UGA Columns Sept. 9, 2019

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Periodicals Postage is PAID in Athens, Georgia

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UGA researchers receive $1.4 million grant to combat opioid crisis CAMPUS NEWS

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Kronos Quartet plans Sept. 15 concert with vocalist Mahsa Vahdat Vol. 47, No. 7

September 9, 2019

www.columns.uga.edu

UGA GUIDE

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Faculty, staff, retiree donors celebrated at first PAWS reception By Zach Armstrong

zach.armstrong@uga.edu

Andrew Davis Tucker

UGA student client Helyne Soleyn talks with Andy Okala, founder and CEO of UZO student staffing business and a UGA alumnus, during an onboarding meeting in the UZO offices in Athens. Okala started the business when he was a student, and he uses the legal services from the Business Law Clinic to grow his operation.

Legal support

School of Law clinic provides free legal help to Athens-area entrepreneurs By Aaron Hale

aahale@uga.edu

The life of a budding entrepreneur can be thrilling and inspiring, but it also can be overwhelming. Finding reliable counsel— especially the free variety—is almost always welcome. Just ask Andy Okala, winner of the 2017 UGA Idea Accelerator and the co-founder of the Athensbased startup UZO. UZO is an on-demand student staffing service. It connects students looking to earn cash in their free time with local employers looking to staff short- and longterm gigs. Okala came up with the

idea as a UGA student looking to earn spending money with random jobs, like helping people move. He and his partners developed the idea and won the fall 2017 UGA Idea Accelerator competition. Now, Okala has graduated from broke college student to cashstrapped entrepreneur. “It’s definitely not easy, especially when it comes to having a steady income while building a business,” he said. One area where Okala has found invaluable help is legal services. UZO is a repeat customer to UGA’s Business Law Clinic. Run out of the School of Law and staffed by law students who are supervised

by licensed attorneys, the clinic gives free legal services to small local businesses and entrepreneurs. The clinic focuses on helping businesses make transactions. “We keep business projects from becoming legal problems,” said clinic director Willow Tracy. That means helping business owners form entities like LLCs and corporations, draft and review contracts, write bylaws and protect intellectual property. The clinic serves all sorts of clients—from musicians and artists to food distributors, restaurants and tech startups like UZO. Okala has come to the legal See LAW on page 4

PUBLIC SERVICE AND OUTREACH, OFFICE OF RESEARCH

More than 250 UGA faculty, staff and retirees gathered in Grand Hall of the Tate Student Center on Aug. 23 for the first Philanthropy at Work Society Reception. The event was organized by the Office of Donor Relations and Stewardship in the Division of Development & Alumni Relations. Formerly the “Faculty, Staff and Retiree Donor Appreciation Event,” this annual gathering recognizes individuals who support the university as both employees and donors. President Jere W. Morehead

spoke during the reception, congratulating the attendees on their membership in the PAW Society, noting that it is the first giving society dedicated to faculty, staff and retiree donors at the University of Georgia. “If we would all help, it wouldn’t be a big burden on anyone,” said Cecil Hammond, a 1962 alumnus who worked as a faculty member at UGA for 26 years and attended the reception.“The motivation and the loyalty that the Dawgs have is unbeatable for most universities. I would think there’s a lot of universities that would like to be

See PAWS on page 4

PUBLIC SERVICE AND OUTREACH

Botanical Garden projects to increase opportunities By Kelly Simmons

simmonsk@uga.edu

The University of Georgia broke ground on a trio of projects Aug. 23 at the State Botanical Garden. The projects—the Center for Art and Nature Porcelain and Decorative Arts Museum, the Discovery and Inspiration Garden and a new entrance—will allow visitors to explore the relationship between art and nature and increase accessibility to garden exhibits and facilities. They will be constructed simultaneously, with completion anticipated in 2020. “None of this would have been possible without the generosity of many people,” UGA President Jere W. Morehead said during

the groundbreaking ceremony. “I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all of the donors whose gifts are bringing these projects to life—those who are with us today and those who are celebrating with us from afar.” The Center for Art and Nature Porcelain and Decorative Arts Museum will house significant holdings from the Deen Day Sanders collection, with an extensive concentration in porcelain. This state-of-the-art facility will be the first of its kind to integrate decorative art within a garden setting and nature through the quality, diversity and evolution of porcelain and other decorative artifacts. The center will have permanent galleries, visiting exhibitions

See GARDEN on page 4

SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

UGA finalist for national economic development awards Pulitzer Prize-winning author to By Kelly Simmons

simmonsk@uga.edu

For the third year, three University of Georgia programs have been selected as finalists for national awards recognizing innovation in economic development. UGA is the only university that has had three finalists for three consecutive years. The Carl Vinson Institute of Government and the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development, both units of UGA Public Service and Outreach, and the New Materials Institute, a component of the UGA Office of Research with roots in the College of Engineering, are among the 24 finalists for the University Economic Development Association 2019 Awards of Excel-

lence. UGA’s finalists are in different categories and will not compete against one another. UEDA represents higher education, private sector and community economic development stakeholders across North America. Entries were judged by a panel of university and economic development professionals based on the alignment of their institution’s core mission activities with regional economic development goals. Categories include innovation, talent and place, as well as the intersections of those three categories. Criteria for judging included originality, scalability, sustainability, impact and the feasibility of other organizations replicating the initiatives in their communities.

Programs selected as finalists are: • A revitalization/visioning program for downtown Clarkesville developed by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government. Through the Georgia Downtown Renaissance Partnership, a community revitalization initiative with the Georgia Municipal Association, the Georgia Cities Foundation and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, city and business leaders and Clarkesville citizens came together to create a master plan for their downtown after a fire in 2014 gutted three buildings and destroyed four businesses. New apartments, restaurants and retail outlets in the renovated business district have revitalized the

See AWARDS on page 4

deliver Constitution Day Lecture

By Caroline Paczkowski cparis@uga.edu

University of Virginia historian Alan Taylor will deliver the annual Constitution Day Lecture hosted by the American Founding Group and the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia. The lecture, “Competing Constitutions: North America, 1783-1795,” will be presented on Sept. 16 at 1:30 p.m. in the University of Georgia Chapel. “Alan Taylor is a ‘historian’s historian’: He compiles, curates and extracts information from multiple, minor sources to write masterpieces,” said Matt Auer, dean of the School of Public and

International Affairs. “His prizewinning work spans the early political life of this nation. Professor Taylor has been particularly effective at adding nuance to the simplified and sanitized history lessons we typically learned as children and young adults. We are excited to hear him discuss the contest of ideas and interests at play in the formation of the U.S. Constitution.” Taylor holds the Thomas Jefferson Chair in American History at the University of Virginia and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the author of several books about the Colonial history of the U.S., the American Revolution and the

See LECTURE on page 4


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