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Dawgs give back: More than 500 students participate in annual Day of Service CAMPUS NEWS
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Hodgson W ind Ensemble opens season with Sept. 13 performance of three works Vol. 44, No. 8
September 12, 2016
columns.uga.edu
Donor anonymously transforms lives of university students By Katie DeGenova kdgen@uga.edu
Tyler Daniels
The Office of Donor Relations and Stewardship held a sock-hop-themed reception to thank donors, employees and retirees for showing their support and detailed how those donations are making a difference.
Collective generosity
Record-breaking 2,064 current and former employees give nearly $5.7 million in fiscal year 2016 By Leigh Raynor lraynor@uga.edu
On Sept. 1, the Office of Donor Relations and Stewardship, a unit of the Office of Development, hosted a reception in Memorial Hall Ballroom to thank current and retired faculty and staff donors who helped the university achieve its best fundraising year in history. In fiscal year 2016, a recordbreaking 2,064 faculty, staff and retiree contributors gave nearly $5.7 million, a 43 percent increase over last year.
UGA President Jere W. Morehead and Kelly Kerner, vice president for development and alumni relations, thanked the nearly 250 attendees and talked about how their support is making a difference at the university. “Thank you for your generosity and for the outstanding example you are setting for our alumni and friends,” Morehead said. “Your unyielding support is at the center of every step we take forward at this great university.” “Your gifts demonstrate an incredible commitment to the
university’s mission,” said Kerner. “As we enter the public phase of the capital campaign this November, it is especially important for potential donors to see this commitment from those who work on our campuses and with our students each and every day.” The event was sock-hopthemed, a gesture to one of the previous uses for the ballroom as a space for dances and proms. Attendees sipped Coke floats and snacked on popcorn, high-fived mascot Hairy Dawg, and donned cat-eye glasses and Elvis hair at the photo booth.
GRADUATE SCHOOL
New leadership, support programs to help graduate students thrive, develop critical skills By Camie Williams camiew@uga.edu
Two years after she received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia, Rachael Hart Earls was excited to return to her alma mater to begin her doctoral studies. But as she prepared for life in a laboratory as a neuroscientist, she worried that she would feel isolated and wondered if there was a way to create synergies between her academic goals and her desire to work with people outside of the lab. She found the answer in Graduate Scholars LEAD (Leadership, Engagement and Development), a program launched this summer by the Graduate School. Funded by a $495,000 Innovations in Graduate Education grant from the National Science Foundation, the
UGA GUIDE
program fosters the development of critical thinking skills, teamwork, communication and leadership. “I was sold right away,” Earls said of the program, which includes an eight-week summer academy facilitated by faculty from the J. W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, College of Engineering, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, and College of Veterinary Medicine. It also includes a follow-up grand challenges course, through which students are working this fall to design a meaningful solution for a community in need. “I have always known that I have
wanted to help others, but I only saw how to help others through my narrow lens,” Earls said. “Working with such a diverse group of doctoral students has broadened my horizons and allowed me to see bigger issues at hand.” The challenge course is a critical part of the program, allowing the students to put their new skills into action as they work to understand the challenges faced by communities and learn best practices in community engagement. The theme for this year’s challenge is food, and the community partners include Barrow County’s public schools and housing authority and the Archway Partnership community of Griffin-Spalding County. “Historically, most graduate students have been trained See PROGRAMS on page 4
Cora Nunnally Miller anonymously gave more than $33 million to the University of Georgia Foundation throughout her lifetime and granted permission for the university to share her name only after her death. Her last gift, a bequest of $17 million made at her passing in July 2015, will have a transformational effect across the university. The Hugh Hodgson School of Music is the major beneficiary of Miller’s bequest and will receive $9 million, the largest gift ever made to the music school. Miller, who was a passionate advocate for the arts, was the stepdaughter of Hugh Hodgson, a nationally recog-
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nized musician and educator who was the first chair of UGA’s music department and one of the most significant supportCora Nunnally Miller ers of music and art in the South in the early 20th century. Miller’s contributions to the School of Music were numerous and significant during her lifetime, and the majority of her support went directly to students through scholarships, assistantships and student experiences. Wesley Sumpter, a senior from Lithia Springs, received one of See GIFT on page 4
FRANKLIN COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Researchers working on drug to treat ‘sleeping sickness’ By Alan Flurry
aflurry@uga.edu
Researchers at UGA are working to find the fastest way possible to treat and cure human African trypanosomiasis, long referred to as sleeping sickness. By working to improve chemical entities already tested in human clinical trials, they hope to have a faster route to field studies to treat the disease using drugs that can be administered orally to patients. The study, “Discovery of Carbazole-Derived Lead Drug for Human African Trypanosomiasis,” was published in Scientific Reports Aug. 26. Human African trypanosomia-
sis, or HAT, is a tropical disease endemic to some rural communities in subSaharan Africa. A vectorborne parasitic Kojo Mensa-Wilmot disease, existing diagnosis and treatment regimens are complex, making them challenging to implement in some of the world’s most poverty-stricken regions. “There is a significant challenge in terms of trying to find new drugs to control the disease,” said Kojo Mensa-Wilmot, professor and head See DRUG on page 4
FRANKLIN COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Linguistics grant to support study of Southern language variation By Alan Flurry
aflurry@uga.edu
With the aid of a grant from the National Science Foundation, UGA linguistic researchers will be isolating and identifying the specific variations in speech that make Southerners sound Southern. Despite the uniformity found in dictionaries, extensive variation exists in the way that people actually use language. Linguists can break down differences in speech sounds—found in accents—to isolate and identify variations in spoken language.
The researchers will use computer software to analyze 64 interviews with speakers from Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas recorded from 1968 to 1983. “We hope to document the range of pronunciations in the South, both to provide a database of that variation and to demonstrate how to model that variation,” said William Kretzschmar, the Harry and Jane Willson Professor in the Humanities in the English department and principal investigator on the grant. “We think there are good
See GRANT on page 4
2 Sept. 12, 2016 columns.uga.edu
Digest Tift Building, central hub for students, to be rededicated in Sept. 27 ceremony
DIVISION OF STUDENT AFFAIRS
Dawgs give back: More than 500 students take part in service event By Leigh Beeson lbeeson@uga.edu
The College of Environment and Design will host a lecture by Vaughn Rinner, president-elect of the American Society of Landscape Architects, Sept. 29 at 5 p.m. in Room 123 of the Jackson Street Building. Open free to the public, the lecture is sponsored and organized by Georgia ASLA’s affiliate student organization, the Georgia Students of Landscape Architects. An award-winning landscape architect, Rinner is a graduate of Iowa State University and has worked for 40 years in both small landscape architectural firms and as a partner in interdisciplinary firms. She previously served as a principal and project manager with the LandMark Design Group and Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc., as well as owned and managed her own consulting firm, Vaughn Rinner Landscape Architect PLC. For more information, visit www.ced.uga.edu or call 706-542-1816.
Justeen Huynh didn’t feel tired after laboring two hours under the sun on Williams Farm. The junior exercise and sport science major was too busy examining the work that the 50 or so UGA student volunteers completed during the fifth annual Dawg Day of Service. More than 500 students participated in the annual service event—the biggest turnout in event history, said Kyle Anderson, senior coordinator for campus and community outreach. Almost all of the 27 community partner sites were filled to capacity with volunteers who did everything from cleaning up outdoor spaces and filling garden beds at local elementary schools to implementing a composting system and chopping down ragweed at the farm. The event, held Aug. 27, is one of several one-time volunteer opportunities put together by ServeUGA, a group that focuses on improving the UGA campus and Athens-Clarke County through community service. The volunteers worked at their chosen sites for about two and a half hours, providing a collective total of more than 1,000 hours of free labor. First-time participant Kimarah Laurent, a third-year math major, said volunteering is something about which she’s always been passionate. For Dawg Day of Service, she worked at Nuci’s Space, a nonprofit that offers mental health support and professional services
UGA to co-host global leadership STEM summit in Atlanta this November
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS
UGA will hold a rededication ceremony for the newly renovated H.H. Tift Building on the UGATifton campus Sept. 27 at 10 a.m. Renovation of the Tift Building, the campus’s first structure, was completed in May. Initially constructed in 1922, the Tift Building now is equipped to support undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Located at the front of the campus alongside Moore Highway, the building serves as a central hub for students and provides the latest instructional technology.
Vaughn Rinner to lecture at College of Environment and Design on Sept. 29
Women working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, fields will gather in Atlanta this fall for a unique leadership development summit that’s supported by UGA. Organized by Takoi Hamrita, a professor of electrical engineering in the College of Engineering, the Global Women in STEM Leadership Summit will be held Nov. 2-4 at the Lowes Atlanta Hotel. The event is supported by the Women in Engineering organization of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers as well as the Office of the President, the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, and the College of Engineering at UGA. Several corporate, economic development, nonprofit and higher education partners are helping sponsor the event. The summit will bring together 400 women with diverse backgrounds in entrepreneurship, academia and business, said Hamrita. More than 60 influential thought leaders—primarily women— are scheduled to speak. The summit, designed for women in all career paths and stages, will cover topics including personal and professional growth, leadership development, team building, STEM outreach and innovation. The detailed agenda for the summit is available at www.wielead.org/summit-agenda. The summit’s keynote speakers include Jennifer Van Buskirk, regional president, AT&T Mobility Northeast Region; Valerie Montgomery Rice, president and dean, Morehouse School of Medicine; Parisa Khosravi, former senior vice president, CNN Worldwide, and CEO, Payam Global Strategies; Alicia Philipp, president, the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta; Jill S. Tietjen, past president, Society of Women Engineers; Jeff Hoffman, co-founder of priceline.com; and Rachel Schutt, senior vice president and senior chief data scientist, News Corp. Information and online registration is available at www.weilead.org. Those with questions may contact Hamrita at thamrita@uga.edu.
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Peter Frey
From left: Isabelle Snider, a freshman biology major from Marietta; Lauren Linkowski, a sophomore nutrition science major from Pittsburgh; and Sahil Gandhi, a freshman chemistry major from Peachtree City, assemble a playscape toy at the playground of the Athens Area Homeless Shelter during the Dawg Day of Service.
to local musicians. Laurent, who picked up trash around the establishment and swept the floor of the building, plans to continue serving the community by participating in next semester’s MLK Day of Service. Huynh, also a first-time volunteer, enjoyed working at the Williams Farm, which is part of the Athens Land Trust, a nonprofit that sets aside land for community purposes. “The owners said we put in nearly 100 hours of work,” she said. “And it was really nice to know how much of
Yale University professor to open 2016 fall Signature Lecture series By Camie Williams camiew@uga.edu
This fall, the University of Georgia’s Signature Lecture series will feature talks from nationally and internationally recognized figures from a range of fields. “The Signature Lectures illustrate the breadth of intellectual discussion at a research university,” said Meg Amstutz, associate provost for academic programs. “These speakers often inspire us as they describe their passions and pursuits. I hope faculty will help point out speakers of interest to our students and encourage their attendance at these lectures.” Signature Lectures are open free to the public. For more information, see http://t.uga.edu/2AQ. Akhil Reed Amar, the Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University, will give the Constitution Day Lecture, “The Constitution at a Crossroads,” Sept. 16 at 2 p.m. in the Chapel. On Sept. 28, former diplomat Sir Ivor Roberts will give the lecture “Strengthening International Alliances in a World That Wants to Tear Them Apart” at 4 p.m. in the Chapel. Civil rights pioneer James H. Meredith will give the Donald L. Hollowell Lecture Oct. 13. His speech, “What Today’s Activism is Missing,” will begin at 1:30 p.m. in the Morton Theatre, 195 W. Washington St. Later that day, U.S. District Judge Lisa Godbey Wood will discuss “Reflections on Sentencing” at the Edenfield Jurist in Residence Lecture at 3:30 p.m. in the law school’s Hatton Lovejoy Courtroom. The Georgia Power College of Public Health Endowed Seminar in Environmental Topics will feature Joan B. Rose, professor and Homer Nowlin Chair in Water Research at
Michigan State University. She will discuss “The Water Microbiome: Expanding our Knowledge of Safe Water,” Oct. 21 at 12:20 p.m. in Room 175 of the Coverdell Building. In conjunction with the exhibition Gifts and Prayers: The Romanovs and Their Subjects, Russian jewel expert Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm will discuss “The Russian Imperial Awards and Their Recipients” Nov. 1 at 5:30 p.m. at the Georgia Museum of Art. UGA alumnus William P. “Billy” Payne, chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, will give the Mason Public Leadership Lecture Nov. 3 at 11 a.m. in the Chapel. Jacknife Lee, the Willson Center/ Terry College Music Business Program Visiting Fellow, will take part in a conversation with Music Business Program director David Barbe Nov. 3 at 4 p.m. in the Chapel. As part of the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame,“Bill Shipp’s Political Pen: Mightier Than the Sword, A Student Moderated Q&A” will be held Nov. 6 at 3:30 p.m. And at 5 p.m., author and humorist Roy Blount Jr. will give the talk “Where I’m Coming From.” Both events will be held in the auditorium of the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries. UGA alumna and geneticist Cynthia Kenyon will give the Charter Lecture, “Aging and the Immortal Germline,” Nov. 7 at 2:30 p.m. in the Chapel. The D.W. Brooks Lecture and Awards will be held Nov. 7 at 3:30 p.m. in Mahler Auditorium of the Georgia Center for Continuing Education. Global food expert Roger Thurow will give the keynote address,“1,000 Days to Change the World: Stories from the Fight Against Early Childhood Malnutrition.”
a difference we made.” But there were also repeat volunteers, like Melanie Abron, a second-year biological science major, who picked up trash at last year’s event and spent the 2016 Dawg Day of Service prepping Lyndon House Arts Center for its new Open Studio program, which lets artists make use of the center’s art studios. “Volunteering in the city you live in is pretty important,” Abron said. “We go to UGA, but what does that matter if you don’t help the community around the university?”
Hagood named Division of Academic Enhancement director By Tracy Coley tcoley@uga.edu
Following a national search, Thomas Chase Hagood has been named director of UGA’s Division of Academic Enhancement. Hagood began his new position Sept. 7. “Chase brings a unique perspective to this position,” said Rahul Shrivastav, vice president for instruction. “His breadth of knowledge in working with Chase Hagood both faculty and students will help further foster student learning and experience and strengthen the university’s commitment to student success.” Hagood will provide leadership for the DAE, a unit of the Office of the Vice President for Instruction, which offers students a range of services and courses for academic support that contribute to a quality student experience from start to finish. The center also provides academic success workshops and academic counseling as well as study skills and strategies for students. “I am honored to be selected as director of the Division of Academic Enhancement,” said Hagood. “The division plays an integral role in the university’s student success agenda, and I’m excited to serve alongside the DAE’s distinguished faculty and staff to support students across UGA.”
ON THE WEB
http://dae.uga.edu
UGAGUIDE
columns.uga.edu Sept. 12, 2016
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
Keep Your Seats, memorabilia celebrating the 110-year history of the UGA Redcoat Marching Band. Through Dec. 23. Special collections libraries. 706-542-8079. Gifts and Prayers: The Romanovs and Their Subjects. Through Dec. 31. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu (See story, below at right).
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 EID AL-ADHA Islamic religious observance. CTL LECTURE “The Science of Successful Learning and Memory,” Henry L. Roediger III, Washington University. Part of the Center for Teaching and Learning’s National Speaker Series. 10:15 a.m. Russell Hall Auditorium. OUTREACH SEMINAR Emily Conron, student outreach coordinator for the Sabin Vaccine Institute’s END7 campaign, will speak about efforts to end seven neglected tropical diseases. 1 p.m. 404E biological sciences building. 706-542-9417. donnah@uga.edu CTL PRESENTATION “The Study of People Who Deliberately Memorize,” Henry L. Roediger III, Washington University. Part of the Center for Teaching and Learning’s National Speaker Series. 2 p.m. Grand Hall, Tate Student Center. 706-542-8802. lcoco@uga.edu FACULTY CONCERT Michael Heald, violin, and Maggie Snyder, viola, will be joined by guest artists Kenn Wagner and Joel Dallow from the Atlanta Symphony and Ivo-Jan van der Werff, professor of viola at Rice University and former member of the Medici String Quartet. 8 p.m. Ramsey Concert Hall. 706-542-4752. ccschwabe@uga.edu
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 LECTURE “Hip-Hop & Scholarship—Playing Black for Laughs: Cultural Appropriation in Hip Hop,” Neal Lester, Foundation Professor of English and director of project humanities at Arizona State University and September’s Willson Center ShortTerm Visiting Fellow. This event is the first in five days of performances and discussions. 6 p.m. Appleton Auditorium, Athens-Clarke County Library, 2025 Baxter St. ekw2010@uga.edu CONCERT Hodgson Wind Ensemble performance of David Maslanka’s “A Child’s Garden of Dreams” and Karel Husa’s “Music for Prague.” Free—patrons are encouraged to bring a nonperishable canned food item to be donated to the UGA Food Bank. 8 p.m. Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall. 706-542-4752. ccschwabe@uga.edu (See story, above at right).
available on the web via Collaborate at http://tinyurl.com/z8yejmp 9 a.m. Mahler Auditorium, Georgia Center for Continuing Education. WORKSHOP “Once Upon a Time in a Different World: Representation, Controversy and Celebration in African-American Children’s Literature,” Neal Lester, Foundation Professor of English and director of project humanities at Arizona State University and September’s Willson Center ShortTerm Visiting Fellow. This event is the second in five days of performances and discussions. 1:15 p.m. 214 Miller Learning Center. ekw2010@uga.edu
LECTURE “Why Should We Care About Diseases of Wildlife?,” Sonia Hernandez, associate professor, UGA Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources and the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine. 1:25 p.m. 201 ecology building. cpringle@uga.edu OPEN FORUM: FLSA A panel of UGA FLSA experts will be available to assist affected staff with questions. The event will be available on the web via Collaborate at http://tinyurl.com/h3sevgu 2 p.m. Mahler Auditorium, Georgia Center. FACULTY CONCERT David Zerkel, the School of Music’s professor of tuba and euphonium, will perform with Anatoly Sheludyakov, Opal Clark and Scott Pollard. 8 p.m. Ramsey Concert Hall. 706-542-4752. ccschwabe@uga.edu
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 TEST OF THE UGAALERT EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SYSTEM A full test of the UGAAlert emergency notification system will be conducted. Periodic tests of the UGAAlert emergency notification system are necessary to evaluate the university’s ability to issue timely emergency messages when immediate action is required. 10:45 a.m. 706-542-5845. ugaalert@uga.edu (See Bulletin Board, page 4). DISCUSSION “Including Inclusion: Bringing Diversity & Inclusion Perspectives to Diverse Curricula,” Neal Lester, Foundation Professor of English and director of project humanities at Arizona State University and September’s Willson Center Short-Term Visiting Fellow. This event is the third in five days of performances and discussions. 2 p.m. 277 special collections libraries. ekw2010@uga.edu HUGH HODGSON FACULTY SERIES Brandon Craswell, an International Trumpet Guild prize winner and the chair of the UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s brass area, will perform. $12; $6 with a UGACard. 8 p.m. Ramsey Concert Hall. 706-542-4752. ccschwabe@uga.edu
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
OPEN FORUM: FLSA At an open forum, a panel of UGA FLSA experts will be available to assist affected staff with questions. The event will be
CONFERENCE Keynote speaker: Cindi Love, executive director of ACPA–College Student Education International. $75; $50 for faculty
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/.
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and staff. 8 a.m. Tate Student Center. 706-542-8229. asd@uga.edu
CONSTITUTION DAY Keynote speaker: Akhil Amar, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science, Yale University. Part of the Signature Lecture Series. 2 p.m. Chapel. 706-542-2989. dougherk@uga.edu (See story, page 2). FORUM “Fear of a Black Planet: Representations of Black Males, Past and Present,” Neal Lester, Foundation Professor of English and director of project humanities at Arizona State University and September’s Willson Center Short-Term Visiting Fellow. This event is the fourth in five days of performances and discussions. 4 p.m. 277 special collections libraries. ekw2010@uga.edu
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 EXHIBITION OPENING Representing the Brooklyn Bridge. Through Dec. 11. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu HIP-HOP SHOWCASE: RUN UGA The hip-hop showcase precedes Neal Lester’s keynote speech. These events culminate five days of performances and discussions. 2 p.m. Chapel. ekw2010@uga.edu KEYNOTE “Straight Talk About the N-Word,” Neal Lester, Foundation Professor of English and director of project humanities at Arizona State University and September’s Willson Center Short-Term Visiting Fellow. This event is the final of five days of performances and discussions. 4 p.m. Chapel. ekw2010@uga.edu
By Clarke Schwabe
cschwabe@uga.edu
The UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s Hodgson Wind Ensemble will perform its first concert of the season Sept. 13 at 8 p.m. in Hodgson Concert Hall. The ensemble will perform three works, all of which stand as some of the most notable works of composers Julius Fucik, Karel Husa and David Maslanka. To broaden the reach of the concert and bring the music to more people, the ensemble is experimenting in several extramusical ways for this performance. There will be no admission charge. Instead, attendees are encouraged to bring a canned food item for the UGA Food Bank. Also, any attendees in balcony seats to the left or right of the stage are encouraged to bring their phones and join a conversation on social media about the concert in real time. Using the hashtag #HWElive, those in “tweet seats” can share video, talk about what they’ve heard, and even ask questions that participating faculty and graduate students will answer. The program begins with Maslanka’s “A Child’s Garden of Dreams.” Composed in 1981, the work, often considered Maslanka’s first symphony, is an original interpretation of Carl Jung’s writings about a young girl who dreams her own death. Husa’s “Music for Prague” has been performed over 7,000 times since its creation in 1969. A kind of musical memoir, it recalls Husa’s flight from Czechoslovakia in 1968 as Soviet forces invaded and destroyed his home city. While the first two works explore external and internal horrors, they are peppered with what Cynthia Johnston Turner, director of bands, calls “moments of pure light,” and the final work of the concert embraces that lightness. Fucik’s “The Florentiner March” is one of his most widely known works, written by the Czech composer in 1907. The UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music sponsors more than 350 performances each year. To view the performance calendar, subscribe to the weekly email concert listing or learn more about the School of Music, go to music.uga.edu.
COMING UP WORKSHOP Sept. 19. “Reacting to the Past and Setting the Stage for Active Learning.” Part of the Pedagogy and Practice Series. Noon. Instructional Plaza. CONCERT Sept. 19. Major ensembles from the School of Music’s bands department, the UGA Wind Symphony, directed by Jaclyn Hartenberger, and the UGA Symphonic Band, directed by Mike Robinson, will perform. 8 p.m. Hodgson Concert Hall. 706-542-4752. ccschwabe@uga.edu
Georgia Museum of Art
Art of Russian tsars displayed in new exhibit By Hillary Brown
hazbrown@uga.edu
This fall, visitors to the Georgia Museum of Art have the chance to see objects of Russian GUEST ARTIST CONCERT art never before shown in public. Sept. 21. Saxophonist Chris Condon perHighlighting a private collection forms. 6:30 p.m. Edge Recital Hall, Hugh on long-term loan to the museum, Hodgson School of Music. 706-542-4752. the exhibition Gifts and Prayers: ccschwabe@uga.edu The Romanovs and Their Subjects is on display until Dec. 31. CONCERT The House of Romanov ruled Sept. 21. A performance of Cuban music imperial Russia for 300 years by the Havana Cuba All-Stars. $25-$41. until the Russian Revolution in 8 p.m. Hodgson Concert Hall. 1917, which replaced the tsars 706-542-4400. ugaarts@uga.edu with a Communist government. The court created elaborate gifts DISCUSSION for military leaders, attendants, Sept. 22. REAL TALK, REAL TEACHING: noble families and others, as part #CHARLESTONSYLLABUS is a space to engage in conversations about ways that of a system of patronage that helped it maintain its power. educators can address the realities of Those gifts make up this display, race, racism and racial violence. 6 p.m. which includes such treasures Auditorium, special collections libraries. as the personal cigar box of 706-542-4244. cdillard@uga.edu
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.
Alexander II commemorating his coronation (which features individually painted miniatures covering its top), a miniature Faberge rendition of Peter the Great’s boat, diamond-encrusted brooches worn by ladies of the court, the 1802 Charter of Ennoblement, a luxurious folio volume presented to Lord Durham by Tsar Nicholas I, portraits, statues, photographs of the Romanov family and silver icons. This exhibition is sponsored by the Fraser-Parker Foundation, the W. Newton Morris Charitable Foundation and the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art. NEXT COLUMNS DEADLINES Sept. 14 (for Sept. 26 issue) Sept. 21 (for Oct. 3 issue) Sept. 28 (for Oct. 10 issue)
4 Sept. 12, 2016 columns.uga.edu PROGRAMS
GIFT from page 1
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to follow their mentors into academic positions,” said Graduate School Dean Suzanne Barbour. “GS LEAD provides students with a broader set of skills, designed to serve them in almost any career path.” She notes that GS LEAD is one of several initiatives implemented in recent months with the goal of elevating graduate education at UGA. To further enhance graduate education, UGA is offering new highly competitive fellowships for master’s and doctoral students, offering funding to help faculty members grow their programs and providing resources to ensure that graduate students are successful during their time on campus and beyond. The Graduate School has partnered with the UGA Writing Center to offer support to graduate students who are writing their
thesis or dissertation. This July, the two units collaborated to offer a weeklong boot camp, which included group lessons and individual consultations. To facilitate development of more programs to support students, the Graduate School has initiated two surveys: a professional development needs assessment for students (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ ugagradpd) and a professional development inventory for faculty (https://www. surveymonkey.com/r/ugagradinventory). The Graduate School will use results of the surveys to create new professional development opportunities for graduate students and professional development “menus” designed to help students make the most of their graduate and professional studies.
Nancy Evelyn
Rachael Hart Earls, a doctoral candidate studying neuroscience, is one of 12 graduate students participating in Graduate Scholars LEAD (Leadership, Engagement and Development), one of many programs recently launched to elevate graduate education at the University of Georgia.
Bulletin Board Emergency notification test
A full test of UGAAlert, the university’s emergency notification system, will be conducted Sept. 15 at 10:45 a.m. Prior to the test, students, faculty and staff should review their contact information (phone numbers and email addresses) in the UGAAlert system to ensure that their personal contact information and their specific preferences for being notified are accurate. Contact information may be checked at www.ugaalert.uga.edu In the event of severe weather on Sept. 15, the drill will be rescheduled to a day when more favorable weather conditions exist.
Libraries survey
UGA undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff will be surveyed using LibQUAL+, a web-based tool offered by the Association of Research Libraries, to gauge satisfaction with the libraries’ services, collections and facilities. The UGA Libraries has conducted the survey periodically since 2004. This year’s survey will run Sept. 19-30. Past LibQUAL+ data helped guide improvements in service, such as greater access to study spaces, enhancements to interlibrary loan service, the addition of improved search tools and renovations at both the main and science libraries. Those who complete the survey will have the chance to win one of 10 Walmart gift certificates worth $25. For more information, contact Diana Hartle by email at dhartle@uga.edu or by phone at 706-524-6399.
Dream Award nominations
Nominations are being sought for the President’s Fulfilling the Dream Award, which recognizes individuals in the UGA and Athens-Clarke County communities who have worked to make Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of equality and justice a reality. Nominations are due Oct. 28 at 5 p.m. Recipients of the President’s Fulfilling the Dream Award are recognized at the annual MLK Freedom Breakfast, which will be held Jan. 13 at UGA. The breakfast, which is sponsored by UGA, the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government and the Clarke County School District, commemorates King’s life and legacy. The award highlights the work of local community members and UGA faculty, staff and students who have made significant contributions to social justice, race relations, justice or human rights. Award winners demonstrate commitment to volunteerism and civic engagement in addressing critical community issues; utilize King’s philosophy to reduce tensions, resolve conflict and foster goodwill; and apply King’s teachings to build bridges of understanding and unity. Nominations can be made at http://tinyurl.com/howphf9 or by contacting UGA’s Office of Institutional Diversity at 706-583-8195. Forty-six individuals have received the award since 2004. A complete list of winners can be found at http://t.uga.edu/2z3 Bulletin Board is limited to information that may pertain to a majority of faculty and staff members.
these scholarships. “As an aspiring musician growing up, I wasn’t as fortunate as many other students who took private lessons,” he said. “We simply couldn’t afford it. Being a recipient of this scholarship means that someone believed in me, my talents and my efforts. Now I get to go to one of the best schools out there.” Miller remained fiercely anonymous during her lifetime. She received hundreds of thank you notes addressed to “an anonymous donor,” and although she never met the students whose lives she impacted, she cherished their letters. The College of Veterinary Medicine also is a beneficiary of Miller’s generosity. During her life, Miller was the primary funder of the college’s new Veterinary Medical Center; she
gave over $7 million to this state-of-the-art teaching hospital for small and large animals. Her bequest of $2 million to the college established an endowment to support teaching, research and service at the college. Miller’s final gift also will support the UGA Honors Program and the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, with $4 million being used to establish the Cora Nunnally Miller Fine Arts Scholarship Fund for undergraduate students studying the fine arts. “The University of Georgia is grateful beyond measure for the generosity of Cora Miller,” said Kelly Kerner, vice president for development and alumni relations. “Her legacy will continue enriching the lives of Georgians for generations to come.”
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chances for industrial uses of the database, to make automated airline phone systems work better, for example, with all the different ways of speaking their clients have.” Transcriptions of the interviews, the vowel pronunciation data and the visualizations will be presented on the website of the Linguistic Atlas Project. “We will be using methods of computer analysis that have not previously been fully exploited to study the way Southerners’ language varies,” said Margaret Renwick, assistant professor jointly appointed in the Romance languages department and the Linguistics Program at UGA and coprincipal investigator on the project. “A lot of research exists on dialectal speech based on small samples, but we now have the tools and technology to do it on a larger scale, and the data will provide much greater detail about how people talk.” The wider range of information from the automated phonetic analysis will show the full range of variation in the way an individual speaks. The researchers will, in turn, apply the results to sociolinguistic questions on a broader scale. For example, do speakers in Georgia, Arkansas and Texas say words like ride or wide in the same distinctly Southern way? Or how have speech patterns among African-American communities changed across space and time? The project will employ undergraduates through the Research Experience for Undergraduates program to transcribe the interviews. The team will then explore the transcriptions and corresponding audio. The result will be a large-scale body of annotated, dialectal speech with many applications. “We’ll be able to determine what historical speech was like, particularly in the South, and we’ll be able to test different linguistic models including language change, language diffusion and speech patterns,” Renwick said. The 64 hours of audio recordings that will be analyzed include interviews up to 10 hours long with individual speakers, including participants born in the 19th century. Other recordings include two speakers from the same region but of different generations, enabling analysis of how Southern speech patterns have developed over time. In all, there are 372 hours of digital audio interviews. In the first stage of the research, vowel pronunciations will be extracted from a list of 78 words that were elicitation targets in the interviews, plus additional words found to occur frequently in the interviews such as color terms, up to a total of 300 words. The second stage of the project will create visualizations to determine the dimensions of variation in vowels per speaker, social category and geographic area. The science of complex systems will model the results. “Here at UGA, we were early to start with automated phonetic processing, so it will be great to go full scale with this grant. No research thus far has processed conversational interviews quite so far from what most people would consider to be normal pronunciation, so it will be quite an achievement when we do it,” Kretzschmar said. The project has been supported by the Complex Systems and the Humanities research cluster, part of the Digital Humanities Initiative of the Willson Center, the UGA Libraries and the UGA Press.
of the cellular biology department in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. “Currently used treatments cannot be given orally and require people to go to a clinic in rural settings, which presents a problem for both health professionals as well as those infected with the disease.” The new paper by the UGA-led team describes “drug re-purposing,” an approach in which drugs developed for one disease are tested for effectiveness against a different disease. As part of a drug discovery initiative funded by the National Institutes of Health, Cleveland Biolabs Inc. synthesized a class of compounds from which the research team selected to test against the parasite. Using an animal model for the disease, the researchers administered the drug orally and cured the disease in mice. “Their original goal was to create compounds to cure some types of cancer. From more than 30 compounds screened, we found one that cures the disease and two more with potential to eliminate the infection,” Mensa-Wilmot said. “There are two compounds in clinical trials now that could be useful, but the pipeline for discovering these anti-trypanosome drugs is woeful.” HAT is caused by infection with the protozoan parasites belonging to the genus Trypanosoma brucei, which are transmitted to humans by tsetse flies. Rural populations living in regions that depend on agriculture, fishing, animal husbandry or hunting are the most exposed to the tsetse fly and therefore to the disease. The disease develops in areas ranging from a single village to an entire region. Sustained control efforts have reduced the number of new cases, and in 2009 the number reported dropped below 10,000 for the first time in 50 years, according to the World Health Organization. Co-authors on the study are Sarah M. Thomas, a postdoctoral associate in the department of cellular biology and the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases at UGA; Andrei Purmal, Cleveland BioLabs Inc., Buffalo, New York; and Michael Pollastri, associate professor in the department of chemistry and chemical biology at Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts.
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