currently funded by the National Science Foundation, U.S. Air Force, Defense Advanced Research See INSTITUTE on page 8

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT DEVELOPMENT AND ALUMNI RELATIONS First Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grants awarded UGA alumnus confirmed Twelve faculty teams at the University of Georgia have been selected to receive research awards through the institution’s Presidential Interdisciplinary Seed Grant Program. More than 150 faculty teams submitted research proposals to this competitive program.

“I want to congratulate the recipients of these awards on their outstanding research proposals,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “I am excited about the potential for their work to help address a wide range of grand challenges facing our state, nation, and world and to feed the growing momentum surrounding the research enterprise at UGA.” Morehead noted that the

­ udget for the seed grant p b ­ rogram was capped originally at $1 million, but the high number of strong proposals led him to increase the budget to approximately $1.4 million to fund a greater number of promising r­ esearch projects.

Proposals were reviewed by a team of UGA faculty and administrators jointly assembled by Vice President for Research David Lee and Vice President for Public Service and Outreach Jennifer Frum.

“The review team was pleased to receive so many excellent proposals from across the university,” Lee said. “The great interest in this program is a clear sign of the deep commitment among our faculty to collaborate across traditional

disciplinary lines to create new knowledge and make discoveries that improve the world around us.”

The review team selected winning proposals based on demonstrated potential to address key grand challenges and to generate new external funding in the future.

Inclusion of public service and outreach components also was considered, among other criteria.

“Above all else, the winning proposals reflect what makes the University of Georgia special as a land-grant institution,” said Frum, “and that is the ability to harness vast resources in teaching, research, and service to address the complex challenges facing See GRANTS on page 8

as US secretary of agriculture

By David Bill

dbill@uga.edu

With former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue’s confirmation April 24 as the U.S. Department of Agriculture secretary, he becomes the first University of Georgia alumnus to be named to the White House Cabinet and the first Southerner to head the department in two decades. Perdue will lead the $150 billion agency, which directs the country’s farm policy and food and nutrition programs.

At UGA, Perdue attended undergraduate classes—and played on the football team one year as

a walk-on—and then earned a doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1971.

“Secretary Perdue is a distinguished alumnus of the University of Georgia, and we are grateful for the tremendous support he has demonstrated for his alma mater over the years,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “We look forward to the important contributions he will make to the nation’s vital agricultural industry in this new role.”

As governor, Perdue championed UGA projects such as the Richard B. Russell Building Special

See AGRICULTURE on page 8

2 May 1, 2017 columns.uga.edu

GRADY COLLEGE OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION

Around academe

University System of Georgia names new chief academic officer

Tristan Denley has been named chief academic officer and executive vice chancellor of academic affairs for the University System of Georgia, according to a USG news release.

His appointment is effective May 22.

Denley currently serves as the vice chancellor for academic affairs at the Tennessee Board of Regents, where he has worked since August 2013. He was provost and vice president for academic affairs at Austin Peay State University before moving to Tennessee.

In his new role, Denley will oversee all matters related to academics and students.

Born in Great Britain, he earned his doctorate in mathematics from the University of Cambridge.

Gluten-free dining halls now open at Kent State and Cornell universities

Students with celiac disease and gluten intolerance at Kent State and Cornell universities now have their own gluten-free dining halls. The New York Times reports the new dining halls offer everything from poke bowls to cupcakes, all without the proteins found in regular wheat- and grain-based products that can cause intense gastrointestinal distress for those intolerant to gluten. Increasing numbers of students are being diagnosed with gluten intolerance, and the universities say they want those students to have as many of the same dining options as students without the allergy as possible.

Parking permit registration underway for 2017-2018 academic year

News to Use

Parking permit registration is now open for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Use your online account to log in and ­register at www.parking.uga.edu before 5 p.m. on June 30 to be considered in the first and largest round of permit assignments. Fewer permit assignments will be available after that date, and you may be placed on the waiting list for a parking permit. Those who are waitlisted can upgrade their lot assignment throughout the year as assignments based on space availability during weekly assignments. If you do not register, no lot guarantee or “grandfathering” will occur.

No permit assignments will be made for the current year, which ends Aug. 6. Spring 2017 parking permits may be extended by coming to the Parking Services Office before May 7.

When registering, you may make up to five lot selections. For best chances of success, make selections where your priority group has precedence on the parking priority chart; the updated map is at www.parking.uga.edu.

Assistance with parking registration is available in the Parking Services Office weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Parking permits for summer 2017 are valid until Aug. 6. New summer parking permits may be purchased at the Parking Services office in the Joe Frank Harris Commons after spring Commencement on May 5.

Source: Transportation and Parking Services

INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

More than 3,300 UGA students participated in a studyabroad program in the 2015-2016 academic year.* The top 10 countries in which those students studied are: rank

location

1. United Kingdom 2. Italy 3. France 4. Australia 5. Spain 6. Costa Rica 7. New Zealand 8. Austria 9. Argentina 10. Germany

students

488 437 264 240 217 207 171 144 133 103

*The most current year for which information is available Source: 2016 UGA Fact Book

‘Lemonade,’ ‘Veep,’ ‘Happy Valley’ among this year’s Peabody honorees

By Margaret Blanchard mblanch@uga.edu

Beyonce’s visual album Lemonade, the HBO workplace comedy Veep and the British crime drama Happy Valley are among this year’s Peabody 30.

The other entertainment programs chosen by the Peabody Awards board of jurors are FX Productions’ Atlanta and Better Things, Pig Newton Inc.’s Horace and Pete and the Forge’s National Treasure.

Atlanta is the Donald Glover series about the struggles of two young black men trying to make it in Atlanta’s rap scene. Co-created by Pamela Adlon and Louis C.K., Better Things is an examination of the vicissitudes of working motherhood. Horace and Pete melds contemporary politics and serialized storytelling with a throwback approach.

National Treasure explores the loyalty of family and friends during crisis, the impact of sexual abuse on victims and the legal system itself.

The 12 documentary winners are Audrie & Daisy, the tale of how social media shaming enacts a secondary traumatization of teen rape victims; 4.1 Miles, a short film about a Greek boat captain thrust into the journeys undertaken by refugees risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean and find safe haven in Europe; F ­ RONTLINE: Confronting ISIS, a report about the political complexities behind the rise of the terrorist group, their strategies in recruitment and tactics and America’s diplomatic missteps and heightened challenges; FRONTLINE: Exodus, a report on the refugee and migrant crisis; Hip-Hop Evolution, a history of hip-hop music; Independent Lens: Trapped, a report that examines the

motivation and politics surrounding “TRAP” laws specifically designed to restrict access to abortion; MAVIS!, a story about the influence of Mavis Staples and the Staple Singers across music genres; O.J.: Made in America, an examination of American culture, race, celebrity, masculinity and criminality; POV: Hooligan Sparrow, the story of Ye Haiyan, also known as “Hooligan Sparrow,” and a small group of women’s rights activists protesting the state of sexual assault crises in schools in China; Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four, which follows four Latina lesbians wrongfully accused of sexual assault in the mid-1990s; 13th, a deconstruction of the criminalization of African-Americans as a means of exercising social control of black populations; and Zero Days, which maps how cybersecurity experts discovered the computer worm known as Stuxnet.

The board of jurors selected 11 winners across the categories of news, public service, radio/podcast and web. The news honorees are “Arrested at School: Criminalizing Classroom Misbehavior, ” a report from KNTV Bay Area into local school districts relying on police as a means of student discipline; “Charity Caught on Camera,” an investigative journalism report about mismanagement and corruption at a local nonprofit; three CNN packages—“ISIS in Iraq and Syria,” “Undercover in Syria,” “Battle for Mosul”of on-the-ground reporting from the Middle East; “Dangerous ­Exposure,” a local investigative journalism piece about how one Indiana watchdog agency failed to do its job; and “Heart of an Epidemic, West Virginia’s Opioid Addiction,” an investigation into shady “pill mills.”

The honoree in the public service category is Just Not Sports & One Tree Forest Films for “#MoreThanMean— Women in Sports ‘Face’ Harassment,” a short video about civility online and the damage of vicious tweets.

In the radio/podcast category, honorees are APM Reports for “In the Dark,” an examination of a 27-yearold cold case in central Minnesota; Mars Patel LLC (Panoply) for “The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel,” an original, serialized podcast that transports listeners to follow Mars Patel—a plucky but brilliant outcast prone to trouble—and his friends as they investigate the mysterious connection between disappearing kids and a billionaire inventor; PBC in collaboration with The Marshall Project and ProPublica for “This American Life: Anatomy of Doubt,” the report of a young woman whose allegations of rape are dismissed by both the police and those closest to her juxtaposed with the account of how her rapist was eventually captured by another police department; and NPR for “Wells Fargo Hurts Whistleblowers,” a report on the systemic issues of a sales culture at Wells Fargo that led not only to the creation of 2 million fake consumer banking accounts but also the blacklisting of employees who attempted to report unethical practices.

The honoree in the web category is ProPublica and The Texas Tribune for “Hell and High Water,”which tells the story of Houston’s current and future vulnerability to dangerous flooding resulting from global warming.

Recipients will be honored at the 76th annual Peabody Awards ceremony, hosted by Rashida Jones, May 20 in New York.

HONORS PROGRAM

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

By Stephanie Schupska schupska@uga.edu

five awards annually

UGA added two new Udall Scholars to its ranks this year as third-year students Shreya Ganeshan and Elizabeth Wilkes were honored for their leadership, public service and commitment to issues related to the environment.

Each year, the Udall Foundation awards about 60 scholarships to college sophomores Shreya Ganeshan Elizabeth Wilkes and juniors for their efforts related to Native American nations or their work in environmental advocacy and policy.

Ganeshan, from Johns Creek, is majoring in economics and statistics and plans to pursue a doctorate in clean energy innovation and deployment. Wilkes, from Atlanta, is majoring in geography and ecology and plans to pursue a master’s degree in either food policy or agricultural and environmental studies. Both are Honors students and Foundation Fellows.

“The University of Georgia congratulates our students for this significant accomplishment,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “The experiences they have gained through research and internships have prepared them, like other UGA students before them, to compete at the highest levels.”

With the addition of Ganeshan and Wilkes, UGA has had 11 Udall Scholars in the past seven years.

After graduating from UGA, Ganeshan plans to study how weather-related disasters strain local and national infrastructure and plans to develop financial models for clean energy.

Along with her major in human geography, Wilkes will be among the first UGA students to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in ecology. She plans to pursue a career as an advocate for food justice and hopes to transform food systems to promote environmental and social justice.

Students will have access to a significant new scholarship fund in the UGA College of Engineering thanks to the generosity of Walton Electric Membership Corp.

The Walton EMC Engineering Leadership Scholarship Fund will provide five $10,000 awards annually to UGA engineering students who live in the utility’s 10-county service area in northeast Georgia.

Walton EMC established the scholarship program to recognize future engineering leaders and to retain local student engineering talent, according to Ronnie Lee, the company’s CEO. “Cultivating good engineers is critical to every facet of our nation’s infrastructure,” said Lee, a 1969 graduate of UGA in agricultural engineering.“Our customer-owners expect—and rightly so—excellent electric service. Sound engineering is the foundation we build on to deliver that promise.”

The Walton EMC Engineering Leadership Scholarships are available to students currently enrolled in the College of Engineering as well as high school students who’ve been accepted into UGA as intended engineering majors. To be eligible for the scholarships, students must possess a cumulative GPA of 3.7 and they must maintain permanent residency in Walton EMC’s service area: Athens-Clarke, Barrow, DeKalb, Greene, Gwinnett, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Rockdale and Walton counties.

The scholarships are renewable for up to four years as long as the recipient maintains a cumulative 3.7 GPA and remains enrolled in one of the eight Bachelor of Science degree programs offered by the UGA College of Engineering.

“I am extremely grateful for the generosity of Walton EMC in supporting our students at the College of Engineering,” said Donald J. Leo, the engineering college’s dean.

“Partnerships like this are an essential component of our goal to attract and retain top engineering talent from across Georgia. Chairman Lee and his team have helped establish a meaningful scholarship program, which can serve as a template for other organizations with whom we partner.”

Two UGA undergraduates New Walton EMC receive Udall Scholarship scholarship to provide

RESEARCH NEWS

columns.uga.edu May 1, 2017

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Digest Law school teams win top honors at two national negotiation competitions

Amy Ware

Matthew Perri, a professor of clinical and administrative pharmacy, researches how prescription drugs are advertised to consumers.

Prescription for success People are more effective than cartoons when advertising drugs, study says

By Elizabeth Fite ecfite@uga.edu

Advertising tactics, like using celebrities or coupons to promote a product, can influence consumers’ purchasing habits. But when the product is a prescription drug, an ad’s effectiveness can have significant health implications.

Matthew Perri, a professor of clinical and administrative pharmacy in UGA’s College of Pharmacy, researches the impact of advertising prescription drugs directly to consumers. His latest study, conducted with two former graduate students and UGA alumni Nilesh Bhutada and Brent Rollins, was recently published in the journal Health Communication and examines consumer perceptions toward the use of animated spokes-characters, such as cartoons.

Cartoons, said Perri, have the potential “to capture one’s attention much quicker, drawing you in to spend time reading the ad, so we were trying to figure out if using cartoon figures could change how people perceive the

ad in either a positive or negative way.”

The researchers created two different print ads for a fictitious cholesterollowering prescription drug called Enzacol. The first Enzacol ad featured the cartoon character “LDL Blob,” while the second ad used human actors.

Study participants were randomly assigned to review one of the two ads before responding to a questionnaire.

Data were collected for 502 adults who had been diagnosed with high cholesterol or purchased cholesterollowering medication in the past.

Following data collection, the researchers further divided individuals into “high” or “low” disease state categories based on the severity of their condition.

The study found that respondents in both groups liked the human spokescharacters significantly better than the cartoon, which suggests that animated spokes-characters may be ineffective in relaying messages about prescription drugs.

However, regardless of which

v­ ersion of the ad individuals viewed, the study confirmed previous advertising research: Individuals with a higher level of involvement with an issue—in this case a higher level of disease— processed the ad’s information more thoroughly and formed more positive perceptions toward the ad and the company in the ad, thus increasing the likelihood they would ask their physician about the drug.

“People who are more involved by virtue of having a disease generally pay more attention and are generally better equipped to understand the information in prescription drug advertising,” Perri said, adding that patient education and empowerment are potential positive effects of drug advertising.

“Some individuals may not even be aware of a disease like high cholesterol—it’s silent,” he said. “So patients watch the TV and see an ad for cholesterol medicine and this makes them aware, which can then prompt them to go to the doctor and get a cholesterol check.”

PUBLIC SERVICE AND OUTREACH, SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Workshops give UGA students edge in job market In addition to management and human resources, public administration theory and finance, students in UGA’s top ranked Master of Public Administration program are now getting lessons in an area that employers say they need: soft skills.

Taught by faculty and staff from UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government, MPA Student Professional Development: Soft Skills includes six workshops that help the students understand business etiquette and self-motivation, skills that make them more marketable once they receive their degrees.

“We focused on picking workshops that provide training in as many personal skills as possible, including things as basic as what to wear to work, how to introduce yourself properly, effective communication and how to address a conflict early on,” said Stacy Jones, associate director for governmental training, education and development at the Institute of Government, a public

service and outreach unit.

The program was developed by Andrew Grandage and Jacob Wingate, both graduate students in the UGA School of Public and International Affairs. As a graduate assistant for the Institute of Government, Grandage helped with the governor’s High Demand Career Initiative, where he learned about the value employers place on soft skills. Wingate also is a graduate assistant at the institute, coordinating its student internship programs.

Aaron Redmon, the MPA recruitment and career services coordinator for SPIA’s public administration department, said the classes are especially important to younger students who come directly into the MPA program without spending time in the workforce.

“Some haven’t had the on-the-job opportunities to learn soft skills like professional etiquette, public presenting and conflict management,” Redmon said. “That is why this is so beneficial to our students; it provides them with

these critical lessons now so they do not have to learn them the hard way while on the job.”

The connection with Vinson also is a benefit for the students, many of whom could be working in the public sector one day.

“They will have firsthand experience working with the institute, planting a seed for future partnerships for education and development,” Wingate said.

Sachi Delacruz, a second-year student in the MPA program, said she’s better prepared to communicate professionally with future colleagues and supervisors.

“It’s helpful to talk about the importance to have constant professionalism that allows you to build and maintain relationships,” Delacruz said. “Most of our classes are big picture and theory, but this gets down to the nitty-gritty of what it’s like to walk into professional situations and what to do when you’re there.”

The University of Georgia School of Law recently won top honors in two national negotiation ­competitions.

Third-year student Benjamin M. “Ben” Hill and second-year student Steven D. Zavodnick Jr. were named national champions at the Transactional LawMeet in New York. A second law school team comprised of third-year students Molly H. Cash and Hannah R. Coleman also competed at the event. Both teams represented the buyer in a complex asset purchase transaction.

The two teams earned their spots at the national competition after winning regional LawMeet rounds in Dallas and Denver, respectively.

Additionally, two law school teams recently captured both first and second place at the Energy Law Negotiation Competition held at the South Texas College of Law. Notably, it was the first time UGA has participated in the tournament.

Third-year law students Blake A. McLemore and L. Joe Potente captured first place, and second-year students Ryan J. Mumper and S. Chase Parker were second place winners.

The teams competed against Southern Methodist University and Tulane University law schools in their final rounds.

MBA team takes first place at real estate competition for second year in a row

For the second year in a row, a University of Georgia MBA team took first prize at the School Challenge case competition sponsored by the Atlanta chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties.

Terry College of Business students bested teams from Emory, Georgia Tech and Georgia State to capture the $7,500 grand prize. The win is the 10th for the Georgia MBA program, tying Emory’s record for most first-place finishes in the event’s 25-year history.

To win, the Georgia team provided the best solution to a case that required the students to suggest suitable properties for a 1,000-employee firm planning to move to Atlanta.

The Georgia team consisted of students Matt Green, Josh Williams, Cody Hughes and Peter Farag, with assistance from faculty adviser Richard Martin, associate professor of real estate, and industry coaches Jay O’Meara of CBRE and Andy Kroll of Trimont Real Estate Advisors, both alumni of the Terry College.

School of Law team wins at national, invitation-only mock trial tournament

The UGA School of Law recently won the sixth annual South Texas Mock Trial Challenge, an invitationonly national advocacy tournament.

Third-year law students Jacob S. “Jake” Edwards and Christopher D. “Chris” Stokes argued the case, and second-year law students Oliver R. Ladd and Lauren E. Lutton served as witnesses. Third-year student Andrew Z.R. Smith served as student coach.

In addition to being undefeated throughout the competition, the group was presented with the Outstanding Trial Brief Award, and Stokes was named the Most Professional Advocate.

Georgia Law Director of Advocacy Kellie Casey praised the team for its efforts.

“It is great to win this national mock trial tournament,” she said. “We faced law school teams from the states of Alabama, California, Florida, North Carolina, South Dakota and Texas as well as Washington, D.C. I am also grateful to current Georgia Law faculty ­member and former advocacy student J. Robert ‘Rob’ McNiff and Georgia Law graduates Michael T. ‘Mike’ Rafi, Margaret E. ‘Maggy’ Randels, Adam J. Fitzsimmons, David B. Dove and Eric L. Roden for their help in readying our students for competition. At the end of the day, it is all about preparing our students to be successful, and it is tremendous to have so many graduates and former advocacy program participants investing in the next generation of legal advocates.”

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 Division of Marketing & Communications. Periodicals postage is paid in Athens, Georgia. Postmaster: Send off-campus address changes to Columns, UGA Marketing & Communications, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Athens, GA 30602-1999.

4 May 1, 2017 columns.uga.edu

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

VOICES FROM THE VANGUARD LECTURE

State department officer discusses history, future of AIDS during lecture

By Jim Lichtenwalter

james.lichtenwal25@uga.edu

Scientists and humanitarians are on the cusp of either eradicating AIDS or falling so far behind the disease that advances will not be able to catch up, according to Sandra L. Thurman.

Thurman is the chief strategy officer in the U.S. Department of State’s Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Health Diplomacy. She also serves on the faculty at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University.

Thurman spoke to UGA students and faculty March 21 as part of the Global Diseases: Voices from the Vanguard lecture series, covering the disease’s past, present and future. The lecture also was one the university’s designated spring Signature Lectures.

“I want to talk about where we are after 35 years in our effort to bring an end to this epidemic and create what we all hope to see, which is an AIDS-free generation,” she said.

During the lecture, Thurman covered the history of AIDS and the public health crisis it inspired. Working as the director of the National AIDS Policy Office in the administration of President Bill Clinton, she had a courtside seat to AIDS policymaking and research.

Thurman discussed how the perception of the disease changed over the years. In the early days of the outbreak in the U.S., AIDS was thought to be a disease that only afflicted drug addicts and homosexual men.

“People were incredibly afraid of this epidemic,” she said. “We were scrambling to figure out the disease and how to communicate to the public about it.”

Public figures Ryan White and Magic Johnson helped changed the disease’s initial stigma and inspired more research.

Yet while this was happening in the U.S., Thurman said that the complete opposite was taking place in other parts of the world.

“While we were dealing with the early days of the epidemic here...AIDS was sweeping across Africa as a silent killer,” she said. “We didn’t understand and certainly didn’t have any clue as to the magnitude of the impact the epidemic would have.”

AIDS currently is still a massive problem in Africa, but programs like President George W. Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief are certainly helping, Thurman said.

Yet, today the world stands on the brink of two options. While AIDS research and treatment have certainly advanced, the disease is set to outpace all the policymaking, research, advances and preventive measures.

“If we continue on our current trajectory, we’re going to fall so far behind that we’ll never catch up with the epidemic,” Thurman said. “We won’t be able to stop it.”

The Global Diseases: Voices from the Vanguard lecture series is co-sponsored by the UGA Grady College Health and Medical Journalism graduate program and the UGA Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases. It is co-organized by Patricia Thomas, who holds the Knight Chair in Health and Medical Journalism at Grady College, and Daniel G. Colley, professor of microbiology and director of UGA’s Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases.

Dorothy Kozlowski

Students like Abhyjit Kheepal are gaining more knowledge in their fields because of opportunities provided by the Experiential Learning Endowment Fund.

Expanded knowledge Experiential Learning Endowment Fund helps students gain skills in their fields

By Camie Williams camiew@uga.edu

Abhyjit Kheepal has big plans for his future. The University of Georgia sophomore has ambitions of working in a finance consulting firm and, thanks to a scholarship from the university’s newly created Experiential Learning Endowment Fund, he will spend this summer putting his classroom knowledge to work in the financial capital of the U.S. The UGA Experiential Learning Endowment Fund was established in the 2016-2017 academic year. To date, 79 students in 36 majors have received scholarships that allow them to participate in internships around the globe, conduct research and engage in service-learning off campus and study abroad.

“Through experiential learning, I will be able to know what it is like to be in a professional setting and get firsthand experience in one of my top career choices,” Kheepal said of his plans to participate in an eight-week internship in New York City with Deloitte, one of the largest financial consulting firms in the world.

But the cost of living in New York City can make it difficult to gain such a valuable learning experience, said the finance major from Blairsville.

“This scholarship makes it

­ nancially possible to explore this cafi reer opportunity in a booming financial center like New York,” he said. “Experiential learning allows me to get a feel for what this career entails by placing me in the heart of the operations and giving me an outlet to communicate with current partners to gain a deeper understanding of the field.”

Research has shown that experiences such as service-learning, internships, undergraduate research and study abroad enhance academic performance and better prepare students for employment or graduate and professional school. To ensure that all students benefit from experiences such as these, in 2016 the University of Georgia became the largest public university in America to require students to engage in handson learning prior to graduation.

Contributions to the Experiential Learning Endowment Fund are part of the Commit to Georgia Campaign, which strives to raise $1.2 billion by 2020. Gifts to this endowment fund will support two of the three campaign priorities — eliminating financial barriers for students by increasing need- and merit-based scholarship support, and enhancing the learning environment to develop experienced leaders who will tackle tomorrow’s greatest challenges. Donors may contribute to the endowment fund online at give.uga. edu/commit by choosing “Causes” and

then selecting “Experiential Learning.”

“The generosity of our alumni and other donors is helping our students put their classroom knowledge into action,” said Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Pamela Whitten. “Through experiential learning, students gain the kind of critical thinking skills that foster a lifetime of success. Whether they’ve completed an internship, engaged in service-learning, conducted research or studied abroad, our students consistently look back on their hands-on learning experience as a pivotal moment in their college careers.”

Student Mariah Elliott said she believes her upcoming summer in Marrakesh, Morocco, will provide her with the skills and understanding she needs to reach her goal of working as a humanitarian or diplomat.

“By supporting my study abroad to Morocco, the EL scholarship has provided a vessel through which I can expand my knowledge,” said Elliott, a second-year student from Buford who is majoring in international affairs.

Elliott’s summer study abroad includes religion and Arabic courses, cultural excursions and other experiences. “I will be able to broaden my personal and global reach,” she said.

“Without the experiential learning scholarship, I would not be able to have this kind of learning experience.”

FRANKLIN COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Communications studies student featured in HBO movie ‘The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks’

By Jessica Luton jlutton@uga.edu

UGA sophomore Kyanna Simone Simpson may find herself being recognized on campus in the coming weeks thanks to a role in the HBO film adaptation of best-selling book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.

Simpson, a Franklin College of Arts and Sciences student currently majoring in communication studies, hails from Decatur where she attended the Southwest DeKalb High School’s magnet program. She had the unique experience of being a student at UGA while simultaneously working to become a professional actress.

The film follows the story of Deborah Lacks as she searches for answers about her mother Henrietta Lacks, whose cancerous cells were harvested without her knowledge or consent.

These cells were unique because they continued to divide well beyond any timeframe that doctors had seen in other human samples. Henrietta’s cells were soon categorized as immortal and sold to researchers around the world. While

the Lacks family had no idea that this was going on, her cells brought about major medical breakthroughs and are still used today in research.

Simpson plays Deborah Lacks as she comes of age in her youth, while Oprah Winfrey portrays Deborah throughout her adult life.

Throughout her youth, Simpson said she’s always been told that she looked a lot like Winfrey. After a call from her manager about the film, she reached out to LaTanya Kyanna Simone Simpson Richardson Jackson, a mentor from her time in a role on the HBOTV miniseries Show Me a Hero, for a reference to help her land an audition. Eventually she got an audition, a callback for a director’s session and

weeks later, a call from her manager who said simply, “Hey Deborah!” She had landed the role.

In August and September 2016, Simpson went to Atlanta and Baltimore for filming, and the experience is one that she’ll never forget.

“I got to spend so much time with Ms. Winfrey. She is my biggest inspiration,” she said. “Being able to spend time with her and bond with her was everything. This was a really big role for me. As I’m growing in my acting, it meant a lot to me that the director, George C. Wolfe, was there to guide me through the character.”

The best part about acting, she added, is being able to tell a story that will impact others’ perspectives.

“I was beyond excited for the movie premiere,” she said.

“The world watched this film about Henrietta Lacks and learned about her tremendous contributions to the world of science. I can’t do anything but smile.”

The movie premiered April 22. For more information about rebroadcast dates for the film, visit www.hbo.com/movies/the-immortal-life-of-henrietta-lacks.

UGAGUIDE

columns.uga.edu May 1, 2017

For a complete listing of events, 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.

EXHIBITIONS

The Past is Never Dead: Kristin Casaletto.

May 6-July 30. ­Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu (See story, left.)

Expanding Tradition: Selections from the Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Collection. Through May 7. ­Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu Equality Under the Law: History of the Equal Rights Amendment. Through May 12. ­Hargrett Library Gallery, special collections libraries. 706-542-8079. jclevela@uga.edu Necessary Words & Images: 70 Years of The Georgia Review. Through May 12. ­Hargrett Library Gallery, special collections libraries. 706-542-8079. jclevela@uga.edu Michael Ellison: Urban Impressions.

Through May 21. ­Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu A Championship Tradition: The NCAA Tennis Tournament in Athens. Through May 30. Rotunda, special collections libraries. 706-542-5788. hasty@uga.edu

On the Stump—What Does it Take to Get Elected in Georgia? Through Aug. 18. Special collections libraries. 706-542-5788. jhebbard@uga.edu

and celebrates graduates. 10 a.m.

Stuckey Auditorium, 1109 Experiment St. 770-412-4400. pbeaven@uga.edu

FRIDAY, MAY 5

WEDNESDAY, MAY 10

SPRING 2017 COMMENCEMENT Graduate ceremony at 10 a.m. at Stegeman Coliseum. Undergraduate ceremony at 7 p.m. at Sanford Stadium. Find details at commencement.uga.edu.

TOUR AT TWO Join Sarah Kate Gillespie, curator of American art, for a tour of The Past is Never Dead: Kristin Casaletto. 2 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662.

COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH GRADUATION CELEBRATION Celebrate the Class of 2017 at this year’s College of Public Health Graduation Celebration. 3 p.m. Athena Ballroom, Classic Center, 300 N. Thomas St. 706-542-3187. cphadm@uga.edu

FULL MOON HIKE See the garden come alive at night. May’s hike will be a storytelling event, Myths by Moonlight, with Wandering Thomas (local storyteller and naturalist, Tommy Tye). $5 per person; $15 per family. 8 p.m. Meet at the fountain in front of the Visitor Center, State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6156. ckeber@uga.edu

BOOK SIGNING Coach Vince Dooley will be signing copies of his newly released book. 4 p.m.

Bookstore.

SATURDAY, MAY 6 GARDENS OF THE WORLD BALL The Gardens of the World Ball is the premier fundraiser for the State Botanical Garden, raising needed funds for a facility that is free to the public and reaches statewide in education and conservation efforts. $750 per couple; $375 per individual. Visitor Center, State Botanical Garden.

706-542-6014. connicot@uga.edu

TUESDAY TOUR AT TWO Guided tour of the exhibit galleries of the Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies. Participants should meet in the rotunda on the second floor of the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. 2 p.m.

706-542-8079. jclevela@uga.edu

EXHIBITION OPENING The Past Is Never Dead: Kristin Casaletto shows prints by the contemporary Georgia-based artist. Casaletto’s work addresses issues of history and how it is interpreted as well as questions related to identity and race. A relative newcomer to the South, Casaletto approaches the region’s complex history from the perspective of an outsider without marginalizing its culture. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu (See story, left).

WEDNESDAY, MAY 3

SUNDAY, MAY 7

TUESDAY, MAY 2

TOUR AT TWO Join Lynn Boland, the Pierre Daura Curator of European Art, for a special tour of the permanent collection that will examine the theme of social commentary in art. 2 p.m.

Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662.

PANEL DISCUSSION The Hargrett Library and the ITA Men’s Tennis Hall of Fame will be cohosting a panel discussion on the history of the NCAA tennis championships in Athens.

5:30 p.m. Auditorium, special collections libraries. 706-542-6179. hasty@uga.edu GRIFFIN CAMPUS GRADUATION RECEPTION The Griffin Campus Graduate Reception honors and celebrates the Griffin campus 2017 spring graduates and their immediate families. 6 p.m. Stuckey Auditorium, 1109 Experiment St. 770-412-4400. ccm16@uga.edu

THURSDAY, MAY 4 GRIFFIN CAMPUS GRADUATION CELEBRATION AND BRICK CEREMONY The UGA Griffin Campus Graduation Celebration and Brick Ceremony recognizes

BASEBALL vs. Georgia Tech. $5-$8. 7 p.m. SunTrust Park, Atlanta. 706-542-1231.

NCAA WOMEN’S GOLF Regional practice round. 7:30 a.m. UGA Golf Course.

MONDAY, MAY 8 NCAA WOMEN’S GOLF Regional. 7:30 a.m. UGA Golf Course.

REGISTRATION For May session and extended summer session.

SPRING SEMESTER GRADES Due by 5 p.m.

TUESDAY, MAY 9 CLASSES BEGIN For May session and extended summer session.

DROP/ADD FOR EXTENDED SUMMER SESSION Through May 15. For undergraduate- and graduate-level courses.

DROP/ADD FOR MAY SESSION Through May 10.

Calendar items are taken from Columns files and from the university’s Master Calendar, maintained by Marketing & Communications. Notices are published as space permits, with priority given to items of multidisciplinary interest. The Master Calendar is available at calendar.uga.edu/.

THURSDAY, MAY 11 STAFF APPRECIATION DAY UGA will hold its third annual Staff Appreciation Day. All staff members are invited and encouraged to attend. 10 a.m.

Intramural Fields.

FRIDAY, MAY 12 NATIONAL PUBLIC GARDENS DAY National Public Gardens Day is a day to honor and draw attention to the nation’s public gardens. 10 a.m. State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6014. connicot@uga.edu

“Self-portrait as Sensitive Italian” can be seen at the Georgia Museum of Art as part of The Past Is Never Dead: Kristin Casaletto.

GEORGIA MUSEUM OF ART EXHIBITION TO TAKE A HARD LOOK AT SOUTH

90 CARLTON: SPRING The Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art present a reception featuring the spring exhibitions. Enjoy light refreshments, gallery activities, door prizes and “Ask the Experts” from 7-8 p.m. Event partners include Athens Printing Company, Barron’s Rental Center and Epting Events.

Become a member of the museum at the event for complimentary admission. RSVP to gmoarsvp@uga.edu or by calling 706-542-4199. Register at http://bit. ly/90c-spring17. $5; free for members.

5:30 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662.

BASEBALL vs. Mississippi State. $5-$8. 7 p.m. Foley Field. 706-542-1231.

COMING UP BASEBALL May 16. vs. Furman. $5-$8. 6 p.m. Foley Field. 706-542-1231.

MAY SESSION MIDTERM, WITHDRAWAL DEADLINE May 17.

ARTFUL CONVERSATION: SAM GILLIAM May 17. Join Carissa DiCindio, curator of education, for an in-depth discussion of Sam Gilliam’s Patchwork/Terry. 2 p.m.

Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662.

NATURE RAMBLE May 18. Join Nature Ramblers and learn more about the natural areas, flora and fauna of the garden. Sessions start with an inspirational reading by a nature writer.

This is a ramble not a hike. 9:30 a.m. Meet at Shade Garden Arbor, State Botanical Garden.

By Alexandra Kenneweg akenn@uga.edu

What do Twinkies, canned hams, locusts and glitter have in common? Augusta-based artist and teacher Kristin Casaletto has used all of them to make art that engages with social issues. Primarily a printmaker, she likes to experiment with unusual objects. She once printed an etching of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America, on a grilled cheese sandwich.

Visitors to the Georgia Museum of Art can see her more traditional work on paper (and a few locusts) starting May 6 in the exhibition The Past Is Never Dead: Kristin Casaletto. Organized by Sarah Kate Gillespie, the museum’s curator of American art, the exhibition shows Casaletto reacting to her adopted home: the South.

Originally from Indiana, Casaletto attended Ball State University there, double majoring in drawing and physics.

But when she moved to Mississippi for a teaching career, she was startled to discover the legacy of racism and the way the past remained part of daily life in the South. Since then, she has mined its history for content, making etchings, woodcuts, drawings and more that examine themes including the passage of time, memory, American iconography and obsession with the “self.”

“I admire Kristin Casaletto’s willingness to grapple openly with thorny topics from our past, but also her intelligent focus on contemporary trends like ‘selfie’ culture,” said Gillespie. “Casaletto’s work finds connections between the past and the present in a way that enables the viewer to think deeply about current political, social and cultural issues.”

The Past Is Never Dead will be on view through July 30.

Related events include a tour with Gillespie May 10 at 2 p.m.; 90 Carlton Spring, the museum’s quarterly reception ($5, free for members of the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art) May 12 at 5:30 p.m.; and a Twilight Tour May 18 at 7 p.m. All events are open free to the public unless otherwise indicated.

The exhibition’s title comes from William Faulkner’s book Requiem for a Nun, which includes the famous sentences “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”

TO SUBMIT A LISTING FOR THE MASTER CALENDAR AND COLUMNS Post event information first to the Master Calendar website (calendar.uga.edu/). Listings for Columns are taken from the Master Calendar 12 days before the publication date. Events not posted by then may not be printed in Columns.

Any additional information about the event may be sent directly to Columns. Email is preferred (columns@uga. edu), but materials can be mailed to Columns, Marketing & Communications, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Campus Mail 1999.

NEXT COLUMNS DEADLINES May 31 (for June 12 issue) June 14 (for June 26 issue) July 5 (for July 17 issue)

5

6 May 1, 2017 columns.uga.edu

CAMPUS CLOSEUP

For the good of all

“On both sides of the Atlantic, dedicated social workers strive to improve the quality of life for individuals and communities, and fight against social injustice,” Anna Scheyett, dean of the UGA School of Social Work, wrote for a piece in The Guardian.

Scheyett went on to discuss the similarities in social work in the U.S. and the United Kingdom, such as a commitment to service and the challenges social workers face, as well as the differences, including differing health care systems.

“But in many ways the conversations we have within those systems are the same: Who is worthy of help? How do we build the best system to help them? Most importantly, social workers in both the U.S. and the UK are asking how as a society we can overcome our fear and anger, and work together for the good of all,” she wrote.

Scheyett pointed out that for social workers to be effective, they must engage in advocacy and action.

“It will require the best of our existing skills, the acquisition of new skills, a fierce dedication to change and the opportunity to learn from each other. I am confident we are up to the challenge.

Social work has a long history of fighting injustice and social problems. We can do this,” she wrote.

You are who you like

Psychologists know a fair amount about how personality traits are perceived in general. But they know a lot less about how a person’s own personality influences how they perceive those personality traits of others. Now, a study finds that people with dysfunctional traits such as narcissism and antagonism are more tolerant when they run into others who share those troublesome traits.

“If you describe yourself as neurotic, there is a correlation with you saying that you like that trait,” study researcher Joshua Miller, a professor and director of the psychology department’s Clinical Training Program, told Live Science. “It was strongest in the trait we’re most interested in, antagonism.”

Miller and Joanna Lamkin recruited 218 college students and surveyed them to determine to what extent they had certain personality disorder traits.

In a second study, 198 students completed surveys on their own levels of general personality traits, not just maladaptive ones.

According to Miller, the findings showed that people were more positive toward traits they themselves had—whether those traits were personality disorder traits or more general personality traits.

Straw wars

A cold drink on a hot summer day is certainly refreshing, but it might be best to think twice before sipping from a straw.

Straws make up a tiny fraction of the estimated 8 million tons of ocean plastic, but their size makes them one of the most insidious polluters because they entangle marine animals and are consumed by fish.

In fact, straws are making their way onto the list of individual plastic products being banned, taxed or boycotted in some areas in an effort to curb seaborn plastic trash.

France, for example, has banned plastic bags, along with plastic plates, cups and utensils, beginning in 2020. According to the National Park Service, Americans use 500 million straws daily.

“If you have the opportunity to make this choice and not to use a plastic straw, this can help keep this item off our beaches and raise awareness on plastic in the ocean,” Jenna Jambeck, an associate professor in UGA’s College of Engineering, told National Geographic.

“And if you can make this one choice, maybe you can do even more.”

Dorothy Kozlowski

Shonte Matthews, coordinator of faculty and staff development for the Office of Institutional Diversity, works with faculty, staff and students to show them how to incorporate diversity into the rest of their daily lives.

Development coordinator lives a life as diverse as her work at UGA

By Krista Richmond krichmond@uga.edu

Shonte Matthews has led a diverse life.

“No matter who you are, where you come from or what your background is, I know you have a story,” she said.

“I want to know your story, because I think it will enrich me. We’re the sum of all of our experiences, and I feel that every life I touch and that touches mine changes us and enriches us.”

Matthews’ own story began by being raised by her Jamaican mother, and that culture still has a strong presence in her life. In fact, every year, she and her husband, Cliff, cook a traditional Thanksgiving feast but celebrate Christmas with Jamaican food. Throughout her life, she’s balanced the two.

“First-generation Americans often find that they’re on the cusp of two different cultures,” she said.

Matthews also has an interest in Spanish culture, earning her bachelor’s degree in the language, which she taught at a high school in Charlotte.

From there, her passion extended to higher education, and she earned a master’s degree in higher education administration. She was the first person in her family to earn a college degree and plans to finish the program for her doctorate in education in May 2018.

Currently, Matthews is the coordinator of faculty and staff development for the Office of Institutional Diversity.

It wasn’t an area in which she originally envisioned herself, but when she saw the needs of the racially and ethnically

diverse high school students she was teaching, she began to wonder where the diversity was in the curriculum.

“When you see a school of diverse students,” she wondered, “ ‘Why don’t any of the examples look like my students?’ ” As she worked on her master’s degree, she continued to research the issue to find answers she could apply in her classroom. Eventually, she looked to bring those same principles to higher education.

“I like the interdisciplinary work of diversity,” she said. “Every day is a different day.”

Matthews said what the Office of Institutional Diversity does is “professionalize the work of diversity and inclusion,” taking those ideas and connecting them to the university’s mission. Her hope is that by interacting with models of diversity at UGA, faculty, staff and students then incorporate those principles into the rest of their daily lives.

“I don’t want to always position diversity as something that just makes us feel good,” she said. “It is a necessity.

It is a reality of life.”

She works most closely on the certificate for diversity and inclusion program. In her time at UGA, she’s made efforts to help the program run more efficiently and expand class offerings. In addition, she also meets with individual colleges, schools and units about their diversity plans.

For Matthews, diversity isn’t always clear or easily defined. It goes beyond historically underrepresented minority groups and primary dimensions like

FACTS

Shonte Matthews Coordinator of Faculty & Staff Development Office of Institutional Diversity M.E., Higher Education Administration, Northeastern University, 2014 B.A., Spanish, University of South Carolina, 2011 At UGA: 1 year, 6 months

race, nationality, ethnicity, age, gender, physical abilities/qualities and sexual orientation. Other areas of diversity include factors that can be changed, such as educational background, geographic location, income, marital status, military experience, parental status, religious beliefs, ideological beliefs and work experiences.

“We want diversity to be connected to everything we do here at the university,” she said. “Understanding that diversity is part of life—I think that’s what our diversity work is.

It moves that into a more broad conversation.”

Her life outside of work is just as diverse. Cooking, cleaning and organizing are her “getaways” and preferred methods to unwind. Matthews and her husband enjoy traveling and try to take a trip out of the country once each year. They also binge watch shows on Netflix, which they call “movies” since they’re watching several episodes in succession.

“I’m a really simple person,” she said.

RETIREES March

Fourteen UGA employees retired March 1. Retirees, their job classification, department and years of service are: Kathy E. Adams, associate director, Institute of Continuing Judicial Education, School of Law, 34 years, 10 months; Lloyd P. Atkins, public service representative, Small Business Development Center, 6 years, 6 months; Deborah C. Bell, director, Student Academic Honesty, Office of the Vice President for Instruction, 25 years; Thomas M. Branch,

director of engineering and infrastructure, Facilities Planning Office, 35 years, 8 months; William O. Childs Jr., grounds keeper II, Facilities Management Division-GroundsMaintenance, 22 years, 6 months; Carol Wood Eidson, business manager II, Food Administration, 10 years; David L. Gast, professor, communication sciences and special education, 27 years, 1 month; James W. Gegogeine, research technician III, horticulture research, UGA Cooperative Extension, 24 years,3 months; Geoffrey L. Gilland, assistant director of multimedia,

Marketing & Communications, 30 years, 8 months; Georgia L. Harper, library associate II, libraries-general operations, 29 years, 9 months; Francine E. Jones, program coordinator III, Human Development and Family Science, 15 years; Neil Mizell, maintenance technician, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, 16 years; Annie Nash, building services worker II, Brumby Hall, 38 years, 3 months; and Rita Watkins, building services worker II, Brumby Hall, 39 years, 1 month.

Source: Human Resources

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT FOR INSTRUCTION

Gary Green

columns.uga.edu May 1, 2017

John Maurer

Andrew Owsiak

Janice Simon

Innovative instructors

7

Beth Tolley

Five faculty members receive First-Year Odyssey Teaching Awards

By Tracy N. Coley tcoley@uga.edu

Five UGA faculty were honored with 2017 First-Year Odyssey Teaching Awards at a reception held April 12 celebrating the continued success of the First-Year Odyssey Seminar program. Award recipients and their seminar titles were: • Gary T. Green is assistant dean of academic affairs and professor of natural resources, recreation and tourism in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. His “Natural Resource Conservation Issues” course is designed to help students understand past, present and future issues in natural resource management and conservation.

Green engages students in the community through hands-on exercises. They take photos of issues they encounter and discuss them in class, and they have small-group learning assignments in which they create, administer and collect data with a survey on local natural resource conservation issues. He also allows them to drive classroom discussion based on their observations and interests. Critical thinking is fostered through a “snowball fight” exercise where students write their perspectives of natural resource issues on paper, then crumple the paper into a ball and throw to another student who reads the statement and begins the discussion.

• John J. Maurer, professor of population health in the College of Veterinary Medicine, has taught one of the most sought-after FYO courses by first-year students for the last five years.

“The Zombie Plague” utilizes popular culture to engage students in scientific discussion of infectious diseases, epidemiology and public health. Students critique representations of contagious, communicable diseases of books and films featuring zombies and vampires and suggest changes to make the stories more factual based on the real case studies of pandemic plagues and zoonotic diseases they learn

about in class.

The course contains a significant writing component in which they write several short reports or accounts of fictitious zombie incidents from different stakeholder perspectives using correct terminology to describe the responsible biological or chemical agent, method of transmission and symptoms of the victims.

• Andrew P. Owsiak, an associate professor of international affairs in the School of Public and International Affairs, utilizes Reacting to the Past pedagogy in his course “Unintended Consequence of Calculated Risk: The Origins of World War I.” The class engages students in an ongoing scholarly debate regarding who is to blame for World War I. Through a Reacting to the Past role-playing game students represent factions of the Japanese Cabinet, making decisions during the years before World War II. Writing assignments, paired with academic readings, focus on critical thinking about insights gained in the July 1914 crisis. Students are introduced to the value of social science research by delving into Owsiak’s research expertise in crisis diplomacy and the causes of war. As a result of his FYO, Owsiak has begun studying how variation in game design might affect student learning outcomes.

• Janice Simon uses her connections with the Georgia Museum of Art and her expertise in American art in her course “Looking at Art in the Georgia Museum of Art.” Simon, a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor of Art History in the Lamar Dodd School of Art, introduces students to the museum’s academic, research and public service missions for the university and the state.

Students work in small groups to design a virtual exhibition space including lighting, entrances, wall color and placement of 15 works of art. Each student in the group researches three works, writing several paragraph-long labels for each and contributing to the group’s introductory panel that explains

WEEKLY READER

the rationale and ideas behind their choices. The groups present their exhibitions to the class at the end of the semester, and Simon provides feedback on theme and the historical background of art pieces. During the course, students have the opportunity to meet with the art museum’s curators to gain an introduction to the intellectual components of the museum and considerations made when forming a show.

Through encouraging questions and vocalizing thoughts, students, no matter their background, are able to think about works of art and how each have meaning both as individual pieces and as part of an exhibit.

• Beth D. Tolley is a clinical associate professor of educational theory and practice in the College of Education.

Her course “So, You Think You Want to Teach?” is geared toward students interested in learning more about the teaching profession and offers opportunities for inquisition and introspection in deciding on a career in teaching. Students are asked to compare qualities of their past influential teachers with themselves and have conversations not only with her, but also with senior education majors, former teachers and children to determine their motivation to teach, as well as provide a deeper understanding of teaching itself.

Tolley’s course stresses the interconnectedness of students’ personal/professional goals and engaging the community around them. At the end of the semester, students produce digital storytelling projects, an introspective documentary of where students are at this point in deciding about a teaching career.

This is the fourth annual awards reception recognizing outstanding instructors who have demonstrated innovation in instruction, connection of seminar content to the instructor’s research, and how FYOS program goals are incorporated into the seminar. This year’s recipients have been fully engaged with their students, provided them with a strong connection to the university through their research, and tied their curriculum directly to FYOS program goals.

CYBERSIGHTS

ABOUT COLUMNS

Book recounts lives of alumna, professor

The Lady of Booger Hill

By Sallie Krickel CreateSpace Independent Publishing Paperback: $15 Kindle: $2.99

Sallie Krickel, widow of the late Edward Krickel, a longtime faculty member of UGA’s English department in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, has released a book that details the life she built with her husband.

Krickel, who earned her doctorate from UGA and taught at world literature, Spanish and French at Emmanuel College for more than 30 years, wrote the novel as an homage to her late husband, a man she describes as incomparably kind, gentle and brilliant. Since their grandchildren were not born until a decade after his passing in 1994, Sallie wanted them to know him as more than a name on their family tree, telling this tale through her novel The Lady of Booger Hill.

Named after the neighborhood that Sallie grew up in, the book recounts Sallie’s childhood as well as various milestones in her life. The Lady of Booger Hill provides readers with an account of the hectic, chaotic lives of two professors as they balance work, family and life on a small farm in northeast Georgia.

Columns is available to the community by ­subscription for an annual fee of $20 (secondclass delivery) or $40 (first-class delivery).

Faculty and staff members with a disability may call 706-542-8017 for assistance in obtaining this publication in an alternate format.

Columns staff can be reached at 706-542-8017 or columns@uga.edu

Editor Juliett Dinkins

Fanning Institute launches new website

www.fanning.uga.edu

UGA’s J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development has launched a redesigned website that focuses on engaging visitors and potential clients. The overall design aligns with UGA’s new branding campaign and UGA’s public service and outreach mission.

The new website is mobile friendly and highlights the

i­ nstitute’s three main areas of work: community, youth and nonprofit.

The reorganized menu has been streamlined to allow visitors to easily access information on the institute’s many programs and services through only one click.

Other new features include an enhanced event calendar, live social media feed and a giving page.

Art Director Jackie Baxter Roberts Photo Editor Dorothy Kozlowski Senior Writer Aaron Hale Communications Coordinator Krista Richmond 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.

8 May 1, 2017 columns.uga.edu

GRANTS from page 1

STEM from page 1 rapidly, diversity of the STEM workforce has lagged behind. This disparity has potential to threaten our role as the global leader in STEM research and development. Programs like Bridges to the Doctorate are essential, as they will allow us to retain the best and brightest minds in the pipeline to the STEM workforce.”

Through the Bridges to the Doctorate program, 12 LSAMP alumni will receive two years of support for work toward a doctoral degree, with the remaining support coming from the department in which they study.

The Bridges to the Doctorate program also includes mentoring and professional development. The first cohort will begin their studies this summer.

The Peach State LSAMP provides academic enrichment, financial support, peer and faculty mentoring, and research opportunities for students at UGA and several additional University System of Georgia institutions. The program began in 2006, and a $4 million NSF grant awarded in 2016 will fund the program through 2021.

“The Peach State LSAMP grant has had incredible success in increasing the numbers of underrepresented students who are retained and graduate in STEM majors,” said

INSTITUTE

from page 1 Projects Agency, Department of Homeland Security and several corporations. Li added that as more devices connect to the Internet and more data about individual users becomes available, the need for enhanced privacy becomes more acute, as well.

The department of computer science currently offers several courses related to cybersecurity and privacy, both at the undergraduate and graduate level, and it offers a graduate certificate in cybersecurity. Li noted that one of the goals of the institute will be to create additional learning opportunities in cybersecurity, a field where demand for educated professionals greatly exceeds supply.

“The University of Georgia has more than 160 faculty members whose work leverages big data, and they are creating exciting new synergies that advance research, instruction and outreach across campus and beyond,” said Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

GARDEN

from page 1 temperature,” Dann said.“They insulate in the winter and cool it in the summer, reducing energy costs and unnecessary energy waste.”

Dann is a senior agriscience and environmental systems major with an emphasis in sustainable agriculture and has worked at the garden since summer 2016. She oversees the garden’s management, maintenance and volunteers and leads tours of the garden.

In late October, Dann received a grant to provide pollinator species like bees, butterflies and moths with a safe habitat at the center of the busy, commercialized city of Athens.

The project, known as RoofBuzz, was funded by the Pollination Project, a program that supports initiatives to increase sustainability and social change.

Dann used the grant money to buy plants like aster, spiked wild indigo and sage as well as mulch and mushroom compost, from the Mimsie Lanier Center for Native Plant Studies at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, a unit of UGA Public Service and Outreach.

Faculty and staff from the center helped her identify native plants that would attract native pollinators and grow successfully in the rooftop environment.

Since RoofBuzz started, the garden has attracted lots of new insects like bees, butterflies and beetles.

“It’s so encouraging to see them finding the habitat and sticking around to enjoy it.

It’s working,” Dann said. “The university’s urban landscape is highly fragmented by traffic, developments, city expansion and pesticide use. As a pollinator, there aren’t many options for you. So to have a space on campus that can support these populations is truly fantastic.”

Michelle Cook, associate provost and chief diversity officer. Cook’s office administers the Peach State LSAMP program. “Bridges to the Doctorate provides an excellent opportunity for us to leverage this success as we continue to build the pipeline from undergraduate degree, through graduate study on into industry, research and the professoriate.”

UGA’s Bridges to the Doctorate program comes at a time when enrollment in STEM fields at the university is increasing dramatically. Twenty-one percent of all undergraduate degrees UGA awarded last year were in STEM fields, an increase of 5 percentage points over the past five years. Thirty-two percent of all Ph.D. students enrolled at UGA are in STEM disciplines, which also reflects an increase of 5 percentage points over the past five years.

“The Bridges to the Doctorate program builds on an impressive array of programming at the University of Georgia that fosters diversity and expands professional development opportunities for graduate students,” said Provost Pamela Whitten.

“These extraordinary programs elevate graduate education and play a vital role in keeping our state and nation at the forefront of innovation and discovery.”

and Provost Pamela Whitten.

The Institute for Cybersecurity and Privacy will be among the participating institutes of the university’s campus-wide Georgia Informatics Institutes for Research and Education, joining the Health Informatics Institute that was established in 2016 and the UGA Institute for Bioinformatics, which was launched in 2002. Other programs and departments that are connected through the GII include the university’s Digital Humanities Initiative, the department of management information systems in the Terry College of Business, and the departments of computer science and statistics in the Franklin College.

“Cybersecurity is one of the grand challenges of our time,” said President Jere W. Morehead, “and this new institute will position the University of Georgia to play a leading role in this area of growing importance to our state, nation and world.”

In August, Dann will write a final report to turn in to the Pollination Project about RoofBuzz, detailing pollinator numbers observed throughout the fall and spring, the health of the garden’s pollinator plants, and the various outreach and education initiatives undertaken. By then, the project will be completed and the habitat should be stable, in place and sustained.

Dann also wants to turn the Green Roof Garden into a learning environment for students and welcomes students to tour the garden. Educational tours of the space are offered to students, organizations, faculty groups and classes.

The tours discuss pollinator decline, how important pollinators are to food crops, the importance of incorporating native plants to serve as pollinator habitat and practices that anyone can employ to support their local pollinators.

“The mission is to reach a diversity of ages and backgrounds with the goal of promoting pollinator habitat, not just on a university campus, but throughout the Athens community,” Dann said.

The Green Roof Garden welcomes volunteers from all disciplines. Last semester, volunteers spent nearly 180 hours at the garden.

Collette Copeland, a studio art major, has put in over 16 hours tilling soil, planting, weeding and learning about the garden and its plants.

“It really is beautiful up there,” she said.

“It’s a great place to relax if you want to be alone, or just want to look at the UGA campus from another vantage point.”

To set up a tour of the garden or volunteer, contact Dann at carson.dann25@uga.edu.

communities across Georgia and beyond.”

The corresponding principal investigators and topics of the winning proposals are: • Clark Alexander, interim executive director of the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography and Professor of Marine Sciences in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, “Studying the UGA Marine Science Campus on Skidaway Island as a model for achieving coastal resiliency in the face of extreme weather;” • Marin Brewer, assistant professor of mycology and plant pathology in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, “Investigating microbial resistance to antifungal treatments used for plants and people;” • John Drake, Distinguished Research Professor of Ecology in the School of Ecology, “Mapping the global risk of emerging infectious disease threats;” • Carolyn Lauckner, assistant professor of health promotion and behavior in the College of Public Health, “Expanding telemedicine services to meet the mental and behavioral health needs of individuals living with HIV/AIDS in rural Georgia communities;” • Changying “Charlie” Li, professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering, “Using robotic systems to accelerate the application of genome information in the improvement of food crops;”

• Rebecca Matthew, assistant professor in the School of Social Work, “Building a network of cultural liaisons to improve the health and well-being of Athens-area Latinos;” • Amanda Murdie, Dean Rusk Scholar of International Relations and professor of international affairs in the School of Public and International Affairs, “Forecasting the threat of cyber attacks, nation by nation;” • David Okech, associate professor in the School of Social Work, “Developing evidence-based reintegration programming for female victims of trafficking in West Africa;” • WenZhan Song, Georgia Power Mickey A. Brown Professor in the College of Engineering, “Cost-effective indoor food production through the integration of informatics and renewable energy;” • Li Tan, assistant research scientist in the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center, “Developing sustainable materials for biomedical and environmental applications from waste plant biomass;” • David Tanner, associate director and assistant public service faculty in the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, “Enlisting the help of businesses in the expansion of America’s STEM workforce;” and • Mark Tompkins, professor of infectious diseases in the College of Veterinary Medicine, “How does microbial diversity impact respiratory infection, disease and transmission?”

AGRICULTURE from page 1 Collections Libraries, the Medical Partnership and the new College of Veterinary Medicine hospital. He returned to campus often for official ceremonies, including the February 2004 dedication of the Student Learning Center, and to speak to students, including the May 2005 Commencement.

During a College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences conference in 2007, Perdue said, “One of Georgia’s greatest strengths is our agricultural industry. Our farmers and our foresters. It’s our oldest and largest industry.”

After his final term as governor, Perdue gave his official papers in March 2011 to the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, part of UGA’s special collections libraries.

“Because of his experience and his lifelong commitment to agriculture, we are pleased to have former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue as the new secretary of agriculture,” said Sam Pardue, dean of the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

“Not only does Secretary Perdue know firsthand the intricacies of providing, protecting and promoting the U.S. food system, he has long been a strong supporter of the landgrant mission in public universities across

the country and our role in keeping U.S. agriculture growing and leading in sustainable food production.”

The USDA is the funding authority for land-grant university research and extension programs in agriculture, family and consumer science, and forestry.

After graduating from UGA, Perdue served in the U.S. Air Force and was honorably discharged in 1974 with the rank of captain. He then practiced veterinary medicine in Raleigh, North Carolina, before returning to Bonaire to start businesses in grain trading and trucking.

Perdue was elected to the state legislature in 1990 and became the state’s first Republican governor since Reconstruction in 2003.

Under Perdue’s tenure, Georgia added new food safety regulations after a salmonella outbreak was traced to peanut butter made in the state. He oversaw the state’s decadeslong water dispute with Alabama and Florida, as well as a historic drought that prompted Perdue to call for strict water restrictions.

Perdue is the second Georgian to join the current Cabinet, following former U.S. Rep. Tom Price of Roswell, who is now secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Bulletin Board Bulldog Bucks changes

Bulldog Bucks is returning to an on-campus program this summer and will no longer be available off campus. Bulldog Bucks will continue to operate on campus with restructuring to limit future losses. The last day to make off-campus purchases with Bulldog Bucks will be May 31.

Customers may continue to use Bulldog Bucks as a payment method at participating on-campus locations.

Customers still will be able to deposit money into their Bulldog Bucks account and monitor activity via the Bulldog Bucks website and through kiosks located at select locations on campus. A full list of participating on-campus merchants will be available after May 31 at https://bulldogbucks.uga. edu/campus-vendors.

Contact Bulldog Bucks at bbucks@uga.edu or ­706-542-8257 with account questions.

Faculty Writing Retreat

Write@UGA will hold a Faculty Writing Retreat May 17-18 from 9 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. in the Reading Room of the Miller Learning Center.

Faculty members may elect to register for just one or both days. Breakfast, lunch, refreshments and snacks will be provided along with a comfortable and quiet space for participants to work. Writing faculty also will be available should participants wish to discuss a project in process.

For more information, email Lindsey Harding at lharding@uga.edu or Elizabeth Davis at eadavis@uga. edu. Registration, which is open until May 7, may be completed online at https://ugeorgia.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/ SV_bkoPTn2ruvdDlPv. Bulletin Board is limited to information that may pertain to a majority of faculty and staff members.