UGA Columns Nov. 2, 2015

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November 2, 2015

Vol. 43, No. 15

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UGA GUIDE

SPOTLIGHT ARTS

4&5

ON THE

CAMPUS NEWS

University Theatre will present comedy classic ‘You Can’t Take It with You’

UGA only university with 2 winners of Beckman Award

By Sam Fahmy

sfahmy@uga.edu

Two UGA professors, Dawn D. Bennett-Alexander in the Terry College of Business and Melisa “Misha” Cahnmann-Taylor in the College of Education, are among 10 professors nationwide to be honored with a 2015 Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Dawn Melisa Award for teaching excellence.

Bennett-Alexander Cahnmann-Taylor The award honors faculty members “who have inspired their former receive a $25,000 award and will be students to make a significant con- honored at a Nov. 14 ceremony at tribution to society,” and UGA is the the Grand Hyatt Atlanta.

Peter Frey “To have two winners of the only university in the nation with two In her lecture, “The Holocaust: An American Understanding 1945-2015,” Deborah Lipstadt, a professor from Emory Beckman Award in the same year 2015 recipients.

Bennett-Alexander University, traced America’s consciousness about the genocide by examining works in academia, the news media and and Cahnmann-Taylor each will See AWARD on page 8 popular culture over the decades after the war. Watch the lecture at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdUq0tKGEAs.

‘Lessons from the past’ Emory professor examines America’s memory of Holocaust

By Aaron Hale

aahale@uga.edu

Deborah Lipstadt, a professor from Emory University, condemned the misuse of the Nazi genocide for political purposes during a lecture at the Chapel last month.

“We have to be careful about our language,” said Lipstadt, Emory’s Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies.

“We have to draw lessons from the past, but be careful about using it for our own particular political or social goals.”

Lipstadt referred to several national and international politicians and public figures who in recent weeks espoused historically inaccurate statements about the Holocaust to score political points.

Lipstadt, author of Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and The Memory and the Eichmann Trial, delivered the University Lecture Oct. 22.

In her lecture, Lipstadt traced America’s consciousness about the genocide by examining works in academia, the news media and popular culture over the decades after the

war. She concluded that current events influenced how Americans understood the Holocaust.

“Our memory is very much shaped by the contemporary experience,” she said.

In the years immediately following World War II,America seemed to have little interest or understanding about the Holocaust, Lipstadt said.

That started to change in the 1960s during the trial of Adolf Eichmann.

Eichmann was a German Nazi SS officer responsible for the deportation and extermination of See LECTURE on page 8

COLLEGE OF FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

University sets record high rate for freshman retention

By Sam Fahmy

sfahmy@uga.edu

UGA has set a record in a key measure of student success: Its freshman retention rate increased by a full percentage point from 2014 to 2015 to reach 95.2 percent.

The freshman retention rate measures the percentage of a school’s first-time, first-year undergraduate students who continue at that school the next year. The national average for public, four-year institutions is 80 percent, and UGA’s 95 percent retention rate places it among the nation’s top universities in this measure.

“We continue to invest in faculty,

staff and innovative programs to ensure that students at Georgia’s flagship university have an unparalleled learning experience,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead.

“Our high retention rate is one sign that these investments are having a positive impact on student success.”

In addition to reaching a new height in freshman retention, UGA also saw its six-year graduation rate increase to 85.3 percent, another record that is well above the national average of 59 percent for four-year institutions. UGA’s four- and five-year graduation rates are 62.5 percent

See RETENTION on page 8

SPOTLIGHT ON THE ARTS

$8.2M grant will be used to improve lives of Festival to feature nearly children, families in state child welfare system 24 student performances

By Cal Powell

jcpowell@uga.edu

A team of UGA faculty members, led by a researcher in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, has received an $8.2 million grant from the Administration for Children and Families, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to improve the lives of children and families in the child welfare system in Georgia.

The project will focus on creating positive and stable

homes through the integration of research-based services designed to improve healthy marriage and relationship skills and promote economic stability.

With numerous state and local partners, including the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, Georgia Family Connection, Great Start Georgia, Strengthening Families Georgia and Project Safe, the five-year project will reach nearly 1,500 families in a 13-county, mostly rural, region in northeast Georgia.

The project seeks to address the

needs of the region’s highest-risk children and will include services for new parents, foster parents and reunified families, or biological parents of children 18 and younger who were removed from their home and have been reunited.

Ted Futris, an associate professor in the human development and family science department and a UGA Extension family life specialist, is the project director.

Georgia ranked 42nd in the U.S. in 2014 across various child well-being indicators, according

See GRANT on page 8

By Camie Williams camiew@uga.edu

In addition to the more than 50 events sponsored by the UGA Arts Council and its members during the 2015 Spotlight on the Arts festival, nearly two dozen events have been organized and produced by students, including a day filled with arts performances at Tate Plaza.

This year’s all-day Student Spotlight Main Event on Nov. 5 will include dance, drama, improv acts and music performances

ranging from a percussion trio to a jazz quintet and an a cappella group of ecology students. The Hodgson Wind Ensemble will appear for the second consecutive year for a session allowing passing students to take the baton and “Conduct us!”

The day will end with the second annual “4 minutes, 33 seconds: Spotlight on Scholarship” competition, in which graduate students in the arts will have a chance to share their research with the community.

The competition is inspired by John Cage’s 1952 c­omposition

See FESTIVAL on page 8

2 Nov. 2, 2015 columns.uga.edu

Around academe

Survey details how writing is taught throughout higher education

Survey results completed by the National Census of Writing offer a detailed view of how writing is taught nationally in higher education.

Released in October, the 200-question survey collected responses from over 900 colleges in the U.S. over the course of three years.

Questions were asked about a college’s writing programs and writing centers, administrative structures and more.

Data from the survey, which is housed by Swarthmore College at http://writingcensus. swarthmore.edu, offers educators a resource to better understand different ways writing is being taught across the nation.

Study: Drop in biosciences postdocs

For the first time in over 30 years, the number of biology and biomedical sciences postdocs has declined, according to a new paper in The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Journal.

Researchers found that doctoral and postdoc programs have continued to have steady growth until now, and the postdoctoral population decreased 5.5 percent.

“For some newly minted Ph.D. students, eschewing a postdoc may reflect a rational response to a tight academic labor market with low compensation and uncertain prospects for success,” said lead author Howard Garrison.

News to Use

Use app to maintain rain garden

The UGA EcoScapes Sustainable Land Use Program has collaborated with the University of Connecticut and a team representing 13 states to develop a free app to help homeowners, landscapers and contractors design, install and maintain rain gardens.

The app, available for both iPhone and Android smartphones, uses video tutorials, diagrams, text and tools to help users determine the size and placement of their gardens.

The app also guides users through selecting appropriate native plants as well as providing information about digging, planting and maintaining gardens. It includes tools for determining soil type, measuring the size of an area that will drain to a garden and managing multiple garden projects.

“Rain gardens play an important role in sustainable landscapes because they collect stormwater runoff from roofs, driveways and yards and allow the water to infiltrate the ground,” said Keren Giovengo, EcoScapes program manager. “The gardens typically include native plants that can withstand high levels of moisture and nutrients. Rain gardens create colorful wildlife habitat areas within landscapes.”

EcoScapes is a program of UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, units of the UGA Office of Public Service and Outreach.

EcoScapes developed and contributed a Georgia rain garden native plant database for the new multi-state app.

Georgia app users also will find soil drainage maps, a Google Maps-based sizing tool and Georgia “Call Before You Dig” contacts.

Information on how to use the app is available at http://marex.uga.edu/ecoscapes.

Source: UGA Office of Sustainability

Read more about the arts at UGA at discover.uga.edu.

FRANKLIN COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Children’s book by marine science professor donated to public libraries

By Jessica Luton jluton@uga.edu

Over 400 Georgia public libraries received donated copies of an educational children’s book written by UGA department of marine sciences professor Merryl Alber. And the Tide Comes In focuses on teaching children about salt marshes.

The book is just one product of the Georgia Coastal Ecosystems Long Term Ecological Research project, funded by the National Science Foundation.

“Salt marshes are important for lots of reasons.They provide food and habitat for fish, crabs and many other organisms,” Alber said. “They help clean the water; they store carbon; they provide protection from flooding.They’re also beautiful parts of the landscape.”

The book has been available for a few years, but additional funds received this year allowed the project to donate a copy to each of the libraries in the state system.

“This book is part of the Long Term Ecological Research Schoolyard Series, which seeks to engage children and their families in learning about the Earth’s ecosystem,” Alber said. “To date, most of our distribution for this book has been focused on the coast, but working with the library system provides a way to make this book available statewide.”

The book is written with children of all ages in mind. Each page contains two sections—the main story is fairly simple and written for younger children, and an accompanying sidebar provides more complex information for older children.

Alber also worked with a group of teachers to create supplementary materials for

State Librarian Julie Walker, left, and UGA marine sciences professor Merryl Alber hold up And the Tide Comes In. The children’s book, written by Alber, is now available at every public library in the state.

second through seventh grades.

“Georgia’s public libraries are so grateful to Dr. Merryl Alber for her donation of a copy of her outstanding children’s book to every library in the state,” said State Librarian Julie Walker.

“Merryl’s book is a wonderful example of the treasures to be found in the over 400 public libraries throughout Georgia.

It’s a particularly valuable addition to the libraries’ collections with its focus on coastal Georgia and its relevance to students of many ages.”

Alber is the director of the UGA Marine Institute on Sapelo Island and has been conducting research on Georgia’s coast for years, but the idea for the book came from a more personal experience.

“I have been doing research and teaching about salt marshes for a long

UGA ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

time, but it was really my experience with my son that inspired me to write the book,” she said. “The first time I took him to a marsh, he was so excited to be there, and I saw which things were amazing to him.”

The collaboration is another example of both UGA and the Georgia Public Library Service working hand in hand.

“The Georgia Public Library Service is a unit of the University System of Georgia, and this gift exemplifies our partnership with UGA and the university system as we all work to create a more educated Georgia,” Walker said. “Public libraries play an integral role in lifelong learning and curriculum support in Georgia’s communities. We are grateful that this book will reside in every one of our libraries.”

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Program to train students to look to nature for solutions

By Mike Wooten

mwooten@uga.edu

Former head coach Suzanne Yoculan poses with a championship display that honors her and the UGA gymnastics program.

Display unveiled for former gymnastics coach A championship display honoring former head coach Suzanne Yoculan and the UGA gymnastics program was unveiled Oct. 16 at Stegeman Coliseum.

The display, which is located on the Carlton Street side of the coliseum concourse, also celebrates the accomplishments of the student-athletes and contributions of the UGA staff during Yoculan’s 26 years at the helm of the gymnastics team.

“In the history of Georgia athletics, Suzanne will be remembered as the best of the best,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “This display is a well-deserved tribute to the talent and dedication of Suzanne, our outstanding student-athletes and the assistant coaches and staff members who supported them.”

Yoculan took over the UGA program prior to the 1984 season and guided the team to 10 NCAA championships, including five in a row from 2005-2009, 16 Southeastern Conference titles and 22 NCAA regional crowns. Yoculan’s teams finished in the nation’s top three in 21 of her last 22 years.

“This symbolizes the building of a program,” Yoculan said.

“It was all of us together with one mission. It’s really amazing to walk past this and know what it represents for everyone.”

In 19 of her 26 years as head coach at UGA, Yoculan led her team to either an SEC title, an NCAA title or both. She won a championship in more than 70 percent of her tenure, and she also finished at least third in the conference, the nation or both all 26 years. Under Yoculan’s direction, UGA won 37 NCAA individual championships, and 59 gymnasts earned a total of 308 All-American honors.

Researchers at UGA and James Madison University want students to draw inspiration from nature as they look for solutions to complex engineering challenges. The two universities have received assistance from the National Science Foundation to develop instructional resources centered on the concept of biologically inspired design, known as biomimicry, in engineering curricula.

The two-year collaboration will be led by Ramana Pidaparti, a professor and associate dean for academic programs in the UGA College of Engineering, and Jacquelyn Nagel, an assistant professor of engineering at JMU. Nature has developed clever solutions for incredibly complex problems, Pidaparti said. As examples, a leaf is able to convert sunlight and water into usable energy while Ramana Pidaparti a shark’s skin possesses a unique texture that doesn’t allow bacteria and other organisms to gain a foothold.

With humanity facing increasingly complicated questions, scientists are turning to the natural world for answers through the study of biomimicry.

“The focus of our project is to provide students with experiences that combine biological concepts with engineering solutions,” Pidaparti said. “We need to look to biological systems that have evolved over billions of years to find answers to engineering challenges of the future.”

Pidaparti believes these bio-inspired design theories can be integrated across the engineering curriculum. The central idea is to show students how nature solves a particular problem and then ask them to mimic or adapt the solution to a design challenge.

“As our challenges become more complex, the solutions are becoming more complex. We often take for granted how complex the natural, biological world is and how it has evolved and adapted,” he said.

Pidaparti and Nagel also believe a bio-inspired design curriculum will help engineering students become better communicators and collaborators. Bio-inspired design concepts are being integrated into classes this semester at UGA and eventually will become an important component of design courses at the freshman, sophomore and senior levels.

RESEARCH NEWS

columns.uga.edu Nov. 2, 2015

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Digest World Food Prize laureate to give 2015 D.W. Brooks Lecture at UGA Nov. 10

Dorothy Kozlowski

Puneet Dwivedi, right, an assistant professor of sustainability sciences in UGA’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, and USDA Forest Service Research Forester John Schelhas worked on a study that found that many Southern African-American forest landowners are not participating in federal assistance programs for a variety of reasons.

Exploring woods

Study outlines why Southern African-American forest owners less likely to use federal assistance

By Sandi Martin

smartin@warnell.uga.edu

Many Southern African-American forest landowners are not participating in federal assistance programs because of a mistrust of the government, unclear property titles and the inability to pay required upfront costs, a UGA study finds.

About 60 percent of total forestland in the South—244 million acres—is owned by private individuals, called family forest landowners. A number of federal programs, such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, are designed to guide and support these landowners to ensure sustainable management of their forestlands.

There are also special incentives in these federal programs for AfricanAmerican family forest landowners to encourage their participation. But despite these incentives, participation rates among African-American forest landowners remain low.

It is critical to increase participation rates because as much as 90 percent of African-American forest landowners are located in the South, said the study’s lead author Puneet Dwivedi, an assistant professor of sustainability sciences in UGA’s Warnell School of Forestry and

Natural Resources.

The UGA study, published in the Journal of Forestry, studied what AfricanAmericans and other stakeholder groups think about these programs. These results are a major advancement to existing understanding about low participation rates, Dwivedi said.

The study was conducted as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities and community-based nonprofits in three rural regions launched pilot projects to increase income and asset value of African-American-owned forestlands and African-American landowner participation in federal forestry and conservation programs.

Dwivedi conducted the study with Warnell doctoral student Arundhati Jagadish and USDA Forest Service Research Forester John Schelhas, with the support of the U.S. Endowment of Forestry and Communities and the U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station. The researchers held three workshops in North Carolina and South Carolina to study the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats associated with federal landowner assistance programs that could be affecting the participation of African-American

family forest landowners.

They analyzed the perceptions from three stakeholder groups: AfricanAmerican family forest landowners, government employees and nonprofit employees to understand the reasons behind the low participation. Results from these sessions found that: • All three groups felt that the federal programs must continue to offer professional advice to African-American family forest landowners, particularly as they often have little knowledge or experience in managing forestlands; • Programs that require AfricanAmerican family forest landowners— who typically have low incomes—to pay initial upfront costs are very problematic in making improvements to their forestlands; • Many African-American forest landowners have what is called “heirs’ property,” which means their land typically has been passed down through the generations without a clear title and therefore are typically ineligible to participate in federal landowner assistance programs; • An “atmosphere of mistrust” exists between African-American owners and government agencies based on a history of discrimination.

FRANKLIN COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Study: Blueprints for limbs encoded in snake genome

By James E. Hataway jhataway@uga.edu

When UGA researchers examined the genome of several different snake species, they found something surprising.

Embedded in the reptiles’ genetic code was DNA that, in most animals, controls the development and growth of limbs—a strange feature for creatures that are famous for their long, legless bodies and distinctive slither.

Now, they’ve found an explanation.

In a paper published in the journal Developmental Cell, the scientists show that the same genetic tools responsible for limb development also control the formation of external genitalia, and that may help explain why snakes have held on to this limb circuitry through the ages.

Snakes weren’t always legless; they evolved the loss of limbs over 100 million years ago, said Douglas Menke, an assistant professor of genetics in UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and senior author of the paper.

“There have been many millions of snake generations since they evolved a legless body, and we would generally expect the DNA associated with limb development to fade away or mutate to do another job, but that doesn’t seem to have happened,” he said. “Naturally, we wanted to know why snakes had retained DNA that they don’t appear to need.”

In their experiments, Menke and postdoctoral researcher Carlos Infante examined specific regions of noncoding DNA known as enhancers, a kind of switch that controls the expression of genes, telling them when to turn on or off during embryonic development.

The researchers followed patterns of enhancer activity in embryonic limbs and genitalia of mice and lizards. This revealed that many of the same enhancers are activated during the formation of these different appendages in both species.

They engineered mice that lack one of these limb-genital enhancers and found defects in the legs and genitalia

of the resulting mice. The snake version of this enhancer, however, only functions during development of genitalia.

“What this means is that much of the genetic circuitry that controls the development of limbs is also important for the formation of genitalia,” Menke said. “And we think that’s why snakes still have the genetic blueprints for limb development in their genome.”

It is generally accepted among evolutionary biologists that limbs evolved from fins, but the phallus—external genitalia that includes the penis and clitoris—is thought to be a much more recent development, he said. And there is evidence to suggest that the genes initially used to grow limbs later were co-opted for the development of a phallus.

“We’re only just beginning to understand the various roles of many of these enhancers,” Menke said. “But what we generally refer to as ‘limb enhancers’ should probably be more broadly categorized as ‘appendage enhancers,’ because they clearly perform more than one job.”

Sanjaya Rajaram, who spent his career breeding more sustainable and productive wheat varieties, will visit UGA Nov. 10 to deliver the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ annual D.W. Brooks Lecture at 3:30 p.m. in the UGA Center for Continuing Education.

Rajaram was awarded the World Food Prize in 2014 in recognition of his work as a wheat breeder, which resulted in a 200-million-ton increase in the global annual wheat harvest and increased food security in 51 countries around the world. He championed the free trade of plant breeding information and technology around the globe, further contributing to the development of stress-resistant varieties of wheat and other grains.

Rajaram’s talk is open free to the public. Staff, faculty and students from across the university are encouraged to attend.

School and college student ambassador groups unite for 2015 Hunger Bowl

Eleven school and college-based student groups are uniting for the first time as UGA Student Ambassadors to support the 2015 Hunger Bowl food drive.

A community-wide competition to see who can collect the most food based upon a per person average, the Hunger Bowl will help the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia reach its goal of collecting 220,000 pounds of food by Nov. 13. Student ambassadors will work together to collect as many nonperishable food donations as possible around campus.

In addition to the College of Environment and Design and the Terry College of Business, participating ambassador groups are from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the College of Education, the College of Engineering, the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, the Odum School of Ecology, the College of Public Health, the School of Public and International Affairs, the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources.

UGA Foundation makes investment in Student Managed Investment Fund

The UGA Foundation’s investment committee voted unanimously to invest $750,000 from the foundation’s endowment in the Terry College of Business’ Student Managed Investment Fund as part of its long-term portfolio strategy. The foundation’s investment will boost SMIF’s capital from a balance of approximately $354,000 as of Aug. 31 to more than $1 million.

The Student Managed Investment Fund was initiated in 2006 with a $100,000 gift from UGA Foundation Trustee Darren DeVore and his wife, Pam, both of whom are 1986 UGA graduates. They wanted to give students practical experience through an opportunity to serve as actual investment managers versus learning about the financial services industry through hypothetical investment scenarios.

The program allows a group of UGA students to manage a UGA Foundation-owned investment fund.

And since its inception, the returns students have achieved compare favorably to major Wall Street averages.

Through fiscal year 2015, the DeVores and other donors contributed a total of $250,000 to the fund, whose team has grown the balance by an average of 8.95 percent on an annualized basis since the fund’s inception.

Student-managers will offer presentations to the Investment Committee recapping their investment strategies and providing an analysis of the fund’s performance at three board meetings each year and will provide interim updates as needed.

Annette Poulsen, the Billy Sterne Chair of Banking and Finance in the Terry College, is the faculty adviser for the Student Managed Investment Fund.

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

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to perform Nov. 8 concert btyler@uga.edu

EXHIBITIONS Travels on the Bartram Trail: Beth Thompson’s Possible Perceptions. Through Nov. 29. Visitor Center, State Botanical Garden.

706-542-6014, connicot@uga.edu.

Infiltro: In-Vitro. Through Nov. 30. Gilbert Hall. bkaplan@uga. edu.

Roads, Rivers and Red Clay: Ceramics by Ron Meyers. Through Dec. 18. Circle Gallery.

Set Off for Georgia… Through Dec. 23. Hargrett Library Gallery, special collections libraries. 706-542-8079, jclevela@uga.edu.

Unbeaten, Untied, Undisputed: Georgia’s 1980 National Championship Season. Through Dec. 23. Special collections libraries.

706-542-8079, jclevela@uga.edu.

Before the March King: 19th-Century American Bands. Through Jan. 3. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817, hazbrown@uga. edu.

In Time We Shall Know Ourselves: Photographs by Raymond Smith. Through Jan. 3. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817, hazbrown@uga.edu.

Samurai: The Way of the Warrior. Through Jan. 3. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817, hazbrown@uga.edu.

Crowned with Glory and Immortality. Through Feb. 28. Georgia Museum of Art. hazbrown@uga.edu.

Seeing Georgia: Changing Visions of Tourism in the Modern South. Through July 30. Special ­collections libraries.

706-542-5788, jhebbard@uga.edu.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2 MURROW FELLOWS LUNCH AND RECEPTION The Grady College will host 13 journalists from Englishspeaking African countries as part of the Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists, funded by the U. S. Department of State. To include a discussion of media with the Murrow Fellows and free lunch, followed later in the day by a reception in honor of the journalists. 12:10 p.m. Studio 100, journalism building.

706-542-5798, ljanglin@uga.edu.

HISTORY OF MEDICAL SCIENCE SERIES LECTURE “Reading Outside the Canon: Some New Thoughts on Medicine in the Time of Galen,” Vivian Nutton, a professor at the First Moscow State Medical School. 2 p.m. 250 Miller Learning Center.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3 WORKSHOP “Preparing for Classes: Strategies to Reduce Prep Time and Maximize Student Learning.” Melissa Mitchell, a doctoral candidate in UGA’s psychology department. 1:30 p.m. Center for Teaching and Learning. 706-542-1355, ehoran@uga.edu.

TUESDAY TOUR 2 p.m. Special collections libraries. 706-542-8079, jclevela@ uga.edu.

4&5

UGA Opera Theatre to perform ‘The Merry Widow’

By Bobby Tyler The UGA Performing Arts Center will present the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Nov. 8 at 3 p.m. in Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall. Music director Robert Spano will conduct the program, which will feature Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony and Avner Dorman’s concerto for orchestra and percussion, Spices, Perfumes and Toxins!

Tickets for the Atlanta Symphony concert are $25$65 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.

Dorman’s concerto premiered at the Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv in 2006.

“The title ‘Spices, Perfumes and Toxins!’ refers to three substances that are extremely appealing, yet filled with danger,” Dorman said. “Spices delight the palate, but can cause illness; perfumes seduce, but can also betray; toxins bring ecstasy, but are deadly. The concerto combines Middle-Eastern drums, orchestral percussion, and rock drums with orchestral forces—a unique sound both enticing and dangerous.”

“Spices, Perfumes and Toxins!” will feature Atlanta Symphony Orchestra percussionists Thomas Sherwood and Charles Settle.

Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony premiered in St. Petersburg in 1888 with the composer conducting.

“In many ways, it was a grand triumph for the composer,” said Ken Meltzer of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. “At the concert, the orchestra saluted Tchaikovsky with a triple fanfare. He also received an honorary membership in the St. Petersburg Society. The audience greeted the new work with a rousing ovation.”

A preconcert lecture will be given by Meltzer, author of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s program notes and host of the weekly radio show Meet the Classics on Atlanta’s AM-1690. The lecture, which is open free to the public, will begin at 2:15 p.m. and takes place in Ramsey Concert Hall in the Performing Arts Center.

columns.uga.edu Nov. 2, 2015

By Clarke Schwabe

Faculty trio to translate works Grammy-winning The for voice, piano to woodwinds King’s Singers to perform

University Theatre presents American classic comedy

ccschwabe@uga.edu

By Daniel Stock

‘Postcards’ in Hodgson Hall

By Clarke Schwabe

The next installment of the Hugh Hodgson Faculty Series will employ a trio of School of Music faculty to transform works for voice and piano into new, imaginative constructions.

The creator of the program—and several of the arrangements therein—is Connie Frigo, an associate professor of saxophone at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music. For her, the Nov. 3 recital, set for 8 p.m. in Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, is a high-water mark.

“The heart of this program features transcriptions of vocal songs, book-ended by lovely trios for saxophone, flute and piano,” Frigo said. “It represents the most elegant recital I have ever programmed and stands out as a favorite.”

Tickets for the performance are $10, or $5 with a UGA student ID. Tickets can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center box office, by calling 706-542-4400 or by visiting pac.uga.edu.

According to Frigo, much of the saxophone repertoire over the last half-century has been populated with “athletic, contemporary pieces that showcase the technical and rhythmic virtuosity of today’s players.” But in the last several years, she has studied saxophone performance of art songs, which are vocal music compositions typically written for one voice with piano accompaniment.

Joining Frigo will be Angela Jones-Reus, a professor of flute, and Liza Stepanova, an assistant professor of piano.

Both have experience with the type of art songs at the core of Frigo’s program, and that experience influenced the construction of the program.

daniel.stock@uga.edu

By Bobby Tyler btyler@uga.edu

The UGA Performing Arts Center will present The King’s Singers Nov. 9 at 8 p.m. in Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall. The Grammy-winning British a cappella ensemble has been performing for over 40 years.

Tickets for The King’s Singers are $25-$50 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.

For their Athens concert, The King’s Singers will perform some of their favorite songs from around the world in a program they’re calling “Postcards.” The concert also will feature selections from the Great American Songbook including classics by Cole Porter, George Gershwin and Richard Rodgers.

The King’s Singers boast an impressive discography of over 150 recordings. In addition to earning audience and critical acclaim around the globe, the ensemble has been honored with two Grammy Awards, winning in 2009 for best crossover album and in 2012 for best choral performance.

The six members of The King’s Singers are countertenors David Hurley and Timothy Wayne-Wright, tenor Julian Gregory, baritones Christopher Bruerton and Christopher Gabbitas and bass Jonathan Howard.

A pre-concert lecture, open free to the public, will be offered at 7:15 p.m.

PRESENTATION OF McGILL MEDAL FOR JOURNALISTIC COURAGE Grady College will present the McGill Medal for Courage in Journalism to Kathy Gannon, a correspondent for the Associated Press in Afghanistan for more than 30 years. In 2014, Gannon was attacked and badly wounded by Afghan security forces while covering the presidential elections. Her AP colleague Anja Niedringhaus was killed in what was the first known case of security forces attacking journalists in Afghanistan. 4 p.m.

Peyton Anderson Forum, journalism building. 706-542-5038, murrayd@uga.edu.

Center Plaza. Part of UGA’s 2015 Spotlight on the Arts. 9 a.m.

Tate Student Center plaza. 706-583-0728, camiew@uga.edu.

(See story, page 1).

HUGH HODGSON FACULTY SERIES Professor Connie Frigo will perform with Angela Jones-Reus and Liza Stepanova. $10; $5 with a UGA student ID. 8 p.m. Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center. 706-542-4752, musicpr@uga.edu. (See story, above).

MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION TALK SERIES “Peering Within the Black Box of School Science: Lessons Learned About an Equitable Science Education,” Heidi B. Carlone, a professor of science education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Sponsored by the mathematics and science education department. 3:30 p.m. G-5 Aderhold Hall.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4 TOUR AT TWO Led by Annelies Mondi, deputy director. 2 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu.

McGILL LECTURE AND SYMPOSIUM The McGill Medal recipient, Kathy Gannon, will give the 2015 McGill Lecture and Symposium. In 2014, Gannon was attacked and badly wounded by Afghan security forces while covering the presidential elections. Her AP colleague Anja Niedringhaus was killed in what was the first known case of security forces attacking journalists in Afghanistan. 4 p.m. 148 Miller Learning Center. 706-542-5038, murrayd@uga.edu.

SWIMMING AND DIVING vs. Georgia Tech. 4 p.m. Gabrielsen Natatorium, Ramsey Student Center.

GUEST LECTURE “For the Sake of the Children: The Letters Between Otto Frank and Nathan Straus Jr.,” Joan Adler, author, historian and executive director of the Straus Historical Society. 5:30 p.m.

350 Miller Learning Center. pettik@uga.edu.

SPOTLIGHT ON THE ARTS OPENING CELEBRATION* The opening celebration for the 2015 Spotlight on the Arts festival will feature a sampler of student music, dance and dramatic performances as well as opening remarks from University System of Georgia Chancellor Hank Huckaby and UGA President Jere W. Morehead. A reception will be held at the Lamar Dodd School of Art following the celebration. Sponsored by the UGA Arts Council. 7:30 p.m. Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center. 706-583-0728, camiew@uga.edu.

UGA PRESS DIRTY BOOK SALE* Also Nov. 6. Hundreds of slightly shelf worn, nearly new books in such subjects as literary studies, history, biography, the Civil War, cooking, nature and environment as well as fiction and poetry will be available for sale. Part of the UGA Spotlight on the Arts festival. 9 a.m. Tate Student Center plaza. 706-542-0134, ccotter@uga.edu.

4 MINUTES, 33 SECONDS COMPETITION* Graduate students will compete for two $433 prizes in this second annual competition, which highlights their research at UGA. The audience will be able to vote for an audience-favorite winner. Part of UGA’s 2015 Spotlight on the Arts. 4:33 p.m. Balcony Theatre, Fine Arts building. 706-583-0728, camiew@uga.edu.

FALL EXHIBITS RECEPTION The Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries will host its first biannual reception celebrating new exhibitions on display. The event will include light refreshments, guided tours and gallery activities. RSVP to lnessel@uga.edu or 706-542-3879. 5:30 p.m. Grand Hall, special collections libraries. 706-542-3879, lnessel@uga.edu.

THURSDAY TWILIGHT TOUR* Led by docents. Part of UGA’s 2015 Spotlight on the Arts. 6 p.m.

Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662, hazbrown@uga.edu.

VOLLEYBALL vs. Kentucky. 7 p.m. Stegeman Coliseum. 706-542-1621.

FOOTBALL FRIDAY TOUR A guided tour of an exhibit of materials from the UGA Athletic Association archives. 3:30 p.m. Special collections libraries.

706-542-7123, hasty@uga.edu.

FILM Mission Impossible 5. 6 p.m. Also Nov. 8 at 6 and 9 p.m. $3 for nonstudents. Tate Student Center Theatre.

PERFORMANCE* You Can’t Take it With You. This play features a delightfully eccentric, free-spirited family. The play, an unprecedented success when it initially opened in 1936, enjoyed a hit Broadway revival in 2014. Part of UGA’s Spotlight on the Arts festival. $16; $12 for students. 8 p.m. Fine Arts Theatre, Fine Arts building. Also Nov. 11-14 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 8, 15 at 2:30 p.m.

706-542-4400. (See story, above).

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7 CLASS “Plants of the Desert: Growing Cacti and Succulents.” Deserts are among the most inhospitable habitats on the planet, yet somehow they contain a vast amount of plant diversity. Kevin Tarner, succulent enthusiast and a professional horticulturist, will begin with an overview of how cacti and succulents are able to thrive in the hottest places on Earth. $50. 9 a.m.

Classroom 2, State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6156, ckeber@ uga.edu.

STATE BOTANICAL GARDEN FALL FESTIVAL To include playing in the leaves, storytelling, making apple cider, creating art of nature and more. Donations for the Children’s Garden will be accepted. 10 a.m. State Botanical Garden.

706-542-6156, ckeber@uga.edu.

FOOTBALL vs. Kentucky. Noon. Sanford Stadium. 706-542-1231.

FILM V for Vendetta. $3 for nonstudents. 8 p.m. Tate Student Center Theatre.

SUSTAINABILITY: PRESERVING OUR ENVIRONMENTAL HERITAGE* In coordination with UGA’s Office of Sustainability, the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame will present a series of lightning talks by selected UGA students and 2015 inductee Janisse Ray about the issue of sustainability. Ray is an award-winning environmental writer and activist whose current passion is the issue of sustainability. The five-minute student presentations will focus on their research in relation to Watershed UGA, a town-andgown initiative to involve the UGA campus and the Athens community in restoring area streams. Watershed UGA is transforming local streams into a living laboratory. Part of the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame author events. 1 p.m. Special collections libraries auditorium. 706-542-3879, lnessel@uga.edu.

PERFORMANCE* In conjunction with Spotlight on the Arts and Slingshot Athens, the Lamar Dodd School of Art Galleries will present a performance by New York experimental duo Zs. 8:30 p.m. Gallery 101, Lamar Dodd School of Art. 773-965-1689, kgeha@uga.edu.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6

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

WOMEN’S STUDIES FRIDAY SPEAKER SERIES LECTURE “Show Me the Money: Salary Negotiation for Women,” Katelyn Kivett and Kate Templeton, UGA Career Center. 12:20 p.m.

150 Miller Learning Center. 706-542-2846, tlhat@uga.edu.

READING The Georgia Review will host a Georgia Poetry Circuit reading

by Jeffrey Harrison. Books will be made available for purchase courtesy of Avid Bookshop. 7 p.m. Cine, 234 W. Hancock Ave. 706-542-3481, lagsolo@uga.edu.

UGA OPERA THEATRE PERFORMANCE* Witness Franz Lehar’s The Merry Widow will come to life through the UGA Opera Theatre, under the direction of Frederick Burchinal.

Presented as part of the 2015 UGA Spotlight on the Arts festival.

Also to be performed Nov. 6. $18; $5 with a UGA student ID. 8 p.m. Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center.

706-542-4752, musicpr@uga.edu. (See story, above right).

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT* Students will perform throughout the day at the Tate Student

University Theatre brings a comedic classic of American theater to the Fine Arts stage for UGA’s Spotlight on the Arts festival: You Can’t Take It With You by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, directed by Justin Anderson.

Performances will be held in the Fine Arts Theatre Nov. 6, 11-14 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 8 and 15 at 2:30 p.m.

Tickets are $16, $12 for students, and can be purchased at drama.uga.edu/box-office, by phone at 706-542-4400 or at the Performing Arts Center or Tate Center box office.

You Can’t Take It With You is a comedy about a pleasantly free-spirited family and their unbridled pursuit of happiness—and what happens when the one “normal” member of the family gets engaged to another non-eccentric whose straight-laced family comes over for dinner. The result is fireworks, both figurative and literal.

You Can’t Take It With You premiered on Broadway nearly 80 years ago and won the Pulitzer Prize for drama for its playwrights Hart and Kaufman, the duo who had a string of hits through the ’30s and ’40s.

Justin Anderson, associate artistic director of the Aurora Theatre, said that while the laughs are big, the deeper message of the play is just as important.

“Happiness isn’t a destination: it’s a journey, rife with moments of intentional celebration,” he said. “It will never be a fleeting mirage if we simply take the time to digest the life we are living, the love we are pursuing and the wholeness we all crave.”

INTERNATIONAL COFFEE HOUR 11:30 a.m. Memorial Hall ballroom. 706-542-7911, cheeia@ uga.edu.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8

OUR CIVIL RIGHTS PAST* Our Civil Rights Past: A Conversation with Taylor Branch and

TO SUBMIT A LISTING FOR THE MASTER CALENDAR AND COLUMNS Post event information first to the Master Calendar website (calendar.uga.edu/). Listings for Columns are taken from the Master Calendar 12 days before the publication date.

Events not posted by then may not be printed in Columns.

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

ccschwabe@uga.edu

The UGA Opera Theatre brings one of the world’s most famous operettas to the Performing Arts Center with its performances of Franz Lehar’s The Merry Widow Nov. 5-6 in Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall at 8 p.m.

Tickets are $18 each or $5 with a UGA student ID and are available at the PAC box office, by calling 706-542-4400 or by visiting pac.uga.edu.

The UGA Symphony Orchestra, University Chorus and Dance Department, led by Mark Cedel, Dan Bara and Lisa Fusillo, respectively, collaborated with UGA Opera Theatre to bring this light-hearted work to the stage.

“We’re proud to work with so many talented departments to bring The Merry Widow to UGA,” said Frederick Burchinal, the Wyatt and Margaret Anderson Professor in the Arts at UGA and director of the opera theatre.

Premiered in 1905 in Vienna, The Merry Widow concerns a rich widow who is beset by scheming countrymen, desperate to find a husband for her who will keep her riches in the principality.

The UGA Opera Theatre’s production, mounted as a semi-staged concert version, will be presented in English with English supertitles.

The Merry Widow is also the source of a number of melodies and songs with a life outside of the operetta.

“Songs like ‘Vilia’ are true crowd pleasers,” Burchinal said. “This show is full of songs the audience will take home with them and hum for days after the performance.”

“The music in this operetta is as delicious as a sachertorte,” Cedel said. “Great melodies, lilting waltzes with lots of oom-pah-pahs. Many will listen to the show and say, ‘Hey, I know that tune!’ ”

UGA students about the Civil Rights Movement, with footage from the Civil Rights Digital Library. A panel of UGA students has selected a series of short film clips from the Civil Rights Digital Library that align with events detailed in The King Years: Historic Moments in the Civil Rights Movement, which was written by 2015 inductee Branch. Each student has prepared a question for Branch about these events and how they relate to contemporary issues and events. The panel of students was selected

by Barbara McCaskill, a member of the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame board of judges. Part of the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame author events. 2 p.m. Special collections libraries auditorium.

706-542-3879, lnessel@uga.edu.

CONCERT* The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will perform a program that features Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony and Avner Dorman’s concerto for orchestra and percussionists, “Spices, Perfumes and Toxins!” $25-$65. 3 p.m. Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center. 706-542-4400. (See story, above left).

AUTHOR DISCUSSION* A moderated panel discussion will feature Taylor Branch and Janisse Ray, two of the 2015 inductees into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame. Part of the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame author events. 4 p.m. Special collections libraries auditorium.

706-542-3879, lnessel@uga.edu.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9 GEORGIA WRITERS HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY* “Reflections on a Writer’s Life,” Taylor Branch, Pulitzer Prizewinning American author and public speaker; and Janisse Ray, writer, naturalist and activist. Part of the Signature Lecture series. 10:30 a.m. Special collections libraries auditorium.

706-542-3879, lnessel@uga.edu.

PERFORMANCE* Known throughout the world for their virtuosity, charm and appeal to a vast international audience, The King’s Singers are synonymous with the best in vocal ensemble performance. $25-$50. 8 p.m. Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall, Performing Arts Center. 706-542-4400. (See story, above left).

COMING UP D.W. BROOKS LECTURE Nov. 10. Sanjaya Rajaram, who spent his career breeding more sustainable and productive wheat varieties, will deliver the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ annual D.W. Brooks Lecture. 3:30 p.m. UGA Center for Continuing Education. (See Digest, page 3).

VETERANS DAY Nov. 11. Classes in session; offices open.

DISABILITY RESOURCE CENTER SCHOLARSHIP RECEPTION Nov. 12. The Disability Resource Center will recognize scholarship recipients. Each recipient will have the opportunity to speak and share their personal experiences. 3 p.m. Grand Hall, Tate Student Center. 706-542-8719, molli@uga.edu. *PART OF UGA’S SPOTLIGHT ON THE ARTS FESTIVAL

NEXT COLUMNS DEADLINES Nov. 4 (for Nov. 16 issue) Nov. 11 (for Nov. 30 issue) Nov. 18 (for Dec. 7 issue)

6 Nov. 2, 2015 columns.uga.edu

CAMPUS CLOSEUP

Nicholas Berente, a professor in the management information systems department of the Terry College of Business, received top honors for two research papers that he co-authored.

Berente received the Best Paper Award from the journal Information and Organization for “Beyond the Organizational ‘Container’: Conceptualizing 21st-Century Sociotechnical Work.” He shares the award with co-authors Susan Winter, James Howison and Brian Butler.

Berente also was honored with the Best Conference Paper in the Organizational Communication and Information Systems Division at the 2014 Academy of Management meeting for “Towards an Open Source Software Development Lifecycle.” He shares the honor with co-authors Aron Lindberg and Kalle Lyytinen.

Christopher Bland, a faculty member in the College of Pharmacy, was named a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

A clinical assistant professor in the clinical and administrative pharmacy department, Bland works at the college’s Savannah campus. His major interests include critical care, infectious diseases, drug dosing in obesity and antimicrobial stewardship.

IDSA represents physicians, scientists and other health care professionals who specialize in infectious diseases. It aims to improve the health of individuals, communities and society by promoting excellence in patient care, education, research, public health and prevention relating to infectious diseases. Fellows represent those who have achieved professional excellence and provided service to the profession of infectious diseases. Only four pharmacists nationally achieved Fellow status this year.

Simon R. Platt, a professor of neurology and neurosurgery at the College of Veterinary Medicine, is one of four neuroscientists from the U.S. serving on a 26-member International Veterinary Epilepsy Task Force.

The independent organization, founded in 2014, includes veterinary practitioners, neuropharmacologists, neuropathologists and clinical neurologists. The task force has produced seven consensus statements, which were recently published in BMC Veterinary Research (Vol. 11, 2015, http://tinyurl. com/pubme9q).

Olin E. Rhodes Jr., director of the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and a professor in the Odum School of Ecology, was named a Fellow of the Wildlife Society by the Wildlife Society Council, the governing body of the organization.

Fellow status recognizes distinguished service in the proOlin Rhodes fession and active involvement in the organization. TWS Fellows serve as lifetime ambassadors, promoting the Wildlife Society and the profession through outreach activities.

A certified wildlife biologist, Rhodes previously served as assistant director of the USDA’s National Wildlife Research Center in Fort Collins, Colorado, and as a professor in the forestry and natural resources department at Purdue University for 15 years. He has received the Hoosier Wildlife Award from the Indiana chapter of TWS and the TWS Professional Award of Merit from the north central section.

Rhodes also has authored numerous publications addressing issues of wildlife concern.

The TWS Fellow award was presented to Rhodes last month at the Wildlife Society’s annual conference in Winnipeg, Canada.

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.

Dorothy Kozlowski

Michael Frye, the only UGA employee in the Army ROTC department, manages compliance policies, budgets, students and academics for the department. “This job is not just one thing, either. I do business; I do academic stuff. I do it all,” Frye said.

‘Voice of reason:’ Liaison helps cadets in university’s ROTC department

By Sydney Devine srdevine@uga.edu

As UGA’s liaison for the U.S. Army, Michael Frye tries to balance the goals and expectations of the military and the university.

“To put it simply, I make sure that the Army doesn’t upset UGA, and I make sure that UGA doesn’t upset the Army,” said Frye.

Frye is the only UGA employee in the Army ROTC department—others strictly work for the military and are instructors for students taking military science classes—according to Frye.

“This job is not just one thing, either.

I do business; I do academic stuff. I do it all,” Frye said.

A normal day for Frye can include anything from talking with parents who have children interested in joining the Army ROTC program at UGA all the way to military-related concerns.

Frye manages compliance policies, budgets, students and academics for the department. Most days, however, he helps students who are taking Army ROTC classes and need his assistance.

The goal of the Army ROTC

courses “is to graduate cadets from UGA and to make officers in the U.S. Army,” Frye said.

Making sure students graduate is a big responsibility of the job, and Frye didn’t have anyone to train him when he started in 2014.

“It took me an entire summer to learn about the university’s procedures and how to access systems when I was first hired,” Frye said. “I had to be ready for classes and students.”

Frye didn’t serve in the military, but he does understand what it takes.

“I had family in the military, so I was always around it,” he said.

While Frye wasn’t a military expert when he started this job, he did already know a thing or two about UGA. Frye earned a degree in international affairs, and continued working at UGA’s Dean of Students’ Office after graduating, while he searched the job market.

“I knew I wanted to stay at Georgia,” he said. “I love this place, and I love working here.”

A lot of what fuels Frye’s love for the university and Athens is his favorite sports team: the Georgia Bulldogs. He tries to attend every football game.

FACTS Michael Frye Administrative Associate II Army ROTC A.B., International Affairs, UGA, 2012 At UGA: 1.5 years

While he was completing his undergraduate degree, Frye played in UGA’s Redcoat Marching Band, which is where a lot of his UGA pride came from.

Although he doesn’t practice the trumpet as much as he used to, he still stays involved in music by singing in the University Chorus.

“I’m not a great singer, but I get a lot of joy out of that,” Frye said. “It’s very fulfilling.”

Frye continues to explore Athens— enjoying the responsibilities he has at UGA, as the liaison between the U.S. Army and the university.

“It’s about the students. I get joy out of knowing that today I can probably change someone’s life for the better,” he said. “When they come to me, I’m their voice of reason. That’s why I’m here.”

UGA ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

Swimming and diving coach, UGA swimmers will help lead US in Dec. 11-12 meet against Europe Jack Bauerle, head men and women’s swimming and diving coach, and UGA swimmers Hali Flickinger, Melanie Margalis and Nicolas Fink will help lead the U.S. against Europe in the Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool Dec. 11-12 in Indianapolis.

This will be the seventh Duel in the Pool, which has been held every other year since 2003. The Americans are 6-0 in the competition.

Bauerle has been a fixture in the Duel in the Pool. He served as the U.S. women’s head coach in 2003, 2005, 2009 and 2011 and as an assistant women’s coach in 2007.

Bauerle also was picked as the women’s head coach for 2013 but had to step down because of knee surgery.

This season, he will serve as the overall head coach for the Americans.

“It’s an honor any chance you get to represent both the University of Georgia and the United States,” Bauerle said. “It’s a feeling that never gets old, and it’s an honor that the Jack Bauerle swimmers and I never take for granted.

“This will be a high-level meet with an exciting format,” he also said.

“We’re really looking forward to it. It will be quite a challenge because the Europeans will be coming off some major competitions and they’ll be ready.

Our swimmers will really have to step up. It should be pretty exciting.”

Flickinger is a senior for women’s

swimming and diving, while Margalis was a 17-time All-American from 2011-14 and Fink earned 21 All-American certificates from 2012-15.

“The Mutual of Omaha Duel in the Pool is an exciting format for the athletes, fans and viewers, where our sport’s most decorated athletes line up with some of USA Swimming’s future stars,” said Frank Busch, director of the USA Swimming national team. “I’m looking forward to watching this group compete against a talented European roster, and the experience gained in Indianapolis will be key heading into an Olympic year.”

Thirty-six athletes, including Olympic medalists Missy Franklin, Ryan Lochte and Natalie Coughlin, also will represent the U.S at the meet.

TERRY COLLEGE OF BUSINESS, FRANKLIN COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

columns.uga.edu Nov. 2, 2015

‘A learning process’

7

UGA student creates, launches group messaging application

By Matt Chambers mattdc@uga.edu

When Sam Getty graduates in May, not only will he leave UGA with degrees in marketing and cognitive science, he’ll also leave having created and launched his own iPhone application, Textr.

The app is a mix between group messaging and social media. In Textr, users can create and join messaging groups. The groups can be public or private, so one group could be only for a close group of friends while another group could be open to any wrestling fan using Textr.

“If you’re the type of person who likes boxing, but don’t know any boxing fans, you can go on Textr and find a community there.

If you like Gossip Girl or Game of Thrones, you can have that community on Textr,” Getty said. “Whether it’s creating a community with people you don’t know or recreating that community with your friends, you can use Textr.”

Textr users also can add friends and follow people to see what groups they’re joining and participating in. There also are featured group messages users can see when they launch the app.

Getty’s goal with Textr is to create a better way for people to communicate with others and talk about live events. The original idea for Textr was pairing up users randomly to talk with each other, but Getty said he changed course so he could “help people connect with other people who have similar interests.”

“Facebook Messenger, Kik and Whatsapp are all single messaging apps that have group messaging built in as a feature,” Getty said.

“I really wanted an app that was dedicated to group messaging first and that had the ability for people to figure out what conversations they wanted to be a part of and to see other conversations they might not necessarily know exist.”

Creating Textr started last August and took Getty six months of conducting market research, solidifying his ideas, finding the right people to help him and trial and error. The latter, he said, was something he embraced.

“One of the lessons I’ve learned is that failing is part of the process. It’s fine to fail,” he said.

Getty worked with Avery Robinson, a UGA alumnus, to design the graphics for the app, and he worked with two backend developers—one in Illinois and one in

Dorothy Kozlowski

Sam Getty, a UGA senior, has created and launched the group messaging application Textr. The app, Getty said, is perfect for the college setting. “Imagine you’re in a class of 50 people and you have a test tomorrow. To talk about and prepare for it, you’d have to get 50 people’s phone numbers,” he said.

“Instead, just say, ‘Add me on Textr, I’ve got a group up.’ It’s so simple.”

Virginia—for the technical aspect. He also is working with his friend Jesse Garcia on some marketing. Everything else has been handled

by Getty, a Cincinnati native.

“All of this was definitely a learning process,” Getty said. “It’s very easy for someone to tell you what to do and for you to follow it, but for you to figure out what you’re supposed to do, that’s really hard, but really powerful and sets you up for a lot of success.

“The best thing for me was that realization that at the end of the day, I was going to have to do it myself,” he also said. “I’d spent a whole lot of time researching, imagining and dreaming, but there’s that moment when you go from ideation to practice and you take that first action step.”

One of Getty’s biggest challenges during the creation of Textr was finding the right developers to work with. He tried friends, posting jobs on campus, even approaching people on Craigslist. The hard part wasn’t finding people with the technical skills but finding someone with the right motivation.

“Finding people who were going to be intrinsically motivated to build something

WEEKLY READER

Alumna writes guide to saving recipes

Preserving Family Recipes: How to Save and Celebrate Your Food Traditions

By Valerie J. Frey University of Georgia Press Paperback: $26.95

Heirloom dishes and family food traditions are rich sources of nostalgia and provide vivid ways to learn about a family’s past, yet they can be problematic.

Many family recipes and food traditions never are documented in written or photographic form, existing only as unwritten knowhow and lore that vanishes when a cook dies.

Preserving Family Recipes is a guide to gathering, adjusting, supplementing and safely preserving family recipes. It also contains tips for interviewing relatives, collecting oral histories and conducting kitchen visits to document family food traditions from the everyday to special occasions. Written by Valerie J. Frey, a UGA alumna and Athens resident, Preserving Family Recipes blends common sense tips with sound archival principles.

different was really tough,” Getty said. “It took a while to get a good team.”

While he took a Java development course at UGA, Getty said it was “extremely tough for me,” and that he felt his time would be better spent finding experts to do the coding instead.

“I can read code and I can alter code to a minor extent, but for something like Textr, something I wanted to develop on par with Facebook or Twitter, there was no way I could learn coding and do it on my own,” he said.

Textr isn’t Getty’s first foray into startups. During his second year on campus, he created the concept of a wireless dog leash, something similar to a mobile invisible fence, but it didn’t get past the product phase. Getty said he’s always felt like he has a different way of looking at things and is constantly coming up with ideas to record on his phone for later projects.

Throughout all his ideas and failures, Getty’s father has been his biggest motivator, as well as the one to keep him realistic at times.

“He’s someone I can talk to about my crazy ideas,” Getty said. “Although sometimes he’d tell me, ‘Hold on, stay focused on (Textr).’ ”

Now that Textr is live on the Apple App Store, Getty is working with a few other students and friends to ramp up promotion. His big goal? To have Textr be one of the main apps people use to talk about the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro. To get there, he’s starting in the Classic City and on campuses throughout the state. The app, Getty said, is perfect for the college setting.

“Imagine you’re in a class of 50 people and you have a test tomorrow. To talk about and prepare for it, you’d have to get 50 people’s phone numbers,” he said. “Instead, just say, ‘Add me on Textr, I’ve got a group up.’ It’s so simple.”

Getty said that 50,000 downloads by the end of the year “would be amazing,” but he’s really focused on metrics like active users and how often people use the app. While he’s nervous about failure, Getty’s not backing down from his ambitious 2016 goal.

“I’m just a guy in Georgia hoping to make his dreams a reality,” Getty said. “If you do something that’s never been done, then you’ll get something that’s never been gotten—that’s what I live by.”

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Editor Juliett Dinkins Art Director Janet Beckley Photo Editor Dorothy Kozlowski

CLS revamps its website

Senior Reporter Aaron Hale

cls.uga.edu

The Center for Leadership and Service has made it much easier for students to participate in numerous opportunities for personal development and volunteering through its newly redesigned website.

Programs are organized more intuitively and more succinctly described, enabling students to learn quickly which programs they

Reporter Matt Chambers

would enjoy most.

“UGA students are passionate about leadership and service, and the CLS website efficiently connects them with the opportunities that will help them engage and fulfill that passion,” 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

7 8 5

8 Nov. 2, 2015 columns.uga.edu LECTURE from page 1

GRANT from page 1

more than 1 million Jews. Israeli agents captured the fugitive Eichmann in Argentina in 1960 and put him on trial for crimes against Jewish people. Eichmann would be convicted and executed.

The trial raised international interest in the Nazi genocide, Lipstadt said. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, popular culture and academia began to pay more attention to the Holocaust.

During that tumultuous political period in the U.S., Lipstadt said, writers and filmmakers “used the Holocaust and the Nazis to shed light on American society.”

By 1978, when NBC aired the four-part television miniseries Holocaust, which starred Meryl Streep, the Nazi genocide was finally fully ingrained in America’s consciousness, Lipstadt argued.

There have been positive lessons that America has taken from its confrontation with the Holocaust, she said, including U.S. intervention in other genocides through U.N. peacekeeping forces. Lipstadt told the audience that if there was one lesson to take away from her lecture, it is that the world must act early to prevent genocide.

“If you want to stop evil,” she said, “you’ve got to stop it before it becomes real evil.”

to Kids Count data. Children in rural counties are particularly at risk, Futris said, due to patterns of income inequality and social stratification.

UGA students from both the College of Family and Consumer Sciences and the School of Social Work will be involved in the project, providing services such as child care, youth engagement and tax preparation; conducting in-home visits; and collecting needs assessment data. The project also calls for the hiring of up to 30 part-time program facilitators and field assessors.

“We’ll be working with families who are experiencing a lot of stress on a daily basis,” Futris said. “We want to see as a result of participating in this program that they are able to effectively manage the stress and that they are experiencing less stress over time, and we want to see stability in their relationships.”

The project will deliver the Elevate curriculum, a research-informed couples education program developed by researchers at UGA and Auburn University. Participants also will receive a three-week financial literacy education program that focuses on managing finances and building wealth.

FESTIVAL from page 1 “4’33,” which challenged audiences to reconsider the relationship between artistic practice and philosophy. Students will have 4 minutes, 33 seconds to explain their research, and two prizes of $433 will be awarded during the competition, fittingly scheduled for 4:33 p.m. on Nov. 5 in the Balcony Theatre at the Fine Arts Building.

UGA students also plan to shine a spotlight on the arts for tailgaters before the UGA vs. Kentucky football game Nov. 7, when the Graduate Theatrical Ensemble will deliver a family-friendly, improvisational theatrical experience at locations across campus.

Anna Pieri, a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in acting from the theatre and film studies department, is coordinating the Student Spotlight events. For her,

the events are a chance to share rewarding experiences with fellow UGA students as well as the community.

“Life doesn’t exist in a vacuum, so a holistic university experience depends on broadening our awareness of others,” Pieri said. “The Arts at UGA give every student, faculty member and employee on campus, as well as the community of Athens, the chance to tell their story, to hear and appreciate the stories of others and to go forth and share those stories with the world.”

ON THE WEB

The complete Spotlight on the Arts schedule is at arts.uga.edu.

Bulletin Board Education support leave policy

To supplement work-life balance options for University System of Georgia employees—which includes those at UGA—each full-benefits eligible, non-temporary employee of the USG shall be eligible for up to eight hours of paid leave per calendar year for the purpose of promoting education in this state as authorized by O.C.G.A. § 45-20-32.

Only activities directly related to student achievement and academic support will qualify for education ­support leave.

Education support leave is not charged against any other leave. Education support leave does not accumulate or roll over and is not paid out upon change of employment status.

Regents’ Awards nominees

The Center for Teaching and Learning seeks UGA nominees for the University System of Georgia’s 2016 Regents’ Awards for Teaching Excellence in three categories: Regents’ Teaching Excellence Award; Regents’ Teaching Excellence Award for Online Teaching; and Regents’ Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award.

These awards are the highest honors for faculty at Georgia’s public colleges and universities.

Additional information on the USG awards can be found at http://ctl. uga.edu/events/call-for-usg-teachingsotl-awards-nominations/.

The submission deadline for

­ reliminary materials is Nov. 9 at p 5 p.m. For questions, contact Chase Hagood at tchagood@uga.edu.

University Woman’s Club

The University Woman’s Club will meet Nov. 10 at 11 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall of Central Presbyterian Church, 380 Alps Road.

Mary Ann Johnson, interim director of UGA’s Institute of Gerontology, will discuss “Changing Gears for Changing Years ... More than Keeping up Appearances.” Tickets for the Dec. 8 holiday luncheon also will be available for purchase.

Email Kim Argo, publicity chair, at argo1230@att.net for more ­information.

Flu shots

Flu shots for faculty and staff are available by appointment at the University Health Center.

The shots are given Tuesdays through Fridays at the Allergy Travel Clinic. To make an appointment, call 706-542-5575.

Flu shots are $20 (quadrivalent) and $35 (high-dose for those 65 years or older) for the uninsured; the paperwork for everyone else will be filed with insurance. A valid UGA ID is required for those who get a flu shot.

Bulletin Board is limited to information that may pertain to a majority of faculty and staff members.

FUELED BY GRATITUDE—UGA students and staff from the Office of Service-Learning,

the Athletic Association and Shop with a Bulldawg hosted a breakfast Oct. 22 for more than 200 Clarke County School District bus drivers. Part of the school district’s Bus Driver Appreciation Week, the breakfast was an expression of gratitude for the support the school district provides to programs like Experience UGA. The CCSD transportation office supports trips ranging in size from 50 to more than 600 students and is an essential partner in bringing CCSD students to campus.

RETENTION

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and 82.4 percent, respectively, which compare to national averages of 39.4 percent and 55.1 percent, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Senior Vice President for Academic A ­ ffairs and Provost Pamela Whitten noted that earlier this year UGA launched an initiative to reduce class sizes by hiring 56 additional faculty members and creating more than 300 new course sections. In 2014, the university hired 10 faculty members to teach in high-demand course sections.

In addition to reducing class sizes, UGA has enhanced advising services through a combination of additional staff and new technology.

The university hired 25 new academic advisers in the summer of 2014 and increased advising services to incoming first-year students and transfer students.

UGA also has enhanced students’ and advisers’ ability to track progress toward graduation with DegreeWorks, a Web-based academic advising tool. In addition, the university has increased summer enrollment on campus while also expanding summer online course offerings to give students more flexibility.

UGA has several longstanding programs that support retention and graduation, as well.

Since 2011, the First-Year Odyssey Seminar Program has placed all first-year students in small classes, with an average of 15 students, that are led by tenured or tenure-track p ­ rofessors

and designed to introduce students to academic life at UGA. Students who are struggling academically are enrolled in the Collaborative Academic and Retention Effort program, which is designed to address the individual needs of students placed on academic probation.

UGA has launched new scholarship programs, and $3.5 million in need-based scholarship funds has been awarded in the past year, a figure that is up 15 percent from just two years ago. UGA also offers a flat tuition rate that serves as an incentive for students to take a full course load each semester.

In fall 2016, UGA will become the largest public university in the nation to require that each of its students engage in hands-on learning—through internships, study abroad, service-learning, research and other forms of experiential learning—prior to graduation.

Morehead noted that in addition to helping prepare students for careers or graduate school, experiential learning has been shown to enhance student learning and promote ontime graduation.

“Our graduation and retention rates are very strong, but we’re striving for greater success for our students in this important area,” Morehead said. “In addition to changing the lives of individuals, each additional UGA degree represents a significant contribution to the economic vitality of our state and nation.”

AWARD from page 1 is an outstanding accomplishment for the university,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead.

Bennett-Alexander—affectionately known as “Dr. B-A” by her students—is an associate professor of employment law and legal studies who joined the UGA faculty in 1988.

She was nominated for the award by former student Randy Gold, the founder of JScreen, a not-for-profit organization that operates an educational and at-home screening program for Jewish genetic diseases.

In his nominating letter, Gold noted that he and his wife, Caroline, were screened for two and eight, respectively, of the genetic diseases disproportionately common in those with Jewish ancestry prior to their wedding.

Neither was screened for ML4, a devastating and life-threatening disease they gave to their daughter, Eden.

“The willingness to right a wrong, stand up and be recognized, or protect those unable to protect themselves are concepts that Dr. B-A helped me understand even more clearly through her class,” Gold said. “It was this understanding that led me to create JScreen, a genetic screening program that is saving lives every day.”

Bennett-Alexander has received many honors throughout her career, including the UGA President’s Fulfilling the Dream Award and being named a Fulbright Senior Scholar to conduct research on race and gender discrimination while teaching at the Ghana School of Law in West Africa.

Cahnmann-Taylor joined the UGA faculty in 2002 and is a professor of language and literacy education and a faculty member in UGA’s teachers of English to speakers of other languages and world language education program. She was nominated by former ­students Dell Perry Giles and Carrie Woodcock,

who credit her with inspiring them to open Georgia’s first two dual-immersion, bilingual, public K-8 schools—Unidos Dual Language Charter School in Clayton County and the World Language Academy in Hall County.

Together, the schools serve 2,000 students and their families.

“Following Misha’s example of putting people in the right places to make educational reform and providing them with the models they critically need, both our schools have opened their doors to hundreds of educators from across the Southeast and abroad who come to see innovation in action,” Giles and Woodcock wrote in their nomination letter, adding that 20 such schools now exist in Georgia.

Cahnmann-Taylor is among the youngest recipients of the Beckman Award and has received several additional honors over the course of her career, including the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg and Leeway Poetry prizes.

As a Fulbright Scholar, she traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico, and studied American adults’ acquisition of Spanish language as well as Mexican cultural practices. She has expanded bilingual education in Georgia by recruiting bilingual adults to become certified teachers and led a six-year, $1 million federal grant program to support this effort.

“Professors Bennett-Alexander and Cahnmann-Taylor exemplify the far-reaching impact of the instruction and mentorship that our faculty members provide, and I am delighted that their dedication to students has been recognized with the Beckman Award,” said Pamela Whitten, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost.

The Beckman Award Trust was originated in 2008 and has since bestowed more than $1.7 million to 73 professors and other faculty members.