The University of Georgia Magazine September 2011 by University of Georgia Alumni Magazine

GEORGIA The University of

September 2011 • Vol. 90, No. 4

Magazine

In this issue: • Training provided by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government • Marine Extension Services • The College of Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital • The Office of Service-Learning

AtYour

Service

The state’s flagship university takes its programs to the four corners of Georgia, serving all citizens

SHOW YOUR

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ADMINISTRATION Michael F. Adams, President Jere Morehead, JD ’80, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Tom S. Landrum, AB ’72, MA ’87, Senior Vice President for External Affairs Tim Burgess, AB ’77, Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration PUBLIC AFFAIRS Tom Jackson, AB ’73, MPA ’04, PhD ’08, Vice President Alison Huff, Director of Publications GEORGIA MAGAZINE Editor, Kelly Simmons Managing Editor, Allyson Mann, MA ’92 Art Director, Lindsay Bland Robinson, ABJ ’06, MPA ’11 Advertising Director, Pamela Leed Office Manager, Fran Burke Photographers, Paul Efland, BFA ’75, MEd ’80; Peter Frey, BFA ’94; Dorothy Kozlowski, BLA ’06, ABJ ’10; Robert Newcomb, BFA ’81; Rick O’Quinn, ABJ ’87; Dot Paul; Andrew Davis Tucker Editorial Assistants, Emily Grant and Grace Morris

EX-OFFICIO MEMBERS

Tom S. Landrum, AB ’72, MA ’87, Senior Vice President, E xternal Affairs; Tom Jackson, AB ’73, MPA ’04, PhD ’08, VP, Public Affairs; Deborah Dietzler, Executive Director, UGA Alumni Association; Alison Huff, Director of Publications; Eric Johnson, ABJ ’86, Director of UGA Visitors Center How to advertise in GEORGIA MAGAZINE: Contact Pamela Leed: 706/542-8124 or pjleed@uga.edu Where to send story ideas, letters, Class Notes items: Georgia Magazine 286 Oconee St., Suite 200 North Athens, GA 30602-1999 E-mail: GMeditor@uga.edu Web site: www.uga.edu/gm or University of Georgia Alumni Association www.alumni.uga.edu/alumni Address changes: E-mail records@uga.edu or call 888/268-5442

September 2011 • Vol. 90, No. 4

Campus news and events

Closeup 12 Girls Rock

Young girls learn to express themselves through music at a camp started by UGA student Calley Payne

Features 14 Building a better government

State and local government officials depend on the Carl Vinson Institute of Government to prepare them to serve the public

20 Serving Georgia’s low country

Since the 1970s, the Marine Extension Service has educated Georgians about the coast and helped promote industry, at the same time protecting the delicate marshland

26 From Alex Jones to Zest

The three arms of UGA’s mission—teaching, research, and service—come together at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital

32 Learning in service

ON THE COVER

Graphic design by Lindsay Bland Robinson.

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu

Around the Arch

In compliance with federal law, including the provisions of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Sections 503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the University of Georgia does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion, color, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, or military service in its administration of educational policies, programs, or activities; its admissions policies; scholarship and loan programs; athletic or other University-administered programs; or employment. In addition, the University does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation consistent with the University nondiscrimination policy. Inquiries or complaints should be directed to the director of the Equal Opportunity Office, Peabody Hall, 290 South Jackson Street, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602. Telephone 706-542-7912 (V/TDD). Fax 706-542-2822.

President Michael F. Adams on public service and outreach

FINE PRINT Georgia Magazine (ISSN 1085-1042) is published quarterly for alumni and friends of UGA. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: University of Georgia, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Athens, GA 30602-5582

At right: Bailey Gibson, 12, leads Hamish, who received a pacemaker at the UGA Veterinary Teaching Hospital, during a riding session at Starting Point Farm. Photo by Dot Paul.

Departments 5 Take 5 with the President

s s

Cecil Bentley, BBA ’70, UGA journalism staff; Valerie Boyd, UGA journalism faculty; Bobby Byrd, ABJ ’80, Wells Real Estate Funds; Jim Cobb, AB ’69, MA ’72, PhD ’75, UGA history faculty; Richard Hyatt, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer; Brad King, MMC ’97, BVK Communications; Fran Lane, AB ’69, MEd ’71, retired director, UGA Visitors Center; Bill McDougald, ABJ ’76, MLA ’86, Southern Living; Nicole Mitchell, UGA Press; Leneva Morgan, ABJ ’88, Georgia Power; Donald Perry, ABJ ’74, Chick-fil-A; Swann Seiler, ABJ ’78, Coastal Region of Georgia Power; Robert Willett, ABJ ’66, MFA ’73, retired journalism faculty; Martha Mitchell Zoller, ABJ ’79

Magazine

GEORGIA MAGAZINE ADVISORY BOARD VOLUNTEER MEMBERS

GEORGIA The University of

More academic courses include a service component, allowing students to apply their classroom experience to the real world

Class Notes 38 Alumni profiles and class notes

About this issue In January, the University of Georgia was awarded the Carnegie Foundation’s Community Engagement Classification, which recognizes an institution’s commitment to community engagement through teaching, research and public service. Only 311 institutions across the country hold the designation, which has been awarded biennially since 2006. As a land grant institution, UGA has a responsibility to serve the people of the state of Georgia, not just the students on its campuses. In this issue of Georgia Magazine, we highlight a few of the many diverse ways the university engages with the community and the state. From government training programs that serve thousands of state and local officials annually to service-learning programs that take students outside the classroom for real-world education, UGA embraces its commitment to making Georgia a better place for all its residents. Enjoy! The editors

SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

The Bell family (from left) Liz, Weston, Sydney and Jeff at Sanford Stadium.

Living this close to UGA is " A BULLDOG DREAM COME TRUE. Here you have access to all the University offers and more. - Jeff Bell

Make a Complete Weekend Out of Your Visit to Athens

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GEORGIA MAGAZINE â&#x20AC;˘ www.uga.edu The Georgia Club is located off University Parkway (Hwy 316), 12 miles west of campus.

Homes of distinction from the $300,000s to $1+ million. *Reservations recommended

TAKE

— President Michael F. Adams on public service and outreach at UGA

Q: What does it mean to be a land grant institution? A: Being a land grant institution means two important things to a place like UGA. First, it means that we are part of a proud tradition that dates back to the Morrill Act of 1862 (which created the land grant system), which says that an institution is connected to the people of its land. We have a responsibility to the education of all 10 million of Georgia’s citizens, not just our students. Second, the original land grant mission resided in schools like this one which had made a major commitment to improving the agricultural development of their states and regions. With what has been a top five agricultural college for more than 100 years, UGA is no less committed today to the mission of teaching, research and service in agricultural and environmental sciences than it has been for its entire history.

Michael F. Adams

Q: How has that designation changed over time? A: Several institutions like Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin have committed to broadening the public service and outreach function and mobilized the university’s resources to address the critical needs of their states. We are doing the same in Georgia. Named last year by the Carnegie Endowment as a Community Engaged Institution, UGA will continue to place great emphasis on how to expand the application of instruction and research across all fields of service. Q: What are some of the ways UGA benefits the state outside of educating students? A: I could talk all day about that. We have the state’s largest College of Public Health, which is devoted to improving the lives and health of Georgia’s citizens; we operate dozens of weather stations around the state, which provide critical information for the agricultural community and the general population; we do pharmaceutical research that holds the potential to improve the life of every Georgian; we have the most sophisticated animal hospital in the state, which treats both livestock and pets; the College of Family and Consumer Sciences is active in virtually every major urban area; and the list goes on and on. Q: Why is service learning important to the university and its students? A: I am a firm believer that university students learn much through service, and especially so when service is integrated into the curriculum and their courses. Service learning is a growing component at UGA, with students both during and after their time here engaged in virtually every type of service opportunity in the state, including food banks, Habitat for Humanity, Relay for Life, marsh and water research and much more. Q: What areas of public service and outreach would you like to see expand? A: There are a lot of areas I’d like to see us engage, but the reality is that the five-year strategic plan approved by the public service and outreach leadership lays out three goals: mobilizing the university’s resources to address Georgia’s critical needs; creating new ways that faculty and students can participate in the service and outreach work of the PS&O units; and developing a flexible organizational culture to meet the needs of a changing Georgia. With today’s economic PETER FREY realities, we will try very hard to do what we do well, but the April McDaniel, a senior horticulture major, participates likelihood of major expenses in this area in the next four to five in a service learning class that teaches children at Alps Road Elementary School about healthy foods. years is very slim. SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

ARCH AROUNDTHE

SPECIAL

Packing a punch, financially A study by the Selig Center for Economic Growth in the Terry College of Business shows UGA continued to be a powerful financial force for the Athens area in fiscal year 2010, pumping more than $2 billion into the local economy, despite the poor economy. The study, which measured the economic impact of all 35 institutions in the University System of Georgia, showed that while UGA spent slightly less on salaries than it did in fiscal year 2009 due to a reduced number of employees, spending on operating expenses and spending by students increased. Overall, UGA spent nearly $632 million in salaries and $367 million in operating expenses from July 1, 2009–June 30, 2010, and UGA students spent an additional $447 million in and around Athens. For every job UGA created or sustained in the last fiscal year, 1.34 off-campus jobs owed their existence to its support, as compared to 1.2 off-campus jobs in the previous fiscal year. Taken as a whole, the University System of Georgia contributed $12.6 billion to the state’s economy and was responsible for 130,738 full- and part-time jobs (or 3.4 percent of all jobs in Georgia) in fiscal year 2010.

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Shaping our world A colorful new six-by-seven-foot mural painted by local elementary school students now brightens a third floor wall of the College of Education’s Aderhold Hall, thanks to a collaborative effort led by a group of UGA art education students. Titled “Shaping our World,” the mural depicts the relationships between humans, animals and the environment. It was installed between the college’s Reading and School Psychology clinics. Lauren Kucera, an adjunct instructor, directed the project along with James Woglom, a doctoral student in art education. Kucera and Woglom taught a UGA art education class during the spring semester that featured a month-long practicum with students in the Gaines Elementary Afterschool Program.

Foundations unite

Save the beaches

The UGA Foundation and the Arch Foundation for the University of Georgia in July came together as a single entity in support of the university and its fundraising efforts. President Michael F. Adams said the merger would move the university forward in a significant way, as “we are all stronger together than we are separately.” The new organization, called the University of Georgia Foundation, is responsible for overseeing and managing the foundation’s assets totaling over $700 million. Adams praised the two boards for their responsible stewardship during the past six years in a difficult economic climate. The new foundation is headed by two former chairmen of the respective organizations. Bill Young Jr., past chair of the UGA Foundation, is chairman, while John Spalding, a former chair of the Arch Foundation, is vice chair. Spalding will become chair at the conclusion of Young’s two-year term. The current chairs of both foundations, Sam Holmes (UGAF) and Jack Head (Arch), will continue to serve in leadership capacities with the new foundation as immediate past chairs.   “This is a great day for the University of Georgia and the UGA Foundation,” Holmes said on July 1, when the merger took effect. “I want to thank all of the trustees of both foundations for their diligent efforts in bringing this merger to reality.”    “We all have a great love for the University of Georgia and I am truly honored to be part of this historic merger,” Head said. “We know that bringing the two entities together will help us better focus our collective efforts on raising and managing funds in a way that will provide the greatest benefit to the university.”   The executive committee includes the chairs of the standing committees as well as all officers, the immediate past chair and one at-large member. Adams continues in his role as an ex-officio voting member of the board.

UGA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have teamed up to create a cell phone app that will allow beachgoers to report debris that has washed onshore. Available through iTunes and the Android Market, the easyto-use Southeast Atlantic Marine Debris Tracker app can be downloaded for use on iPhones and Android phones. The simple tool allows users to report and record the type and location of debris through GPS features pre-installed on a cell phone. The data submitted is posted on an interactive website (www.marinedebris.engr.uga.edu) that allows data to be viewed and downloaded for users to design plans to prevent marine debris. Marine debris kills wildlife through ingestion and entanglement. It also can have an economic impact on the tourism industry and other coastal businesses by affecting the aesthetics of beaches and waterways. For more on NOAA’s Marine Debris Program, see http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/.

HUGH NOURSE

A time to restore

Bill Young Jr.

John Spalding

The State Botanical Garden of Georgia received a twoyear grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to restore native and diverse plant species to five acres of floodplain along the Middle Oconee River. Abandoned greenhouses and support buildings will be upgraded to create growing facilities for native plant species. These plants will be used to reestablish the project habitat and enhance the diversity of the garden’s native plant collection. Plants grown in this facility also wlll be sold, with proceeds benefitting the restoration program. For more on the garden go to www.uga. edu/botgarden.

SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

AROUNDTHE

ARCH Artful air travel “All Creatures Great and Small,” part of the permanent collection at the Georga Museumof Art will be on display at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport as part of the Airport Art GEORGIA MUSEUM OF ART Program. Pieces in the exhibit also are on loan from Carl and Marian Mullis. The exhibit includes paintings, sculptures and mixed-media creations depicting animals and created by American self-taught artists. A documentary film will accompany the display. The collection will be up until April at the airport T gates.

Give up the funk Lilly Mae Largin

Courtesy of the Office of Communications and Technology Services

Engineering skills in practice A class project for three sophomore engineering students resulted in a device that enables children without fingers to safely ride a bicycle. The project, for the course Design Methodology Systems Approach, required students to find a need, develop a plan to meet that need and analyze the results. Bruce Byrd, Nick Sopchak and Taylor Parrish fabricated a plastic clip for a local girl, who was born without fingers, to wear on her hand. The clip is fastened onto the girl’s arm with a brace, which fits onto a mechanism on the handlebar of the bike. The students went through 22 concepts before finding one that worked. The course, co-taught by Tim Foutz and Sid Thompson, engineering professors with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is designed to develop critical-thinking skills. Other projects in the course this year included a “dish wand” that connects to an ordinary kitchen sprayer to allow a person with one arm to wash dishes, and a device that measures and dispenses the right amount of baby formula to help blurry-eyed parents with late-night feedings. Learn more about UGA programs in engineering at www.engr.uga.edu.

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A UGA researcher has invented a new technology that can inexpensively render medical linens and clothing, face masks, paper towels—even diapers, intimate apparel and athletic wear—permanently germ-free. The simple and inexpensive antimicrobial technology works on natural and synthetic materials. It can be applied during the manufacturing process or at home, and it doesn’t come out in the wash. Unlike other anti-microbial technologies, repeated applications are unnecessary to maintain effectiveness. Created by Jason Locklin, assistant professor of chemistry, the treatment effectively kills Jason Locklin a wide spectrum of bacteria, yeasts and molds that can cause disease, break down fabrics, create stains and produce odors.

DOT PAUL

Preserving history   Students in the School of Social Work are collaborating with UGA’s Archway Partnership to help preserve the oral history of Hart County while gaining valuable experience in working with older citizens. For the last year and a half, students in Associate Professor Stacey Kolomer’s “Working with Older Adults” course have been traveling to Hart County to conduct interviews with elderly residents. The students conducted life-review interviews with the older adults, asking questions about their upbringing and memories from their life in the community. The audiotaped conversations were shared with interviewees and their family members, and some clips were later used in a walking tour of downtown Hartwell. A mini-documentary on the history of the Hartwell Dam, currently in production, uses audio and video clips from the interviews. To view a photo slideshow of the project, go to www.flickr.com/photos/ugasocialwork/ sets/72157626897926305/show/.  For more information about the walking tour, see http://archwaypartnership.uga.edu/wp-content/ uploads/2011/02/Walking-Tour_2.24.11_cropped.pdf.

ASPIRE counseling A one-of-a-kind clinic in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences provides Athens-area residents counseling on individual and relationship issues, finances, housing and nutrition. Known by the acronym ASPIRE, which stands for Acquiring Strategies for Personal Improvement and Relationship Enhancement, the clinic offers services by faculty in child and family development, housing and consumer economics, foods and nutrition and textiles, merchandising and interiors. Fees for services are on a sliding scale based on income and number of dependents. For more information, go to www.aspireclinic.org. Courtesy of the College of Education

Let’s Move! The State Botanical Garden of Georgia will participate in Let’s Move! Museums and Gardens, an initiative supported by first lady Michelle Obama and national museum and botanical garden leaders. The program aims to engage 20 million young people in activities and programs during the next year. Let’s Move! will provide opportunities for millions of museum and garden visitors nationwide to learn about healthy food choices and will promote physical activity through interactive exhibits and programs. For more on the program go to www.imls.gov/news/2011/052311.shtm.

Sallie Holloway, Felisters Kiprono, Will Hearn and Eric Howell designed and implemented a wireless network system for the Athens Nurses Clinic as a service-learning project.

Nurses get connected Students from a College of Education class designed and implemented a wireless network system for the Athens Nurses Clinic that allows medical practitioners to share information about the clinic’s patients more rapidly and efficiently. The ANC, one of only four free clinics in Northeast Georgia, has been providing free health care to homeless and low-income uninsured residents in the Athens area since 1991. The clinic sees about 2,000 patients a year. The team included a mix of undergraduate and graduate students in John Mativo’s Network Design and Administration for Workforce Education class. For more on the clinic go to www.athensnursesclinic.org.

When life hands you lemons Whit Davis Elementary School first graders Abigail Chen (left) and Emma Rentz listen to UGA entomologist Joe McHugh as he talks to their class as part of LemonAid on May 3. More than 20 faculty members from the Division of Biological Sciences in Franklin College volunteered with the outreach program to visit Athens area schools to talk about their specialties. The name of this program came from professors wanting to make something good out of the “lemons” of furlough days. Reading Day, the day students have off to prepare for finals, gave the professors at UGA the perfect opportunity to reach out and connect with the community. For more information, go to lemonaid.uga.edu. For multimedia go to http:// www.photo.alumni.uga.edu/multimedia/lemonaid/

ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER

SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

AROUNDTHE

ARCH BEST IN SHOW A

BARK out to

Searching for a change in the weather

… UGA students and alumni Doug Eudy, Katy Riccione, Muktha Natrajan, Jessica Mitchell, Tulsi Patel (BS ’09), David Schaeffer, Amy Styer, Stanley Underwood (AB ’10), Amelia Villasenor, Mark Wiest, Jessica Winek (BS ’09), Emily Dale Broder (AB ’08, BS ’08) and Jennifer Lee Claggett, who each received National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships, one of the most prestigious and sought-after fellowships in the U.S. … UGA Distinguished Research Professor of English Education Peter Smagorinsky, who received the 2011 SAGE Citation for Excellence in Reviewing for his work on behalf of the journal Written Communication. … Carissa DiCindio (MA ’04), Georgia Museum of Art curator of education, who was selected by the National Art Education Association to receive the Southeastern Museum Education Art Educator Award. … UGA sophomores Rosemary Gay of Douglasville and Neenah Williams of Morristown, Tenn., who were awarded National Security Education Program David L. Boren Undergraduate Scholarships for international language study during the 2011-2012 academic year.

Peter Smagorinsky

… Physical education Professor Bryan McCullick (PhD ’98), who was chosen as chair-elect of the Research on Learning and Instruction in Physical Education special interest group for the American Educational Research Association.

Bryan McCullick

The Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources received a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to identify and promote ways pine forests can be used to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The grant is part of a larger $20 million award being coordinated by the University of Florida, which is leading an 11-university consortium to conduct research, extension and outreach education about the potential for pine trees as a climate change solution. A five-person team from Warnell will focus on developing strategies for southern conifer forest mitigation of and adaption to climate change, expanding existing research on forest productivity, management impacts and carbon sequestration.

… Doctoral candidate David Porcaro, who received the Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award for his dissertation from the American Educational Research Association.

UGA golfer wins Nationwide event

… Mardi Schmeichel (MEd ’09), a doctoral candidate in social studies education, who was honored by the American Educational Research Association with an award for outstanding graduate student paper by the Research in Social Studies Education special interest group.

Russell Henley (BSHC ’11) won the Stadion Classic golf tournament played on the UGA Golf Course in May, becoming only the second amateur in history to win a Nationwide event. Russell Henley Henley, a threetime all American, shot a 3-under-par 68 to win by two strokes. Henley was the lowest scoring amateur, tied for 16th place in the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. He was briefly in third place on the leaderboard at the 2011 U.S. Open in Washington D.C., but finished four over par and tied for 42nd. Henley says he will turn pro this fall following the 2011 Walker Cup event in Scotland.

… Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs and Director of UGA’s Gwinnett campus Ruth Bettandorff, who was awarded the 2011 Continuing Education Leadership Award from the Association of Continuing Higher Education, South Region. … The Georgia Review, which received two golds, three silvers, a bronze and an honorable mention from the GAMMA Awards, given by the Magazine Association of the Southeast. … UGA geography Assistant Professor John Knox, who made the Final Four of the WxChallenge, a national weather forecasting competition.

Ruth Bettandorff

… UGA’s Ramsey-Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Structural Biology B.C. Wang, who was named a Fellow of the American Crystallographic Association. … UGA recreation and leisure Professor Douglas Kleiber, who received a fellowship from the Basque Science Foundation to conduct research on leisure and aging with the Institute of Leisure Studies at Deusto University in Bilbao, Spain.

10 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

sit

stay

eat

play

obey your instincts. Sit. plan your weekend getaway to athens. you deserve it. Stay at the Georgia center. it’s a great on-campus hotel with renovated rooms, upscale furnishings, and free WiFi. ask for the alumni discount. Eat. you have four dining choices at the Georgia center—offering everything from huge sandwiches in the café to delicious meals in the highly acclaimed savannah room. numerous other eateries are within a 10-minute courtesy van ride. Play. unleash a little. after all, you’re in athens!

UGAhotel.com 800.884.1381

THEGEORGIACENTER THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA’S CONFERENCE CENTER & HOTEL

SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

CLOSE UP

Girls ROCK UGA student Calley Payne started an Athens music camp focused on empowering young girls by Allyson Mann (MA ’92) photos by Andrew Davis Tucker

“Er-i-ca! Er-i-ca!” Thirty-six girls chant for Erica Strout (AB ’04) on a Monday morning in late July. They’re attending Girls Rock Camp Athens, and they’re waiting to get their band assignments. UGA student and GRCA Executive Director Calley Payne has told them that Strout, the camp’s program director, has to arrive before she makes the announcement. A few minutes later Strout arrives to cheers, which turn to groans and protests as she walks out of the gymnasium again. “I’ll be right back,” she tells them, but the girls are impatient because they’ve got work to do. By the end of the week, each of the nine bands will write and record an original song. And on Saturday, they’ll perform their songs onstage at the 40 Watt Club.

Calley Payne founded the nonprofit Girls Rock Camp Athens in 2009 after volunteering with Atlanta’s Girls Rock Camp the previous year. She felt that Athens needed and could support a camp that would empower young girls through music education and creation. “Young girls are so appreciative of what you’re doing,” Payne says.

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Calley Payne started a Girls Rock Camp in Athens after volunteering at Atlanta’s program. She graduates in December with a degree in women’s studies.

“You see them over five days form bonds with their bandmates, form bonds with other campers, and just grow as individuals and respect themselves more.” The first rock ’n’ roll camp for girls took place in 2001 in Portland, Ore. In the past decade the program has spread across the country and overseas, with the Girls Rock Camp Alliance forming to provide accreditation, resources and networking. The Athens program serves girls aged 9 to 15 and has grown steadily, from 12 campers in 2009 to 25 in 2010 and 36 this year. Drummer

Serena DeWitt, 11, is attending camp for the second time. When her drum teacher asks for a volunteer to read aloud, she raises her hand. It’s a small moment, but one that would please her mother, Niki Renée Mièle. “It’s helped a lot with her self confidence,” Mièle says. “She’s more outgoing. She speaks up for herself more.” Encouraging girls to love and express themselves is one of the main goals of Girls Rock Camp Athens. In addition to learning their instruments and studying songwriting, campers also take self defense, learn about seminal women musicians like Janis

Joplin and Tina Turner and enjoy lunchtime performances from female acts like Athens’ Kyshona Armstrong. The camp’s welcome packet emphasizes a climate of acceptance: “So turn up your amp, jump up and down, scream and shout because this is YOUR SPACE and we’re here to encourage and support you.”

Calley Payne will graduate in December with a degree in women’s studies and a music business certificate. This is her last camp in Athens— she will officially resign at the end of August, leaving GRCA in the hands of a new board of directors—but she plans to get involved at the national level with Girls Rock Camp Alliance. And she hopes that her job search will lead her to settle somewhere with a Girls Rock Camp nearby. “I’m going to get upset, I know, at the end of the week,” she says. “I know it’s going to hit hard at the end of the week, especially because some of them have been here since year one.” But Payne suspects that she hasn’t seen the last of these girls. “Give them like six years, seven years growing up in this town, and then you’re going to see them playing at the 40 Watt,” she says. “It’ll be great to know that we exposed them to that. And then they’ll come back and help with Girls Rock Camp, so it’s going to be, I hope, a circle of women continuously helping out.”

“

Tight abs don’t mean a thing if you can’t think for yourself.” – GRCA’s welcome packet, describing the punk rock aerobics workshop

Serena DeWitt, 11, rehearses “Don’t Be Afraid” with her band, Youth Punch. They wrote the song while at camp and will perform it onstage during a Girls Rock Camp showcase at the 40 Watt Club.

GET MORE Girls Rock Camp Athens www.girlsrockathens.org Girls Rock Camp Alliance www.girlsrockcamp.org/supporters/grca For a multimedia project on Girls Rock Camp Athens, visit http://photo.alumni. uga.edu/multimedia/girlsrockcamp/.

During bass class, 8-year-old Lucy Foley (left) gets one-on-one help from instructor April McDowell while 14-year-old Tanna Young (left rear) and 11-year-old Allie McClure (right rear) practice.

SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

14 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

Building a better government

The Carl Vinson Institute of Government is the go-to organization for Georgia’s public officials

by Kelly Simmons

SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER

City officials from across the state gather inside the lobby of the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center during the Georgia Municipal Association’s 2011 Annual Convention in June.

hile others get up for a bathroom or cookie break, Nancy Mikell stays at the table looking at the Clinch County audit. In the first hour of a training class on financial reporting, Mikell has learned a lot about how to read an internal audit and has found some things in her county’s document that she doesn’t understand. “This (course) is providing me with a lot of questions to go back and ask,” says Mikell, a first term Clinch County commissioner, who took office in January. “I really don’t know how people can do their jobs effectively without this training.” More than 800 county officials gathered in Savannah in May for the annual meeting of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia. In addition to programs put on by the association, a big part of the three16 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

Sabrina Cape leads a three-hour class on Financial Management at the Association County Commissioners of Georgia annual meeting in Savannah. PETER FREY

day event was the training offered by UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government. Over the course of the event, county representatives, including elected officials and employees, learned about county government law, relationships between county commissions and their staffs, capital improvements projects and financial management. Trainers from the Vinson Institute also held sessions for county clerks and leadership programs. Derrick Ogletree, an information systems manager from Thomas County, took a basic financial management class on Saturday and then an advanced class on Sunday. “Today it’s all settling in,” Ogletree said Sunday during a short break. “I got a lot of information yesterday. I’m understanding a lot today. ”

A retired public safety officer in Thomas County, Ogletree is part of a small staff that runs the county government offices. As such, he must be schooled in a lot of different areas. In addition to the convention, he has attended training classes offered by the Vinson Institute in Tifton and a course that the institute brought to Thomas County specifically for the employees there. The advanced financial management class, which runs for three hours, could be tedious. But trainer Sabrina Cape keeps it interesting, moving around the room to make sure the class is on the right page and randomly asking attendees to comment on their own county audits. She tells them what to watch for in an audit that can signal trouble. “If you see the words ‘but’ and

ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER

Metter Mayor Bill Trapnell (right) chats with Tifton City Council Member David Hetzel between sessions at the Georgia Municipal Association’s 2011 Annual Convention in Savannah. Trapnell was sworn in as GMA president during the convention.

ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER

Catherine Bennett, a management development associate for the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, talks about leadership during a Clerks’ Certification Course at the GMA annual convention.

‘except for’ you should be concerned,” she says. She teaches them the right questions to ask when they are reviewing an audit. “Often it’s about miscommunication,” she says. “Just because you had an audit doesn’t mean there isn’t fraud occurring. There are always areas of improvement.” The institute began at UGA in 1927 and by the mid’40s was offering substantive training to local government officials, says Jennifer Frum, interim vice president for public service and outreach. The first training session for newly elected state government officials began in 1958. The Biennial Institute, which was held for the 27th time last December, has been noted by scholars for the quality of the legislative training and professional development it provides Georgia legislators and other elected state leaders. About 25 years ago, the Vinson Institute entered into an agreement with the Association County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) and the Georgia Municipal Association to provide training in a more systematic way to new city and county officials and staff. That in itself is significant, says Ross King, ACCG executive director. “Very few of our counterparts across the country have had a relationship with a university like we have had with UGA,” King says. “I know of none with a quarter century relationship with an institute to provide training.” Under state law all newly elected city and county officials are required to have basic training to learn about things like open meetings laws, financial reporting and conflicts of interest—areas in which many are not familiar before being elected. Many continue well past the requisite 42 hours. Metter Mayor Billy Trapnell has logged more than 250 hours of training since he took office 18 years ago. “Very rarely do I not get something out of every class I take,” says Trapnell, installed in June as president of the Georgia Municipal Association, which represents 512 cities. “You do your best trying to keep up by reading magazines and newspapers. These classes just put a little more detail into it.” The Biennial Institute, offered every other year in December following statewide elections, provides an opportunity for both new and incumbent members to discuss current and emerging issues in order to prepare for the upcoming session of the General Assembly. The Vinson Institute works closely with the leadership of the State House and Senate to plan and implement this nonpartisan event. Institute faculty and staff are also called on to help state leaders with specific concerns. Currently the institute is working with Gov. Nathan Deal’s Water Supply Task Force as well as his Georgia Competitiveness Initiative, partnering SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

PETER FREY

From left: Charlton County commissioners John Myers and Alphia Benefield look at sample audits during a finance course at the Association County Commissioners of Georgia annual convention.

with the Georgia Department of Economic Development cepts,” she says during a break in a course called “Personal and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce in developing the Power and Influencing Strategies.” “You’ve got people here state’s economic development strategy. from everywhere. I’ve learned that what works in big cities can Faculty and staff at the institute keep a close watch for also work in rural areas.” changes in state laws so that their training programs are curThat’s the beauty of bringing together local government rent. They also watch for special areas of interest to local officials from across the state, Frum says. and state governments. A “In a training course we trend lately has been toward might have someone from I’ve learned that what works in big DeKalb County and someone executive coaching for state government administrators, cities can also work in rural areas.” from Dodge County,” she says. says Laura Meadows, interim “There is great potential to learn director of the Carl Vinson from each other.” - Marilyn Stone, Oglethorpe County Commissioner Institute of Government. “The sharing of ideas and networking that takes place is “We constantly take a look very important. They can call on their peers to see how they at all of our curriculum,” Meadows says. “We try to keep our are dealing with similar situations.” finger on the pulse of government.” At their annual meeting, county commissioners also get That attention to clients’ needs is at least one reason more to visit facilities and see programs that they might consider for than 17,000 public officials in Georgia registered for the institheir own communities. During the ACCG convention, staff tute’s training programs in the last fiscal year. members from the Vinson Institute took commissioners on a “For local government officials we’re the go-to organizatour of the expanded Chatham County jail, the Tybee Island tion for professional development and continuing education,” Pavilion and the new county animal shelter, a 14,000-squareFrum says. “They’ll stop coming to us if we are not relevant feet facility that cost $1.8 million. and meaningful to them.” Marilyn Stone, in her third term as a commissioner from The new building, with 116 kennels and runs for stray Oglethorpe County, says she’s enjoyed a wide spectrum of and abandoned dogs, replaced the former facility, which had courses offered by the institute. 38 cages. “I think they’ve really helped awaken me to other con“It provides a much more humane environment for

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ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER

Laura Meadows, interim director of the Vinson Institute, and Glynn County Manager Alan Ours chat before the City Manager’s Session and Breakfast at the GMA convention in Savannah.

the animals,” says Assistant Chatham County Manager Pat Monahan. At the rear of the tour group, paying special attention to the new facility is Heard County Commission Chairperson June Jackson. Heard County has animal control but the facility is much smaller and needs to be expanded, she says. “We’re going to hopefully add to it next year,” Jackson says. “And we need to add additional staff.” Jim Higdon, executive director of the Georgia Municipal Association, says the entire state benefits from welltrained public officials. “I think having better informed elected officials about issues of the day, current laws that affect how they can and should operate is extremely important,” Higdon says. “That’s what the training is all about. ” “The intangible is our elected officials appreciate the fact that they get a certificate from the university. There’s some status connected to that.” Frum has seen that firsthand when she visits with public officials across the state. “To see that hanging in their offices, it’s so wonderful,” she says. “It’s like a validation of everything we do.” PETER FREY

Heard County Commission Chairperson June Jackson stops to pet one of the stray dogs housed at the new Chatham County Animal Shelter.

GET MORE Learn more about the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at www. cviog.uga.edu

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Serving Georgia’s low country

Marine Extension offers education, research and assistance to protect the state’s coastal resources by Kelly Simmons photos by Peter Frey

t’s a Friday afternoon on Charlie Phillips’ dock and bags of 200-count clams are packed and tagged for delivery to New York and Canada, as well as to local destinations. In one week, he ships 7,000 to 8,000 pounds from his small business, Sapelo Sea Farms in Townsend. Soon, he hopes to process twice that many. “The clams are keeping me in business,” says Phillips, a commercial fisherman who has fished the waters from Corpus Christie, Texas, to Key West to southern Georgia for nearly four decades. “I would have almost nobody working if it wasn’t for this.” The future of the commercial fisherman looked grim in the late 1970s, when overfishing, coupled with strict government regulation, caused a decline in the pounds of shrimp the commercial trawlers were bringing in. Many went out of business. Phillips, with help from the UGA Marine Extension Service, survived by diversifying his operation to include clam, and more recently, oyster farming. His once seasonal business now runs year round and generates nearly a half million dollars annually. “There’s no way, shape or form I’d be doing clams right now without UGA,” Phillips says. “I might be digging a few, but I wouldn’t be doing aquaculture.” Fisherman Charlie Phillips (left) and Javon Howard take advantage of the early morning low tide to harvest clams that are large enough to sell. SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

Helping the marine industry is one of the key functions of UGA’s Marine Extension Service (MAREX) and an impetus for its creation in the 1970s by then-vice president for public service J.W. Fanning. The idea was for UGA to help the marine industries as the Agricultural Extension Service had been helping the farming industry for decades. Originally, Marine Extension Director Randal Walker says MAREX was created to help the fishing industry expand. An educational component followed, with programs to help Georgia residents better understand the coast. When Georgia shrimpers felt the pinch from the government restrictions on their industry, MAREX stepped in to help. The fishermen, Walker says, were having trouble with the turtle excluder devices that the feds had required them to attach to their nets so that they would not trap and drown endangered sea turtles. Researchers at UGA developed a different device, one that was less costly and more efficient. When the federal officials saw that the device worked better than their own, they gave shrimpers permission to use it. Previously, when jellyfish became an obstacle for the shrimpers, marine extension developed a jellyball shooter device that excluded jellies from the nets. This device was tweaked to exclude turtles as well. “We worked with the commercial industry showing them how to install them,” Walker says. Blue crabs, clams, cannonball jellyfish and oysters are other marine life that extension has helped expand commercially along the Georgia coast. Perhaps more important, however, have been efforts to clean up the coastline, rivers, creeks and estuaries, which provide protection for much of the marine life. In the late 1980s, concerned fishermen and environmentalists called UGA to complain about the water quality near Brunswick. MAREX worked with local officials along the coast to identify sources of the water pollution and to

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(Above) Bags of Sapelo Sea Farms clams await distribution across Georgia, to New York and even Canada. (Below) Phillips’ operation harvests, processes and ships thousands of pounds of clams each week.

educate them about the problems new development can cause the fragile ecosystems. Over time additional programs developed to help protect the coastline and marshes. Volunteers now participate in an Adopt-a-Wetland program and monitor an assigned area for water quality and habitat health. Others participate by oyster shell recycling, dropping off their remains from oyster roasts at one of five shell recycling centers in Jekyll Island, Tybee Island, Skidaway Island, Darien and Brunswick. The shells are used to create new oyster reefs along the river banks. New oysters attach to the old shells and form clusters. As filter feeders, oysters help clean the water of algae and pollutants. “Water quality is the biggest issue on the coast,” Walker says.

Few know that as well as Jeb Byers, an associate professor of ecology at UGA who spends much of his time on the Georgia coast monitoring the mollusk population. On a late afternoon in June, Byers and his staff, based on Skidaway Island near Savannah, take their boat across the river to check on the oyster reefs they are attempting to develop in a controlled environment. There are nine sites, each fenced with mesh over the top to keep out unwanted predators. The oysters, harvested from the river, were rinsed with fresh water to clear away other organisms before they were placed on beds in the cages. Some of the oysters are in clean cages, which means the oysters were the only things visible inside the cages when they were left. In others, Byers placed certain predators—oyster drills (small snails that bore holes into clams and oyster), blue crabs, stone crabs and toad fish. Working with researchers from Florida State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Byers will study the effects the predators have on the oysters as the reefs develop. Their findings could provide critical insight into how the ecosystem functions. Oyster reefs provide fish habitats, erosion control and water filtration. Their findings on this day are disappointing. “Oh no,” says postdoctoral student Heidi Weiskel as she looks over the cages. “Our predators are all dying.” Holes underneath two of the cages indicate the stone crabs have dug their way out. The blue crabs are missing or dead. One stone crab has been mutilated, its body torn away from its massive claws and cleaned out. There’s no sign of the toad fish, which may be burrowed in the mud beneath the oyster shells. “That’s not what I expected,” Byers says. “I expected the blue crabs to be in pieces.” By the next day, Byers has spoken by phone to his colleagues on the project. They’ve agreed to put more blue crabs into some of the cages and also try additional predators. Byers is one of many UGA researchers who use the MAREX resources available on the coast. Walker says he’ll also call in researchers from UGA when someone from the marine industry comes to him with a problem. “Working with scientists is very important to us,” he says. “We do a lot. We help the state in a lot of ways.” At right, Heidi Weiskel, a post doctoral student working with Associate Professor of Ecology Jeb Byers on the Georgia coast, repairs a damaged cage surrounding an oyster reef. Inset photo: Byers and Jenna Malek, a graduate student in the School of Ecology, pry a dead blue crab from the netting that covers the top of the oyster reef cages.

SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

(Above) Mary Sweeney-Reeves, a counselor at the marine extension summer camps, watches as camper Claire Oldfield pulls a blue crab from the water under the pier on the Skidaway River. Most of the crabs caught that day were male and were too small to keep.

But that’s not what’s important to these 7- and 8-year-olds combing the salt marsh along the Skidaway River on a warm June morning. They are looking for fiddler crabs and coffee bean snails, “no bigger than the tip of your finger,” Summer Camp Director and Marine Educator Anne Lindsay tells them. She points out a male fiddler crab, which has one claw much longer than the other. The males use the long claw to attract females, Lindsay says and waves her arm as if to say, “come on.” “Everybody do your fiddler crab wave,” she says. An excited Leighton Carpenter, 8, of Atlanta, holds out a plastic cup in which he’s trapped a very small fiddler crab. “I’ve caught the tiniest crab in history!” he boasts. “How did you even see that?” Lindsay asks. Farther along they find tiny periwinkle snails. Lindsay tells them to hold the snail shell’s opening to their throats and hum. The vibration coaxes the snail out. The marsh proves to be a boundless source of excitement. As the campers hunt for the snails and chase mud crabs, a Wood Stork soars overhead. The black and white birds, which can stand 40 inches tall with a five-foot wingspan, are an endangered species. In the river, a dolphin rolls by. 24 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

This is the 20th year of the summer camps, which are part of the larger, year-round education component of marine extension. The Marine Education Center and Aquarium (MECA) offers visitors an opportunity to explore marine life and learn about the coastal ecosystem and its inhabitants. Throughout the year, kindergarteners through college students visit the center for daylong or overnight education programs. Groups often go trawling on the R/V Sea Dawg, part of the UGA marine fleet on the Georgia coast. Claire Oldfield, 8, is part of the summer camp group that goes crabbing off the pier behind the aquarium. She waits as Camp Counselor Mary Sweeney-Reeves ties a piece of raw chicken into the bottom of a basket attached to a long rope. When the bait is secure, Claire carries the basket to the edge of the pier and drops it in. The blue crabs must be over 5 inches from point to point on their shells in order to keep them. Otherwise, they must be thrown back. Sweeney-Reeves makes the excited campers wait five minutes before lifting their baskets to see if they’ve caught a crab.

Lisa Olenderski, an intern with the Georgia Sea Grant program, and camper Riley Byers let the periwinkle snails from the marsh crawl across their palms.

(Right) Max Darling looks through the bag of shells he collected on Tybee Island during an exploratory walk on the beach.

“I got two! Oh my gosh, I got a jackpot,” Claire shouts as she pulls her basket up and over the pier railing. Sweeney-Reeves gingerly pries one of the crabs from the chicken and turns it over so that the children can see the underbelly. She can tell from the obelisk-shaped indentation on its bottom that it is a male. She takes a ruler and measures the distance between the points on its shell—four-and-a-half inches. Too small. She tosses it back into the water. Over the next half hour, Claire will pull up a half dozen crabs, one of them almost seven inches across and big enough to keep. If the campers catch enough of the big ones this week, they will be treated to steamed blue crabs at lunch on Friday. Claire beams as she slaps high fives with the other campers, many of whom also have pulled in crabs, most too small to keep. You,” says one of her fellow campers, “are the crab queen.” GET MORE Learn more about all of the programs and services available through the UGA Marine Extension Service at www.marex.uga.edu. More photos at www.uga.edu/gm

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DOT PAUL

Twelve-year-old Bailey Gibson rides Hamish during a July lesson at Suwanee’s Starting Point Farm. Hamish received a pacemaker at UGA’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

A Zest From

lex Jones

The ABCs of animal medicine reach far beyond the borders of campus at UGA’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital by Allyson Mann (MA ’92)

amish is a 10-year-old Welsh Cob. His owner, Melissa Hyde-Town, calls him “Steady Eddie.” He’s the go-to horse at Suwanee’s Starting Point Farm—the one who can be counted on to take care of inexperienced riders. “He takes them out walking on the trails, along the Chattahoochee River, through the water, up the hills, and they gain a huge amount of confidence,” she says. “That’s his purpose here.” “We have people that won’t ride anybody else but Hamish.” And that’s why Hyde-Town and her husband, Phil Town, were devastated when they thought Hamish might have to be euthanized. Last fall he began passing out unexpectedly, which led to the discovery of a life-threatening arrhythmia and significant heart damage. Luckily for Hamish, and his many fans, veterinarians at UGA’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH) were able to insert a permanent pacemaker, a rare procedure that brought together three teams—large animal internal medicine, large animal surgery and small animal cardiology. Less than a year later, Hamish is back at work and feels better than ever, Hyde-Town says. She credits UGA with getting him back to his calling. “I have a lot of confidence in the program up there,” she says.

GA’s College of Veterinary Medicine, including the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, was founded in 1946. Before the school’s permanent building was finished in 1951, they made do with temporary quarters in surplus prefabricated buildings from army camps that were closed at the end of World War II. Sometime in the early 1950s, the hospital’s first patient was a little brown dog named Charlie Bray, who belonged to 6- or 7-year-old Toombs Lewis Jr. Charlie Bray had been hit by a car in front of the family’s home in Greensboro and spent six weeks at the hospital recovering from multiple fractures of the forelimbs and various other injuries. When the family came to take him home, they were told there would be no charge. The VTH has come a long way since Charlie Bray, with an estimated yearly caseload of nearly 19,000. Clients bring animals from all over Georgia and beyond, but now the vast majority are referrals—patients who have been evaluated by their local vet and sent to UGA for specialized care not available in their community. Treating patients is just one way that UGA’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital serves the state of Georgia. Educating students—training both veterinarians and veterinary technicians—is another. And pioneering new methods of treatment is the third. “The three arms of what we do—teaching, research and service—all come together in the hospital,” says Dean Sheila Allen.

t’s a Tuesday morning in May, and Adrienne Zercher, a fourth-year vet student, is examining Alex Jones, a gray tabby with small cell lymphoma. Corey Saba, assistant professor of oncology, has asked a question: “What is a sign that the treatment is working?” “Abdominal ultrasound? Blood work? Body condition?” Zercher asks. “Weight?” “Yes! Weight,” Saba says. In this case, weight is a good indicator that Alex Jones is doing well. He has cancer cells throughout his intestines, and when he came in last summer he weighed about half of his current 12 pounds. The chemotherapy he’s been receiving has put his cancer in remission, and his prognosis is good. Saba then asks Zercher to look for something unusual in Alex Jones’ physical exam. Zercher starts at the cat’s head and moves down his body, looking stumped. “You’re getting warmer,” Saba says. Near Alex Jones’ tail, Zercher notices something under the skin. “It feels like a BB,” she says, and Saba confirms her finding. SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

PETER FREY

Oncologist Corey Saba examines Alex Jones, who has small cell lymphoma. He receives chemotherapy, and his cancer is in remission.

Though the BB is not relevant to the cat’s lymphoma, it’s a way for Saba to make sure that Zercher is paying attention to details. Like all fourthyear vet students, Zercher is rotating through the departments of the VTH’s Small Animal Hospital in three-week stints, adding real-world experience to what she’s learned in the classroom. “I call the fourth year dress rehearsal for real life,” Saba says. “The students can order tests and interpret tests, but there’s always someone there to guide them.” Educating students is part of everything at the VTH, Allen says. “Everything we do down in the teaching hospital has a student with it,” she says. “Our clients understand that when they come here. The visits take a little longer because they see a vet student first before they see a veterinarian, but that’s part of what we do. The most important function that we have is to train tomorrow’s veterinarians.”

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n 2005 researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard finished mapping the genome, or genetic sequence, of a female purebred boxer named Tasha. They discovered that dogs—like mice—have a genome that’s similar to humans. But unlike mice, dogs live in our environment and have naturally occurring (not lab-induced) diseases similar to those in humans. Add to that a shorter lifespan and less genetic diversity in the case of purebreds, and dogs become a better model for human disease. “It’s much easier to identify a genetic abnormality in a dog with a disease than it is in a person,” says Simon Platt, associate professor of neurology. “We’re all so vastly different that it would take thousands of us with the same disease to find a common genetic abnormality. In dogs we can literally look at 10 dogs with the same disease and find that they all have a single abnormality, which is then a potential marker for the search for a genetic abnormality in people.” Platt is studying canine degenerative myelopathy, a progressive disease of the spinal cord seen in breeds including German shepherds, Welsh corgis and boxers. There are no treatments for this condition, but clinical trials offer clients subsidized options that may benefit pets as well as furthering research. Degenerative myelopathy is similar to Lou Gehrig’s disease in humans, so research may lead also to progress in human medicine. Assistant Professor Michelle Turek emphasizes that animals are enrolled in clinical trials only with owner consent and only when the trial offers a potential benefit for the animal. “As in human medicine, clinical trials are available for veterinary patients, with the aim of improving upon our existing treatment regimes to increase quality of life for our patients,”

she says. “Many trials are done in parallel with what’s happening in the human world in order to inform both sides.” Turek, a specialist in medical oncology and radiation oncology, uses a linear accelerator to treat cancer in dogs and cats. The linear accelerator, which emits high energy x-rays, is also used to treat humans with cancer. “By making advanced technologies available for veterinary patients, we are able to contribute relevant clinical information to the broader understanding of how this technology works for cancer. We can get this information much faster than is possible in the human population.” John Peroni, associate professor of large animal surgery, says that horses offer a similar model for using regenerative therapies to address musculoskeletal injuries like tendonitis. “We don’t even have to create anything,” he says. “They just come in with that injury, and (regenerative therapies) can be utilized to help the horse and at the same time gain information about how they would aid in the healing of humans with similar injuries.” Peroni uses adult—not embryonic—equine stem cells and platelet-rich plasma to boost the healing process for musculoskeletal injuries. “There’s an obvious need to improve on the quality of healing of what we call musculoskeletal injuries—injuries to the limbs, joints, bones, tendons, ligaments,” he says. “The support structures of the limbs are injured often in horses and people, and we haven’t really made a lot of significant advances in how well these injuries heal with traditional therapies.” Although the researchers are excited about the possibility of having an impact on human medicine, their first priority is their animal patients. “We recognize that the financial value of our work to the human field can be considerable,” Platt says. “The

emotional value to the pet owners is something we’re very interested in, though, too.”

he intensive care unit (ICU) at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital often is full. That’s because there are a variety of patients sharing the space— the very sick, emergencies, surgical patients recovering from anesthesia and those who are less sick but need fluids and monitoring. “We actually receive emergencies directly into the ICU, which is not ideal,” says Amie Koenig, associate professor of emergency and critical care. “You want the ICU to be a quiet place to rest and recover, and then there are emergent patients arriving and contributing to a busy atmosphere.” “It would be beneficial to everybody—both the people working in the ICU and the animals that are being cared for—if we could separate those different functions. Right now we just

ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER

Lindsey Boone, a Ph.D. candidate and surgery resident, works on media preparation under a ventilation hood as research technician Merrilee Thoresen watches. The two work in the regenerative medicine lab directed by large animal surgeon John Peroni.

don’t have the space for that.” Space is a common problem at the VTH, which is housed on South Campus in a wing that was added to the original building in the late 1970s.

“When this current hospital that we’re in now was built, we didn’t do ultrasound, we didn’t do CT scans, we didn’t do MRIs, we didn’t do endoscopy, we didn’t do laparoscopy or radia-

Sealed with a kiss Shilo (right) has a good reason to kiss Chloe. Two years ago, Chloe saved his life. A groomer noticed that Shilo, a 4-year-old Ragdoll, had become extremely thin under his thick fur, and subsequent testing indicated renal problems. Shilo had been born with only one kidney, and it was failing. His owners, Melissa and Charles Barrett of San Antonio, Texas, began looking into kidney transplants, and they found UGA and soft tissue surgeon Chad Schmiedt (DVM ’00). UGA is one of a half dozen places in the world that offer feline renal transplant surgery. And they found a donor in 9-month-old Chloe, a healthy stray available for adoption at their vet’s office. Testing indicated that Chloe Alicia Wagner Calzada was a match, and the cats were flown to Georgia. The surgery took place in June 2009, and after recuperation they headed back to Texas, where Chloe went to her new home with Shilo and the Barretts. “The donor cats all live—that’s important for people to know—and they are adopted by the recipient cat’s family,” Schmiedt says. And Shilo also has a new lease on life. Before the surgery he had lost five pounds and didn’t feel well enough to go outside. Now the Barretts are keeping an eye on his weight, and he enjoys hunting lizards. “It’s a big surgery, but when the kidney starts working they’re like a kitten again,” Schmiedt says. “They feel great. All of a sudden they’re not sick.”

SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

tion therapy for cancer patients,” Allen says. “None of those things were being used at that time on animals. We’re doing all of that now, and that’s in response to client demand.” “Medical technology is exponential in how rapidly things change, and we need to keep pace with that, not only for providing service for the clients, but the students need to learn state of the art.” In fact patients are shuttled to the Coverdell Building for MRI on a machine that is shared with researchers across campus. Limited availability means that clinicians are faced with the choice of waiting or using an inferior imaging tool. It also means that surgery is delayed because patients must be shuttled back to the VTH and undergo a second round of anesthesia. An in-house machine would allow patients to go directly from MRI into surgery. And it would also allow for MRI of horses, which the Coverdell Building cannot accommodate. “We have to try to provide that for all species, so it takes more room,” says Gary Baxter, director of the VTH. In addition to keeping up with technology, the VTH is also addressing the state’s changing needs. Georgia’s population has increased 18.3 percent since 2000, compared to 9.7 percent nationally. As the population grows, so does the need for veterinary care for companion animals, care for animals involved in food production and greater numbers of veterinary graduates. Since 1979, the VTH’s annual caseload has grown 37 percent and full-time staff has increased 339 percent, but the hospital square footage has grown only 4 percent. Compared to peer institutions, UGA has 1,700 fewer square feet per student. The College of Veterinary Medicine is seeking public and private financial support for a new, larger hospital that will provide improved patient care and enhanced educational opportunities as well as allow increased enrollment. The new facility will be located off College Station Road, just 2.7 miles from the existing veterinary medicine campus. “There’s no doubt in my mind that the University of Georgia needs a new veterinary hospital,” Baxter says. “And really they needed it several years ago.” 30 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

PETER FREY

Sonja Zabel (left), assistant professor of dermatology, and vet student Jessica Murdock examine Bella’s ear with a videootoscope, an advanced tool that includes a high-resolution camera. Ed and Cathy Parent made the five-hour trip from the Fort Valley area to have the basset hound’s chronic ear infections evaluated. After exhausting all other options, Bella’s ear was treated successfully with surgery.

ANDREW DAVIS TUCKER

Australian cattle dog Zest and her owner, Faith Davis (right), meet with the team that helped Zest recover from a weeks-long stint in ICU: (left to right) Andrea Wang, internal medicine resident, and students Jordan Mracna and Caroline Monk.

n a day early in June, concerns about research questions, evolving technology and space issues seem far away. A happy reunion is taking place in the VTH’s small animal waiting room. Faith Davis and Zest, her Australian cattle dog, have been joined by members of Zest’s medical team—internal medicine resident Andrea Wang and fourth-year vet students Jordan Mracna and Caroline Monk. Zest is clearly happy to see everyone, but keeps trying to head for the door in between greetings. Her reluctance to stay is understandable. Just two short months ago Zest was admitted with symptoms of vomiting and lethargy and began a stint in ICU that lasted more than three weeks. She lost 22 pounds and could barely walk. She was diagnosed with immune mediated hemolytic anemia, an autoimmune condition in which the body destroys its own blood cells. During the course of her treatment she received 10 blood transfusions from the VTH’s blood donor program, which stores blood from screened donor animals that belong to faculty, students and staff. “I am so grateful for the transfusions,” says Davis, who lives in Franklin County. “She wouldn’t have made it without them.” Zest also suffered complications including pneumonia, a bleeding ulcer and a urinary tract infection. “It was a crash course because it all happened so fast,” says Mracna, who was on rotation with internal medicine when Zest was admitted. When he finished his rotation, Mracna passed the case to Monk. She found herself reading about everything she could—immunology, radiology, lungs, urine culture and urinalysis. “The classroom learning is one thing, but having to know things for a specific patient is different,” Monk says. “It was overwhelming. I didn’t sleep much during those three weeks, but it was worth it.” And although it was a valuable learning experience, the bottom line for Monk is that Zest is healthy again. “It’s amazing to see her look normal,” she says. GET MORE UGA’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital www.vet.uga.edu/hospital UGA’s College of Veterinary Medicine www.vet.uga.edu.

PETER FREY

Rachel Mathes, an ophthalmology resident, evaluates Mattie’s eye. Owner Michele Rutherford brought the Jack Russell from Atlanta for cataract surgery. “We’re supporting the school and giving them another teaching opportunity,” she says.

More public service and outreach: Vets for Pets and People educates vets and the public about the link between animal abuse and domestic violence and provides help for victims with companion animals. www. vet.uga.edu/vetsforpetsandpeople The Wildlife Treatment Center, funded through donations, provides medical treatment and care for injured wildlife. This year the WTC cared for Daisy, a mallard duck and unofficial mascot at The Lovett School in Atlanta, after a goose attacked and broke her leg. www.vet.uga.edu/hospital/ services/exotics/wildlife-treatment Dog Doctors is part of the college’s pet visitation program. Bernese mountain dogs and vet students go into elementary, middle and high school classrooms as well as nursing homes to share information about animals, research and careers in veterinary medicine. www.vet.uga.edu/vpp/activities/dogdocs At the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, experts work with private, state and federal authorities to monitor parasites, diseases and death in wildlife. Earlier this year SCWDS investigated the sudden deaths of thousands of blackbirds in Arkansas and Louisiana. www.vet.uga.edu/scwds Georgia Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories, located in Athens and Tifton, provide diagnostic services to veterinarians, companion animal owners and the livestock industry as well as non-traditional species including aquarium animals, marine mammals and zoo species. www.vet.uga.edu/dlab

More photos at www.uga.edu/gm

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32 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

Learning in service More students are getting valuable life experience through their academic courses by Grace Morris and Kelly Simmons

The carrot might well be made of gold as tightly as Makayla Vaughan holds onto it. Fresh from a garden at Alps Road Elementary School in Athens, the carrot, along with lettuce and spinach also plucked from the garden bed, will be part of Makayla’s dinner. “I’m going to use them in a salad,” the 10-year-old says. The three UGA students standing nearby are pleased. Their semester-long effort to teach the school children the nutritional value of fresh vegetables, as well as how to grow and eat them, is paying off. “I’ve never seen kids go so crazy over a vegetable,” says Natalie Bouyett, a junior nutrition major from Woodstock. During the spring, UGA students from three schools or colleges—horticulture, social work and family and consumer sciences—traveled to five Athens area elementary schools to teach children about healthy eating, nature and sustainability. Co-directed by Shari Miller, an assistant professor of social work; David Berle, an associate professor of horticulture; and Jung Sun Lee, an assistant professor of food and nutrition, it was one of 297 service-learning course sections offered to UGA students during the 2010-11 academic year. In academic service-learning courses, students participate in hands-on service activities designed to encourage community engagement, enrich student learning and provide benefit to communities. “Part of being an educated citizen is understanding who you are as a community leader and how you can contribute,” says Shannon Wilder, who has directed the Office of Service-Learning since its inception in 2005. “Service learning is a way to connect academic concepts learned in the classroom with real needs in the community.” “Even as students they have the opportunity to change things.”

PETER FREY

Natalie Bouyett, a junior nutrition major, and Alps Road Elementary School student Nyvia Brown joke about the tiny radish Nyvia picked from the school garden.

SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

DOT PAUL

Sarah Jackson, who graduated in May with a degree in human geography, harvests peppers from UGArden on South Milledge Avenue to include in packages of food distributed by the UGA Campus Community Kitchen. Jackson coordinated the UGA Campus Community Kitchen.

DOT PAUL

From left: Sarah Brackman, a graduate assistant with the Office of Service-Learning, Service-Learning Director Shannon Wilder and Abby Alexander (BSEd ’11) prepare fresh fruits and vegetables to distribute to area grandparents raising grandchildren.

Students in Cecilia Herles women’s studies class “Environment, Gender, Race, Class” developed a service-learning project to address the environmental issue of food waste and the issue of food insecurity in the Athens community. The students identified grandparents raising their grandchildren as a population that has trouble putting enough food on the table for the family. Grandparents often have no access to public assistance for their grandchildren because they are not legal guardians. In the spring, the students organized the UGA Campus Community Kitchen, modeled after a national program run by students who collect excess food and deliver it to hungry 34 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

people in their communities. Herles laid out the ingredients for the program, but her students did the rest. They partnered with the Athens Community Council on Aging to access grandparents who needed help. In March, the class had everything in place to open the community kitchen. They picked fresh produce from UGArden, a student-run community garden on UGA property, and gathered food donations from sororities and local restaurants. After preparing meals for six hours, they delivered food to 16 families. “I’m in the college of agriculture, but this is the first time I’ve really worked with food distribution,” says Katie Comer, a sophomore from Carrolton. “Usually I’m just sitting in a classroom.” The idea of formal service-learning programs at UGA began in 1997, soon after President Michael F. Adams arrived on campus. In 2002, a Service-Learning Committee was established by the vice president for instruction and the vice president for public service and outreach. The following year, this committee submitted a proposal, “Increasing Learning Opportunities for UGA Students: Linking Academic Study and Civic Engagement,” to the provost. At the time, there was no money available for an office to coordinate the recommended activities. A few years later a report from the Task Force on Undergraduate Education recommended an Office of ServiceLearning. The offices of the vice president for public service and outreach and the vice president for instruction partnered to create the office in 2005. Service learning was not entirely new to the campus. A

number of faculty had included community outreach as part of their academic programs for years, Wilder says. But the offerings have greatly expanded since the university began providing institutional support for the programs. Denise Lewis, an assistant professor in Child and Family Development, added a service-learning component to her class on midlife and later years. As part of the class about gerontology and aging, students are paired as “friendly visitors” with a senior citizen in the community. Though the students are required to spend two hours a week with their older friend, many develop relationships that continue after the class has ended. Kevin Lopez, a child and family development major from Fayetteville, has a standing weekly appointment with

Ron Delay, a 64-year-old resident of an Athens senior living community. On Fridays the two walk from Delay’s apartment to the nearby Beechwood theater to see a movie. Afterward, they often go back to Delay’s place to talk. “I thought it would be good if we broke outside the room and went to do things,” Lopez says. “It was Mr. Delay’s idea to start seeing movies.” A lifelong movie lover, Delay saw a movie every week when he was younger. His favorites are “Patton” and “The Godfather,” but he says modern animation films are the best ones out now. Lopez and Delay share one of many cross-generational friendships formed through the Friendly Visitors program. Lewis started the program after realizing how much her nursing home visits meant to her elderly friends.

“I saw the ripple effect of just me, one person,” she says, “and I thought, what kind of waves could we make if 30 or 40 students did the same thing?” In addition to programs here in Athens, more faculty members are incorporating service learning into studies abroad, Wilder says. Of the roughly 90 study abroad courses offered through UGA, more than a quarter now include a service-learning component. In June, 13 students accompanied David Berle, associate professor of horticulture, and Marianne Robinette, an academic professional in entomology, to Ecuador, where they took courses on medical entomology and presented science programs to school children. During the three-week trip, the UGA students traveled to four primary

UGA student Kevin Lopez, left, and Athens resident Ron Delay walk from Delay’s apartment to the nearby Beechwood cinemas to see what’s playing.

PAUL EFLAND

SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

schools as well as the community of Playa de Oro to present Our Shared Forest, an environmental education program that works to raise awareness of bird species that migrate between Georgia and the Chocó Andean corridor in northern Ecuador. The program was developed by a bi-national partnership that includes the Maquipucuna Foundation in Ecuador, the State Botanical Garden in Athens and an alliance of farmers and landowners in northwest Ecuador. The foundation, begun in 1988 by Rebecca Justicia (PhD ’07) and husband Rodrigo Ontonedo, owns more than 13,500 acres of forest in northwest Ecuador and works to educate the public about the devastating effects of deforestation. The program at Escuela Esmeralda in Santa Mariana begins with a puppet show featuring Hester the Swordbilled Hummingbird, Burnie the Blackburnian Warbler and Sammy the Summer Tanager. Rebecca Lindner, a senior chemistry and Spanish major from Valdosta, is Burnie and she explains to Hester why she and Sammy must migrate to the U.S. from Ecuador.

“During the summer in North America there are tons of bugs and the days are really long so we have more time to find lots of food,” Lindner as Burnie says in Spanish. Hester doesn’t need to migrate because he has a long beak that can reach food deep in the Ecuadoran flowers, says Sammy, played by Meagan Weathers, a senior biological sciences major from Appling, Ga. In the story, the birds talk about the different dangers of migration, like lights from tall buildings that confuse their innate navigational systems or deforestation that has decreased their cover from predators like cats and also their access to food, like bugs, which live in the trees and plants. The children squeal when a cat puppet attempts to pounce on the birds as they feast on blueberries. Between scenes, Carolyn Dilz, a senior biological sciences and psychology major from Decatur, and Morgan Castellow, a senior horticulture major from Moultrie, ask the sixth to eighth graders questions about migration. “Excellente!” Dilz praises their responses.

Students at the Escuela Manuel Mathews in Santa Marianita, Ecuador, use binoculars to find and identify pictures of tropical birds that UGA student Rebecca Lindner points to on a distant fence.

PETER FREY

36 GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

UGA student Carolyn Dilz uses an inflatable world globe to show students in Santa Mariana, Ecuador, the migratory patterns of tropical birds.

Following the puppet show, the children are assigned passports with nine pictures of birds, which denote specific learning stations. At each, they learn something about migratory birds, predators and temperate versus tropical forests. At a station manned by Matt Baker, a graduate student in science education, students are blindfolded and must use their hands to hunt like army ants, which cannot see, to find food among the leaves, sticks and dirt in a box. Cristopher Guaman, 11, gropes in the box and smiles as he comes up with a Choco Break, the best of the small candies hidden in the forest debris. Baker takes Christopher’s passport and writes a letter in the block next to the bird representing his station. When the students have their passports completed, the nine letters spell migracion, the Spanish spelling of migration. They take their filled cards to the passport desk and exchange them for a box of colored pencils and a sharpener, luxuries to students in the small, rural community. On another day, the UGA students, several of whom plan to apply to medical school in the coming years, visit a small hospital in northwest Ecuador, where limited medical assistance is available to the residents within 200 miles of the facility. Meeting the children and seeing the meager conditions of their schools, hospitals and homes humbles some of the students. Driving through the small town at 5 p.m., the bus carrying the students passes dozens of townspeople walking

PETER FREY

home on the steep, narrow winding roads after a long day of work. Families hanging out on the roadside catch the attention of Meghan Murphy, a junior biological sciences and psychology major from Stockbridge. “The adults were talking and smiling and the kids were running around. They don’t seem to care (about the conditions). They act just like we act and we have everything handed to us,” Murphy reflects. That insight is what Berle hopes his students gain through the serving learning experience. “There’s another part of the world that lives a lot differently than we do,” Berle says. “They realize this is a pretty poor population we’re working with.”

GET MORE Learn more about UGA’s service-learning opportunities at www.servicelearning.uga.edu. Want to give? To donate to the Office of Service-Learning, contact Director Shannon Wilder at (706) 542-0535 or swilder@uga.edu. More photos at www.uga.edu/gm

SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE

Matt Turner (BS ’08), shown in a photo taken last summer in Vea, Ghana, is co-founder of Defy Thirst, a nonprofit that provides water filtration technology to developing countries with the goal of making drinking water safe, cheap and available. Over time that mission has grown to include additional divisions of relief—such as emergency refuge, children’s education and environmental improvement—under Defiant Missions, an umbrella organization. Defiant Missions commits 20 years to each community, establishing long-term relationships and working to address a series of problems. Past projects have taken place in Ecuador, Ghana and in Haiti, where they built two homes, established medical clinics, provided eight water filters and launched four youth soccer teams in Deuxieme Plaine, a town of 8,000. For more information, visit www.defythirst.org.

CLASS

NOTES

Glass half full

SPECIAL

CLASS NOTES

Compiled by Emily Grant and Grace Morris 1945-1949 Harvey Cabaniss (BS ’49) of Athens was honored when the annual Cum Laude lecture was renamed the Cabaniss Lecture by the Athens Academy Board of Trustees. Cabaniss is a longtime supporter of the academy and founding board member who served for 18 years. 1955-1959 Sally Walker (ABJ ’58) of Watkinsville turned 90 years old May 23. 1960-1964 Joan McFather (BFA ’63) of Canton received the President’s Award from Reinhardt University in Waleska for her dedication to the university. George Watts (ABJ ’63) of Alexandria, Va., was

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

elected to the Meat Industry Hall of Fame. In January 2002 Watts received the Poultry Industry Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Poultry and Food Distributors Association, and he received the Merial Distinguished Poultry Industry Career Award at the 2009 Poultry Science Association Annual Meeting. 1965-1969 Benjamin Hayes Underwood (BBA ’65) of Vinings was awarded the Nelson J. Bradley M.D. Lifetime Achievement Award for his commitment to the cause of furthering addiction treatment. Lewis Gainey (BSEd ’66, MEd ’67) of Athens was inducted into the Grady County Sports Hall of Fame. Robert W. Kinard (BBA ’68) was appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal to the board of directors of the Georgia Department of Economic Development 9th Congressional

District. His wife, Dixie H. Kinard (ABJ ’68) serves on the board of directors of the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning 9th District. He was the UGA head track coach for 12 years. 1970-1974 J. Cliff McCurry (BBA ’71) of Savannah was named 2011 Risk Management and Insurance Alumnus of the Year by UGA’s Terry College of Business. Jerry Johnson (BSA ’72) of LaGrange won the Silver Phoenix Award with ERA. Johnson is bank director with SunTrust Bank and is president and founder of ERA First Realty of LaGrange Inc. His company was in the Top 100 companies in the nation with ERA. 1975-1979 H. Patrick Haggard (BBA ’75) of Athens was named Superior Court Judge for Clarke and Oconee counties. Haggard

ALUMNI PROFILE

Up in the air Alumna reaches out to teens through aerial arts by Allyson Mann (MA ’92) Nicole Mermans (MBA ’01) is driving toward Atlanta’s Avondale Middle School on a Friday afternoon in February when her cell phone rings. “Hello? Hey. I’m on my way. I’ll be there in like 5 minutes.” A few minutes later Keyvious Avery, 12, gets in the car. Normally Avery’s mother would pick him up, but she’s having car trouble so Mermans is pinch hitting. That works well because Avery is headed to The D’AIR Project, a dance and aerial arts studio founded by Mermans. Located in a renovated former church in Grant Park, the D’AIR space has 20 foot ceilings that make it possible for students to work on aerial equipment like dance trapeze, circus trapeze, fabrics, lyra and rope. D’AIR offers community classes, outreach programs and aerial dance theater productions staged by its in-house professional company, but one of the nonprofit’s primary missions is serving and empowering youth and teens. “My passion has always been working with teens,” Mermans says. “I just really like that age.” Avery is one of two dozen kids enrolled in D’AIR’s teen program. The teens attend after-school classes twice a week and perform in shows, including productions with partners like HERO for Children and the International Rescue Committee. The program is free, but the students earn their aerial privileges by cleaning and doing administrative chores at the studio. This levels the playing field— their access is dependent on their commitment, not their parents’ ability to pay. Mermans first encountered this model at Zip Zap, a youth outreach circus program in South Africa where she spent a few months as an artist in residence in late 2005 and early 2006. She came home energized and ready to start a studio that would combine the student-earned model of Zip Zap and the community-oriented model of Canopy, the Athens studio where Mermans first fell in love with aerial arts. “I saw how it could just change lives,” she says. “It was really transformative for me personally. I thought if it could do that for me, what could it do for kids and teens at such a critical junction in their lives?” So with help from Mermans’ longtime aerial partner Andrea Fors (BS ’02, MSW ’05), The D’AIR Project (Dream, Accept, Inspire, Revolutionize) was born. This evening, the teens join Avery for one of their semimonthly meetings. They begin with chores—taking out the trash, changing the water cooler filter, mop-

ping the floors—before Mermans and Fors lead them in a brainstorming session for their next show. They write ideas on index cards, and each is given careful consideration. “You definitely see some of the shyer ones gain confidence because everyone is so supportive of each other,” Fors says. “When they realize that it’s just a completely supportive environment, they feel safe here. And then they start to blossom as an individual, and their personalities really come out.” The teens themspecial selves recognize that participating in D’AIR has affected them. “I’m really not a social person,” says Helena Baldwin, 15. “I never really was, but The D’AIR Project has helped with that a lot. It’s easier to interact with people.” Avery has been writing poetry and short stories as long as he can remember, but now he thinks of himself as a dancer too. “I think in dancing you can express yourself more and have a closer connection with people than in soccer or golf,” he says. “When you’re dancing, you’re telling either your story or someone else’s story.” Learning to work with others and expressing yourself through dance can have additional consequences, Mermans says. “Within short amounts of time you can really see yourself achieve amazing goals. I think that does a huge thing for somebody’s confidence and translates to other parts of their lives,” she says. “And it’s fun!”

GET MORE www.dairproject.org

SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE 39

CLASSNOTES

I am so honored to be the new UGA Alumni Association president. But I must admit it’s going to be a difficult task following in the footsteps of past president Vic Sullivan (BBA ’80), my immediate predecessor. I want to publicly thank him for his unselfish service to the university. During Vic’s term, the Alumni Association initiated the very successful Bulldog 100 program, in which we annually recognize the top 100 companies owned or managed by UGA alumni. He spearheaded our effort as we partnered with the UGA Athletic Association and brought the newly created UGA Days to several key cities across Georgia and the South last spring. Vic’s keen leadership also helped us launch our latest Steve Jones signature program, the 40 Under 40 program. This new initiative, which recognizes our 40 best and brightest young alums under the age of 40, is designed to honor graduates who are doing great things early on in their careers, both in and out of the workplace. We will celebrate our first class at a September 15 luncheon in Atlanta. I hope to continue in the proud tradition that Vic and my other predecessors have built. I see my position as one of engagement with my fellow UGA grads. Cultivating a strong and loyal spirit to the university among our alumni undoubtedly inures to the benefit of the 34,000 members of our current student body. Since 1996, we’ve had seven Rhodes Scholars, while, during that same period of time, Virginia had four, Emory three, Georgia Tech two, and Florida and Vanderbilt one each. Without question, UGA is one of America’s great public universities, and the enthusiastic support of its alumni has been essential in helping to bring this about. Our continuing priority and that of the university is to provide our current students with the best educational opportunities possible. While our focus is always on our current students, a strong alumni group also can benefit the alumni themselves. Staying connected with our beloved university and building and maintaining a network of UGA friends is a benefit in itself. I know that I would not be where I am today had I not had the support of my fellow alums. It was a truly a humbling experience when, at my swearing-in as a United States District Court Judge last May, I looked out and saw so many people from the university community in attendance. Supporting the Alumni Association is a way that I can try to give something back to an institution and a group of people who have done so much for me. In short, I am excited about serving as your Alumni Association president for the next two years. If I can ever be of assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact me at president@ ugaalum.uga.edu. I look forward to meeting you soon at an upcoming alumni event. Go Dogs!

—Steve Jones, (BBA ’78, JD ’87), president UGA Alumni Association

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Deborah Dietzler, Executive Director ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OFFICERS Steve Jones BBA ’78, JD ’87 President, Athens Tim Keadle BBA ’78 Treasurer, Lilburn Ruth Bartlett BBA ’76 Asst. Treasurer, Atlanta Harriette Bohannon BSHE ’74 Secretary, Augusta Vic Sullivan BBA ’80 Immediate Past President, Albany ALUMNI ASSOCIATION WEBSITE www.uga.edu/alumni

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

800/606-8786 or 706/542-2251 To receive a monthly e-newsletter, enroll at: www.uga.edu/alumni ADDRESS CHANGES E-mail records@uga.edu or call 888/268-5442

is a civil litigator with a private practice in Oconee County and is also Municipal Court judge in Winterville. Victor Hugo Bray Jr. (BS ’76) was named the 2010-11 College of Communication Outstanding Alumnus at the University of Texas at Austin. Mike Lester (BFA ’77) of Rome was named the Society of Professional Journalists’ winner in editorial cartooning for newspapers under 50,000 circulation in its annual Sigma Delta Chi Awards. Lester also won the editorial cartooning award for his work in 2006. Anthony Parr (BS ’77) of Albany received the 2011 Regents’ Hall of Fame Alumni Award from the University System of Georgia Foundation Board of Trustees for his career as a Navy commander, businessman, military consultant and professor. Janice Ware (BBA ’77) of Atlanta received the Pioneer Black Journalist Award from the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists. Jean E. Chin (BS ’78) of Watkinsville was named to St. Mary’s Health Care System’s Board of Directors. Swann Seiler (ABJ ’78) of Atlanta was awarded the Dean’s Medal for Communication Leadership from UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Seiler is the fourth recipient of the medal and was honored in a ceremony held on Grady’s Peabody Awards Terrace on May 11. Howard Alex McLure (BBA ’79) of Nashville, Tenn., was named to the board of directors for a company called change:healthcare. McLure will also transition to CEO of the company. 1980-1984 James J. Morrison Jr. (AB ’83) of Norcross accepted the Peabody Award for CNN’s coverage of the 2010 BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Morrison worked in CNN’s sports division for 23 years and then moved to their news division in 2007. Mark Travis (AB ’84) of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., is the president and CEO of Intrepid Capital Funds. 1985-1989 John R. Clark (BSA ’85) of Statesboro is special assets manager with AgSouth Farm Credit ACA and is married to Gayle Chappell Clark (BSPh ’86) who is a pharmacist with Senior Care. Their

ALUMNI calendar Kickoff Friday, September 9, 2011 Bulldog Breakfast Club with Coach Mark Richt 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Join UGA alumni and friends for a morning of Bulldog fun and good food. Head football coach Mark Richt will be on hand to share his insights with the Bulldog faithful. So wear your red and black, and get ready for an exciting 2011 season! Registration will open July 1. Women of UGA Lunch with Sheryl McGarity and Cindy Fox 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM

Join fellow UGA alumnae and friends as the First Lady of UGA Athletics and the First Lady of UGA Basketball host lunch, featuring a round-table discussion with the coaches’ wives. You will not want to miss the firsthand accounts of what it’s like to be a part of the Bulldog Nation from the perspective of a coach’s family. Registration will open July 1.

Thursday, September 15, 2011 40 Under 40 Awards Luncheon

Forty of the University of Georgia’s most outstanding graduates under 40 years old will be honored at a luncheon at the Intercontinental Buckhead.

For more information: Athens area events: Wanda Darden at wdarden@uga.edu or (706) 542-2251 Student programs: Julie Cheney at jcheney@uga.edu or (706) 542-2251 Atlanta programs: Rosemary Brown at robrown@uga.edu or (404) 814-8820 Chapters: Meredith Carr at mcarr@uga.edu or (404) 814-8820 Parents and Families: Diane Johnson at dfjohn@uga.edu or (706) 542-2251

To learn more about the UGA Alumni Association or find a chapter or club in your area, go to www.uga.edu/alumni.

SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE 41

NEWBOOKS

For more alumni books go to www.uga.edu/gm

efforts to apply agroforestry technologies to landscape restoration in degraded lands worldwide.

Then I Met my Sister Flux (2011) By Christine Hurley Deriso (ABJ ’83) Summer has been unable to escape the shadow of her dead older sister, Shannon, since birth. When she receives the journal Shannon kept until her death, Summer finally learns about the secrets her family has kept.

Howlin’ at the Dixie Moon Otter Bay Books (2010) By Don Lively (BSEd ’77) A collection of tales by the award-winning columnist. If you’re Southern, or from anywhere in rural America, you’ll recognize yourself or somebody you know in these pages.

Roi Ottley’s World War II: The Lost Diary of an African American Journalist University Press of Kansas Edited by Mark Huddle (PhD ’01) Vincent “Roi” Ottley was sent to cover the experiences of AfricanAmerican soldiers that neither white journalists nor the American military felt obliged to report. But while his dispatches documented this assignment, his personal diary reveals a different war. Some of the People Who Ate My Barbecue Didn’t Vote for Me: The Life of Georgia Governor Marvin Griffin Vanderbilt University Press (2011) By Scott E. Buchanan (AB ’92) Marvin Griffin served as Georgia’s 72nd governor during the late 1950s when the state was undergoing a profound political transition. Griffin combined a staunch segregationist approach with economically progressive policies, assisting in Georgia’s transformation from an agrarian economy to a more industrialized one.

GO R E STUD I O Trim Size: 6 x 9

4-Color ProCeSS SPeCialS: none

Agroforestry as a Tool for Landscape Restoration Nova Science (2011) By Florencia Montagnini (PhD ’85) This book compiles a set of articles from a technical session “Agroforestry as a Tool for Landscape Restoration,” held in August 2009 as part of the 2nd World Agroforestry Congress. The articles provide an overview of

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

Bittersweet Journey: Andrew Jackson’s Inaugural Trip, 1829 Acclaim Press (2011) By Carlton Jackson (PhD ’63) On January 19, 1829, President-elect Andrew Jackson began the three-week journey from his home to the nation’s capital at Washington City to assume his new role as the seventh president of the United States. Bittersweet Journey explores the trip and examines highlights of his presidency. Sister Santee Evening Post Books (2010) By Ken Burger (ABJ ’73) Sister Santee follows a mentally unhinged albino, a mid-level bureaucrat, an upper-crust news anchor and an Air Force lieutenant colonel as they face the realities of life in the Southern post-Civil Rights era.

expanse of heavily gullied red hills. Waterfalls of the Southern Appalachians, 5th edition Fern Creek Press (2011) By Brian A. Boyd (ABJ ’80) This book features more than 175 fantastic waterfalls in Georgia, the Carolinas and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, with maps, descriptions and photographs. Germline Orbit Books (2011) By T.C. McCarthy (PhD ’98) As Russian and American forces battle over dwindling mineral resources in Kazakhstan in a near-future war, reporter Oscar “Scout” Wendell finds heavily armored soldiers battling genetically engineered troops deep underground. Moving the Eye Through 2-D Design The University of Chicago Press (Dec. 2010) By Buy Shaver (MFA ’88) A common-sense overview of the visual arts fundamentals, Moving the Eye Through 2-D Design provides a step-by-step approach to understanding what causes us to look at a painting, photograph or any two-dimensional media and what is needed to maintain visual interest. Moving the Eye Through

Design

Buy Shaver

Ducktown Smoke: The Fight over One of the South’s Greatest Environmental Disasters The University of North Carolina Press (2011) By Duncan Maysilles (PhD ’08) It’s hard to make a desert in a place that receives 60 inches of rain each year. But after decades of copper mining, all that remained of the old hardwood forests in the Ducktown Mining District of the southern Appalachian Mountains was a 50-square mile barren

Black, Dumb and Barefoot...and Knocked Up By the Democrats CreateSpace (2011) By Milt Thomas (ABJ ’76) A provocative exploration of the relationship between black voters and the Democratic Party. The author is a business executive who grew up in the Deep South during the days of Jim Crow.

The Georgia Magazine reserves the right to decline book submissions that are not produced by commercial publishers and available for sale to the public.

son, Adam Wyatt Clark, graduated in June with a doctor of pharmacy degree from South University in Savannah, and their daughter, Ashleigh, is a student in the Georgia Southern Nursing School class of 2012. John S. Hayden (BS ’85) of Englewood, Colo., joined the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration as director of government relations and public affairs. Jack Roger Crisler Jr. (ABJ ’86) of Arnoldsville was nominated by the Lockheed Martin Corporation and chosen by a selection committee to attend The National Defense University-The Industrial College of the Armed Forces at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. Stephanie Hines-Smith (BSEd ’87) of Athens was inducted into the Grady County Sports Hall of Fame. She is the girls’ head basketball coach at Monroe Area High School. Randolph Marshall Kells (AB ’87) of Cumming celebrated 15 years as president of South Com Data Inc. Janet Parham (AB ’88) of Athens was named vice president and chief operating officer of the Coalition of Athens Area Physicians, a group of more than 300 Athens area physicians who work together to advocate for their collective interests. Eleanor Black Sams (BFA ’88) joined Jackson Spalding’s creative team at their office in Athens. Sams has done projects for Atlanta’s historic Fox Theatre and for the Linger Longer Living Cultural Series at Reynolds Plantation. David L. Lowrance (BBA ’89) of Franklin, Tenn., was appointed chief financial officer at Acucela Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing new treatments for blinding diseases. Andrew Sullivan (BBA ’89) of Atlanta was recognized as a top financial advisor and named to the LPL Financial Executive Council. This distinction is based on a ranking of all registered advisors supported by LPL Financial LLC, the nation’s largest independent broker-dealer, and is awarded to less than one percent of the firm’s more than 12,000 advisors nationwide. 1990-1994 Andrea Simao (BSA ’90) of Bethesda, Md., completed her master’s in public administration from American University in December. Simao is a national program

WHY give “Since our college years at UGA, we’ve had the opportunity to be involved with some of the university’s best and brightest students through the Honors Program, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and Terry College of Business. We’ve been amazed at how much these students have to offer not only intellectually, but to the world community through dedicated service and civic engagement. In looking at ways to expand our giving, we were honored to be able to create an Honors Service Fund and Student Leadership Development Fund to help these students realize their dreams of impacting lives in whatever field they choose, wherever they choose to pursue it. UGA’s commitment to helping students give back to their community is just one more reason we’ll always be proud to be Georgia Bulldogs.” —Darren and Kathryn Ash

SPECIAL

Kathryn Lummus Ash (ABJ ’82) and Darren Winston Ash (BBA ’81, MAcc ’82) of Charlotte created the Ash Honors Service Fund, which provides a $1,000 stipend to Honors students who engage in service locally, nationally and globally. Kathryn Ash is a member of the Honors Advisory Board and a University of Georgia Foundation advisory trustee. The couple has two sons currently enrolled at UGA. Want to give? Go to www.externalaffairs.uga.edu/os/makegift.

SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE 43

CLASSNOTES ALUMNI PROFILE

Onions, ogres and a museum Finance major spreads the word about Georgia’s state vegetable by Emily Grant After spending a few years working for television news stations in Florida, Alabama and Mississippi, Wendy Brannen (BBA ’94) was ready to come home. “I quit my job for Georgia football,” jokes Brannen. “I had been away from Georgia for several years, and I was a little homesick.” Who would have known her desire to come home would lead to a job as the executive director of the Vidalia Onion Committee? Growing up in Statesboro, Brannen, like many South Georgians, had a sense of pride for the sweet onions grown exclusively in and around Vidalia and was accustomed to taking them as gifts to friends and neighbors. “I felt like I’d already been doing this job,” Brannen says. “You have to believe in something if you’re going to sell it.” Brannen oversees marketing for Vidalia onions, promoting them nationally through press releases, in-store promotions, broadcast media appearances, ads and tradeshows. Last year she was in charge of a successful promotion featured on ABC World News that paired Vidalia onions with Shrek, the animated green ogre who stars in a series of children’s movies. In the first movie, Shrek compares himself to an onion. “Onions have layers,” Shrek tells Donkey to explain his difficult personality. “Ogres have layers.” Since the beginning of the Vidalia onion season in May coincided with the opening of “Shrek Forever After,” the Vidalia Onion Committee partnered with DreamWorks Animation to create the “Ogres and Onions” campaign. The campaign was targeted to children to encourage them to eat the healthy, sweet vegetables. Shortly after moving to the “Sweet Onion City” in 2006, Brannen was asked to be on a local agribusiness committee, which started a subcommittee dedicated to creating a museum for Vidalia onions.

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

PETER FREY

The city of Vidalia had wanted a nice facility for tourists to learn more about Georgia’s state vegetable for some time. Brannen’s subcommittee hired a museum consultant and began gathering artifacts and memorabilia such as farm equipment and newspaper articles. “Our goal was to build something the area and farmers could be proud of and others would enjoy,” she says. The museum opened on April 29 in the same building as the Vidalia Onion Committee, the Vidalia Area Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, and the Vidalia Onion Business Council. “This was a fascinating project, and it has been exciting to unearth all there is about Vidalia onions,” Brannen says. Her favorite exhibit in the museum is the pop culture section that features the different media in which the Vidalia onion has appeared, including the television shows “Cash Cab,” “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” and “Jeopardy.” Vidalia onions were also used as a murder clue on “CSI Miami.” Brannen says the biggest accomplishment in creating the museum is that the city now has a historical archive for Vidalia onions and the Vidalia community that educates and entertains visitors. “When people leave here, we want them to be a little more excited about Vidalia onions than they were before they came to the museum.”

GET MORE Learn more about Vidalia onions at www.vidaliaonion.org

manager with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Brian S. Beckwith (BBA ’91) of Wilmette, Ill., is chief executive officer of Formation Capital, a leading investigator in the health care industry. Dale Bowers (BSA ’91) of Newnan was named one of the top four Technical College System of Georgia’s 2011 Student of the Year Award recipients. Sharon K. Kendrick (BSFCS ’91) of Fayetteville, N.C., received the Exemplary Teacher Award from the General Board of Higher Educational Ministry of the United Methodist Church. Jack “Jay” W. Sanson III (BSFCS ’91) of Charleston, S.C., is the area regional manager for Sysco Foods of Columbia. Sanson has been employed there for 19 years. Greg Griffeth (BS ’92) of St. Simons Island is the head of school at Frederica Academy. Thomas Richard Pizzo (ABJ ’94) of Charlotte, N.C., was included in the Charlotte Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” feature. He is the president of property services at The Bissell Cos. Inc. 1995-1999 Crescendel Alexandria StromanMoss (BMus ’97) of Warner Robins won 2011-12 Teacher of the Year for Morningside Elementary School in Houston County. She has been teaching for seven years in the field of special education. Adam M. Walters (BBA ’97) of Atlanta joined

the Sanders Law Firm P.C. as a counsel. His practice includes business, health care and local government law. Craig Ellison (BSEd ’98) of Rome accepted the position of director of technology for Floyd County Schools. Prior to accepting this position, Ellison taught middle school since 1999 and served as instructional technologist for Floyd County Schools since 2007. Kirk Munsayac (AB ’98) was elected chief resident of MCG Department of Family Medicine. Shannon Ferrell Register (BSFCS ’98) of Spring, Texas, is a real estate broker and the owner of Register Real Estate Advisors. Colin Stokes (BBA ’98) of Athens was named vice president of commercial lending at the National Bank of Georgia. Stokes has more than 12 years of experience in banking and commercial lending. Brice Thompson (BBA ’98) and Emilie Thompson (MEd ’05) of Columbus, Ga., welcomed their new son, Christian Phillip Thompson, on Nov. 29. Hines Ward (BSFCS ’98) of Smyrna took home the mirror ball trophy as winner of

ABC’s season 12 of “Dancing with the Stars.” Bert Guy (AB ’99) was elected first vice chairman of the Georgia Republican Party at the Republican State Convention in May. C. Todd Jones (BSEH ’99) of Savannah was named president of the Georgia Public Health Association. Jones was also presented the GPHA Environmentalist of the Year Award at the organization’s annual meeting. John Phillip Tucker (BBA ’99) of Athens was named director of annual giving for UGA’s Terry College of Business. 2000-2004 Scott Bryan Hunter (BBA ’00) and Jessica Hess Thomas (ABJ ’04) of Albany, Ga., were married on May 7 at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center in Atlanta. Jennifer Rainey Marquez (ABJ ’00) of Jackson Heights, N.Y., is a senior editor at PARADE. She joined the publication after working as the senior health editor at O: The Oprah Magazine. Johnathan McGinty (ABJ ’00) joined

the Jackson Spalding communications team in Athens full time after freelancing for the firm. Eric Park (BS ’00) of Acworth opened an orthodontic practice, Park Orthodontics, in Douglasville. Brooke Anderson Walker (ABJ ’00) of Los Angeles is a co-anchor on CNN’s “The Insider.” Steve Preiss (ABJ ’01) was named one of the 20 most influential people in the poker industry, which is voted on by about 100 of the main business and media figures in the industry. Preiss was also named EVP of new media and business development for the Poker Royalty agency. Sarah Hart Sillitto (AB ’01) of Columbus was named partner in the firm of Hatcher Stubbs Land Hollis & Rothschild LLP, practicing with the firm’s general litigation practice group combining general litigation with a focus on representation of educational entities. Kelly Marie Simpson (BSEH ’01) and Barrett Rosteck of Portland, Ore., welcomed their first child, Aldo David Henrik Rosteck, on Feb. 16. James “Jimbo” Floyd (BBA ’02) of Gainesville,

SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE 45

Ga., was promoted to vice president and named partner at the independent insurance agency Turner, Wood & Smith Insurance. Elizabeth McCarroll Bunn (BSEd ’03) and Kevin Bunn (BSEd ’03) welcomed their son, Keaton Thomas, on Oct. 3, 2010. David James (BSFR ’03) and wife April James welcomed their first child Edwin Cole James on May 5. William Chappell (BBA ’04) of Conway, S.C., was one of 60 teachers selected for the Presidential Academy for American History and Civics in July. One teacher was chosen from each of the 50 states, plus 10 others that were chosen at large. Chappell represented South Carolina. Brad Payne (BBA ’04) of Evanston, Ill., graduated with his MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and joined the investment bank Petsky Prunier in New York City this summer. Michelle Huey Ravotti (AB ’04) of Smyrna is a disability adjudicator with Disability Adjudication Services. She lives with Chris Ravotti (BSEd ’06) who is a recreational

therapist at Shepherd Center. Stephanie Hawkins Watts (AB ’04, MEd ’07) and Stephen Watts welcomed their daughter, Elizabeth Margaret Watts, on March 11. Tom Yonchak (BBA ’04) and his wife, Adele, welcomed a baby girl, Anne Rankin Barbara, on May 9. 2005-2009 Chase Cain (ABJ ’05) of Tampa, Fla., joined WTSP-TV Tampa/St. Petersburg as a reporter for the CBS affiliate’s 11 o’clock newscast. Cain previously worked in Los Angeles and won an Emmy Award for his on-air coverage. Matthew Tyler Crim (BS ’05, AB ’05) of Cartersville received the Warfield T. Longcope Prize in Clinical Medicine from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. This award recognizes a graduating student entering the field of medicine whose performance in clinical medicine exemplifies in outstanding fashion the academic excellence and the human qualities that mark the true physician. Douglas Harden (AB ’05)

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will be featured in the 2012 edition of Who’s Who in America. Jessica Jones Mullis (BFA ’05) of Atlanta accepted the position of art director at the Titan Agency. Twin brothers Jared Young (BBA ’05) and Matthew Young (AB ’05) of Roswell started Brother’s Young, an indie film production company. Their most recent project was “Galactic Perry’s Learning Starship,” a satiric reflection on children’s shows of yesteryear. Chris Crawford (AB ’06) was promoted to deputy chief of staff in the office of Congressman Jack Kingston. He previously served as communications director. Allyson Nichols Miller (BSEd ’06) and Bartley R. Miller (BBA ’06) welcomed their son, John Bartley Miller II, on Sept. 24, 2010. Alex Teh (AB ’06) of Edgewater, Md., is a manager of strategy on Teach for America’s national staff, based out of Washington, D.C., and New York City. Susan Dennard (BSFR ’07) of Dalton sold her Victorian-era novel Something Strange and Deadly to HarperCollins Children’s, which is part of one of the country’s largest publishing houses. The book is expected to release in summer 2012 and will have two sequels. James Freeland Griffin (BA ’07) of Waynesboro received the William Stewart Halsted Award in Surgery from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. This award recognizes a graduating student entering the field of surgery whose proficiency in the discipline is deemed outstanding by the faculty of the Sections of Surgical Sciences. Matthew R. Robbins (BSFCS ’07) of Calhoun joined the Greater Community Bank of Calhoun and Greater Rome Bank as lending officer specializing in SBA lending and as special assets manager. Allison Doherty (AB ’08) of Costa Mesa, Calif., was appointed to the 2011-12 Ticktocker Advisory Council for the National Charity League Inc. based in Costa Mesa. Doherty was a member of the organization’s Roswell Alpharetta Chapter as a Ticktocker and is a sustaining member. Katherine Mozzone (ABJ ’08) of Atlanta accepted a job as a reporter for KTVM in Bozeman, Mont. Bubba Watson (BSFCS ’08) of Scottsdale, Ariz., donated $50,000 to UGA’s various programs supporting golf

Dancing to the top

ABC/Adam Taylor

From touchdowns to the tango, Hines Ward (BSFCS ’98) proved he has winning moves. The former Bulldog and Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver won the coveted mirrorball trophy on ABC’s season 12 of “Dancing with the Stars.” Ward and his partner, dancing pro Kym Johnson, competed in the final three against actress Kirstie Alley and singer/actress Chelsea Kane. The contestants performed three dances on the two-night finale, and Ward and Johnson scored 89 out of a possible 90 points from the judges. First place is determined based on a combination of judges’ scores and fan votes. Ward is the second NFL player to win the “Dancing with the Stars” championship.

SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE 47

CLASSNOTES

FIRST PERSON

Bringing justice to a foreign land by Thomas Rawlings (JD ’92) Some days my work feels familiar: discussing the therapy needs of a sexually abused child; organizing training for child forensic interviewers; and working with lawyers to ensure an accused child molester faces trial. It all feels like the work I’ve done in Georgia for the past decade as a juvenile court judge and state child advocate. This time, however, the work is in Guatemala City, where I’m spending three years as director of a field office of the special International Justice Mission (IJM). IJM brings legal representation and integrated social services to victims of oppression, including human trafficking, bonded labor or child sexual abuse. IJM lawyers, investigators and social services professionals bring to the victim what is often out of reach for the poor in the underdeveloped world: justice and restoration. For the past five years in Guatemala, IJM has focused on representing child victims of sexual abuse, a serious problem with an estimated 8,000 or more victims each year. Only 2,500 are officially reported, a fraction of which go to trial. The work can be hearbreaking but also heartwarming. Sometimes victims are vindicated, as in a case last year involving one of the 10,000 families who make their living picking up usable trash in the Guatemala City dump. Our client family—four children and their mother—suffered years of sexual and physical abuse by the father. Given relief at last and moved to a safer location, that family last fall participated in his trial and conviction. He was sentenced to 95 years in prison. Referrals to IJM come most often from the attorney general’s office or from other nonprofit agencies such as Doctors Without Borders. IJM social workers interview the child and family and begin providing social, medical and psychological services to the victims, relocating children and families if necessary. The direct legal representation of and multidisciplinary care for the victim is what makes IJM’s efforts successful. From 2008 through 2010, this small nonprofit group has been responsible for over one-third of all child sexual abuse convictions in metropolitan Guatemala City. The integrated approach makes up for weaknesses in a system where many public prosecutors are committed to their work but sometimes have more than 1,000 cases to manage. Still, my colleagues here have faith that the system is improving, with the country making great strides to strengthen laws against femicide, domestic violence, human trafficking and child abuse. With the help of international donors, the attorney general’s office has created 24-hour offices of victim assistance and special teams of psychologists and medical professionals who can provide immediate response to a victim of sexual assault or other violent crimes. Both government and private organizations are responding with increased services to provide the therapy and assistance needed to help victims recover their dignity and self-worth. Here at IJM, we hope our new capacity-building and training program will bolster the ability of the system to respond adequately to these victims’ needs.

GET MORE To learn more about IJM, go to www.ijm.org.

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

education and engagement after winning the Zurich Classic. Meredith White (BSEd ’08, AB ’08) of Savannah was named a WTOC-TV Top Teacher for her work teaching Spanish I and English II at Benedictine Military School. Avery Leigh Cox (BFA ’09) helped install the bedroom designed for the Kips Bay Decorator Show House, which was on display until May 26. Cox is a junior designer at Amanda Nisbet Design. 2010Jaime Benator (M ’10) of Marietta received the U.S. Army Nurse Corps Spirit of Nursing Award. She was nominated by the faculty at Georgia Baptist College of Nursing of Mercer University. Carlye Jean Clark (BSEd ’10) of Franklin, Tenn., was promoted to the position of sports coordinator at the Franklin Family YMCA.

GRAD NOTES

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Devegowda Gopal (PhD ’76), a practicing veterinarian of Jacksonville, Fla., is an advisor to the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Fla. Lance Bolton (BBA ’88, MS ’95, PhD ’97) of Colorado Springs, Colo., was named president of Pikes Peak Community College. Alfred “Alfie” Meek (PhD ’05) of Lawrenceville accepted the position of director of community innovation services for Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute. Arts and Sciences Garnett S. Stokes (MS ’80, PhD ’82) was named provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Florida State University. The provost at FSU is chief academic officer and the second-highest ranking official after the president. Bill Herringdine (MPA ’84) of Bogart retired after six years of teaching government and economics at North Oconee High School. Al Panu (PhD ’86) of Mableton is the vice president of academic affairs at Gainesville State College. He joined Gainesville State’s faculty as division chair of science,

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CLASSNOTES ALUMNI PROFILE

A need to feed John Becker is helping put food on thousands of tables by Meg Twomey (ABJ ’11) The stop sign at the exit of the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia’s headquarters reads, “Hunger Stops Here.” Some might brush that off as a farfetched goal or a clever marketing idea. John Becker believes it. Becker (AB ’89) began volunteering at the Athens-based food bank in the ’90s around Thanksgiving. “I first got involved because a friend of mine in the Athens Rotary Club said, ‘Hey John, why don’t you come on out and help us sling some turkeys?’ And I DOT PAUL volunteered,” says Becker. He later joined the board of directors and applied to run the organization when the executive director left in 2003. Since Becker became president in 2003, the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia has nearly quadrupled the amount of food it provides to residents of the region. Last year over 9.2 million pounds of food were distributed to people in need, compared to 2.5 million pounds when Becker took over the leadership role. He expects to distribute over 10 million pounds of food this year to the 125,000 needy people in the community. Becker has also helped expand the service area. It now extends to both the North and South Carolina borders and serves 14 Georgia counties. Last summer he established a distribution center near Clayton, since mountainous areas historically had been difficult to reach. Within two months of opening that center, 30 percent of the food bank’s total distribution was going through Clayton. Key to the organization’s success are the partner agencies that work with the food bank to deliver food to people at locations that are convenient for them, Becker says. But the agencies provide more than just food. Becker shares a story about an older woman who had food delivered to her house. Once there, the agency volunteers realized that the woman was harvesting rainwater because her well pump had been broken for years. The agency sent another group the next day to fix the pump and get her plumbing back on track. In addition to agency distribution, the food bank has a mobile pantry system of refrigerated trucks that take fresh food directly into the community. They offer special programs such as Food 2 Kids, which provides weekend meals for children who would otherwise only get food at school through free and reduced-price lunch programs. Flexible distribution and increased community support have helped Becker get this far, and he hopes that the support will continue to help reach the ultimate goal of 12.5 million pounds of food per year. “When we get to that stage, we’ll be able to say we’ve ended hunger in Northeast Georgia.” The food bank also fosters a cycle of community giving. Becker recalls a story about a child in the Food 2 Kids program who brought an apple to his teacher. She was reluctant to take the apple, knowing it came from the food bank and the child needed it more than she. But the student insisted, saying, “I’ve never had an apple to give to my teacher.” “These children…are getting this bag from people they don’t even know. And they want to give back,” Becker says. “It’s building this culture of giving.” —Meg Twomey is a former editorial assistant for Georgia Magazine.

GET MORE To learn more about the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia go to www.foodbanknega.org.

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

engineering and technology in 2007. Gregory Stephen Gorman (PhD ’93) of Hoover, Ala., is an associate professor and director of research in the McWhorter School of Pharmacy at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. Michael Purugganan (PhD ’93) of New York City helped discover that all of the world’s domesticated rice varieties may have come from a single place in China thousands of years ago. Purugganan is the associate director of New York University’s Center for Genomics and Systems Biology and is a professor of biology and a Dorothy Schiff professor of genomics. Carol Wilkerson (PhD ’94) of Richland, Wash., is the interim director of the Office of Student Affairs at Washington State University Tri-Cities. Anne Marshall (MA ’00, PhD ’04) of Starkville, Miss., wrote Creating a Confederate Kentucky: The Lost Cause and Civil War Memory in a Border State, in which she examines the revisionist post-Civil War history of Kentucky. Matthew Scott Harrison (MS ’05, PhD ’08) of Atlanta was named one of Atlanta’s Power 30 under 30 presented by the Apex Society. This is awarded to the city’s most influential young professionals who have already achieved extraordinary success. Business Foard Jones (PhD ’91) of Orlando, Fla., was named interim dean of the University of Central Florida College of Business Administration. Debbie Storey (AB ’80, MBA ’06) of Dallas, Texas, was appointed senior vice president-talent development and chief diversity officer of AT&T Services Inc. Education Leo Franklin Twiggs (EdD ’70) of Orangeburg, S.C., created a series of paintings using flags, soldiers and other Civil War imagery titled “Commemoration” that opened as a major exhibit in Charleston last spring. He began the series in 1970 after becoming the first African

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American to earn a doctorate from UGA. Gerald Calandra (EdD ’71) of Marietta created 49plusandholding.com, a web page that deals with health, fitness and longevity. Kyle R. Carter (MA ’71, PhD ’74) is the fifth chancellor at the University of North Carolina Pembroke. He has taught and worked in university administration for more than 35 years. Katherine Barr Hamrick (BSEd ’69, MEd ’74, EdD ’76) of Augusta received the Town and Gown Award from the Augusta State University Alumni Association for her role in connecting the university with the community. Before retiring, she was the special coordinator for master planning and a professor of mathematics at the university. Robert Fore (EdD ’76) of Chattanooga, Tenn., received the UGA College of Education’s 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding success and significant impact in his field. Elizabeth “Betsy” Bernard Bockman (MEd ’84, EdS ’92) of Atlanta received a 2011 Professional Achievement Award from UGA’s College of Education. The award is given to alumni in the midpoint of their careers who have demonstrated

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SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE 51

CLASSNOTES

ALUMNI PROFILE

A garden grows in Brooklyn NYC’s first agricultural extension agent helps community gardens grow by Amanda E. Swennes (MA ’06) Agriculture probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when people think of New York City. But beyond Times Square and Wall Street is a city that’s home to one of the largest urban green spaces in the country—Central Park—and more than 600 community gardens. In July special and August 2010 alone, 40 of the city’s community gardens produced nearly six tons of fresh fruits and vegetables, according to the organization Farming Concrete. As New York City’s first agriculture cooperative extension agent, John Ameroso (BS ’68) spent the past 35 years helping these gardens grow. Although he officially retired in March 2010, he can still be found checking on gardens he helped start, serving on the board of more than half a dozen ag- and garden-related organizations and speaking to community groups about the power of urban agriculture. Part of that power, and a large part of Ameroso’s mission, is providing communities across the city with healthy food options and instilling a sense of community responsibility. After graduating from UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Ameroso spent two years in Vietnam with International Voluntary Service, helping peasant farmers with rice, vegetable and small animal production. After returning from overseas, he wanted a job that would allow him to continue working with the public on agricultural issues. In 1976, the Buffalo, N.Y., native stepped foot in New York City for the first time to interview for a new urban agriculture extension agent position with Cornell University. He left with the job. “In that first year, I knew more about getting around than people who live here their whole lives because I had to get out,” Ameroso says. “I was working all over the city with all kinds of people from different ethnicities and religions. Anything that promoted ag was my job.” Community gardening hit a peak of popularity in the 1980s, a time when New York City had more than 1,700 community gardens. But Ameroso says there are still areas of the city that lack good food or fresh vegetables. The Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant is one of those areas he calls a “food desert.” Driving through the historically low-income neighborhood, fast food restaurants, check cashing services and corner bodegas dot the streets until suddenly a bloom of greenery pops into view. Behind a chain-link fence and abutting a crumbling white low-rise sits the Hattie Carthan Community Garden. It’s an oasis of fresh fruits and vegetables in the middle of concrete and housing projects. With 43 members, each with a small plot to tend, the garden produces lettuce, collards, beans and tomatoes—“simple foods,” says the garden’s vice president and market project director Yonnette Fleming. In 2009 and 2010, the young market produced and distributed more than 28,000 pounds of food to the surrounding community. On an early fall morning, Ameroso hopped in his faded red 1988 Ford Ranger and stopped by the garden to get an update on its Saturday farmers market and offer advice on end-of-season cleanup. Even in retirement, he’s making sure New Yorkers have access to fresh produce and know how to grow it themselves. —Amanda E. Swennes is the managing editor in the office of communications and technology services at the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

GET MORE To learn more about cooperative extension programs at UGA or to find a program in your county, go to www.caes.uga.edu/extension.

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significant achievements in their fields. Bockman is the principal of Inman Middle School. Victor K. Wilson (BSW ’82, MEd ’87) of Charleston, S.C., was selected to serve as member of the governing board for University School of the Lowcountry. Wilson was also selected to serve as a founding member of the board of directors for Charleston Waterkeeper, an environmental, nonprofit organization with a mission to preserve and protect the integrity of Charleston’s waterways. Brenda M. Carpenter (BSHE ’80, MEd ’91, EdD ’93) of Tifton was selected to serve as the new culinary arts instructor for the South Georgia Technical College Crisp County Center. Emily Lembeck (EdD ’95) of Marietta received the UGA College of Education’s 2011 Professional Achievement Award, which is given to alumni in the midpoint of their careers who have demonstrated significant achievements in their fields. Lembeck is superintendent of Marietta City Schools. Pamelia Carsillo (BFA ’79, EdD ’96) of Kennesaw received the 2011 Crystal Apple Award from UGA’s College of Education. The award is given to alumni in K-12 education who have made a significant impact on student, school or school district performance. Edward Maresh (BSEd ’94, MEd ’00, EdD ’04) of Lawrenceville is principal of Creekland Middle. Susan Frost (MEd ’01) of Dublin was named the 2010-11 Star Teacher at Trinity Christian School. Buffy Hamilton (MEd ’03, EdS

UGA Official rugs ’05) of Canton was named a 2011 Mover & Shaker by the Library Journal for her work as a librarian at Creekview High School. Anissa Heath Johnson (EdS ’03) is the principal of Fowler Drive Elementary School in Clarke County. Alvetta Peterman Thomas (EdD ’04) of Fayetteville, Ga., was named a Superwoman by Atlanta Tribune magazine. She is president of Atlanta Technical College. Shannon Hammond (BSEd ’95, EdS ’05) of Winder was elected to the board of directors of the Professional Association of Georgia Educators. Ginger Mathis (EdD ’05) of Ringgold is the associate vice president of academic affairs at Georgia Northwestern Technical College’s Whitfield Murray campus. Emily Robinson (AB ’03, MEd ’05) completed her ESOL certification in July. She is scheduled to teach her first class of English language learners next school year. Bryan Till (BSEd ’01, MEd ’06) of Fayetteville, N.C., is head football coach of Cape Fear High School. Craig Wentworth (EdD ’09) of Thomasville received the Delta Pi Epsilon Doctoral Research Award. Wentworth won the award for his dissertation, “The Role of Collegiate Sports Participation in Preparing Women for Executive Leadership.” Law William B. Wood (BBA ’70, MBA ’75, JD ’79) of Grayson moved his practice from the Atlanta firm of Smith, Gambrell and Russell, where he practiced for 28 years, to Lawrenceville. Wood specializes in business law, particularly mergers and acquisitions and state and local tax matters. He has also been an adjunct professor of corporate tax at UGA’s School of Law. Wade Wilkes Herring (JD ’83) of Savannah was awarded the Savannah Bar Association’s Robbie Robinson Award as part of the bar’s annual Law Day celebration. W. Scott Sorrels (JD ’84) received the 2011 Silver Buffalo Award, the Boy Scouts of America’s highest commendation. The award is given to individuals who contribute noteworthy and extraordinary youth service on a national basis. Aaron Johnson (JD ’99) of Austin, Texas, won the Leader ISD Place 6 school board

seat. He works as the sales director for Austin-based Bazaarvoice. Jadun McCarthy (JD ’05) of Atlanta was named Georgia’s 2012 Teacher of the Year. The Georgia Department of Education selected McCarthy from 154 teachers across the state nominated for the title. Terri Ryan Stewart (BBA ’03, JD ’06) of Atlanta was chosen to be a member on the LEAD Atlanta Class of 2012. LEAD is an initiative of Leadership Atlanta, the oldest sustained community leadership program in the nation. Stewart is an associate with Atlanta-based Fisher & Phillips LLP. Public and International Affairs W. Bartley Hildreth (DPA ’79) is the dean of Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. Valerie Hepburn (PhD ’06) of Brunswick was named one of the four 2011 Power Women in Georgia by Georgia Trend magazine. Hepburn has served as president of College of Coastal Georgia since 2009. Social Work Capt. Philip S. McRae (MSW ’86) of Ft. Stewart is chief of the department of behavioral medicine at Winn Army Community Hospital and is the team commander of National Disaster Response Mental Health Team number four of the Office of Force Readiness and Deployment of the U.S. Public

Compton wins Mexican Open Erik Compton (M ’02), the former UGA golfer and two-time heart transplant recipient, won the Nationwide Tour’s Mexican Open in June. The win made Compton the number two player on the Nationwide Tour and most likely ensured he will receive his PGA Tour card by year’s end. Compton received his first heart transplant in 1992 at age 12 after he was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. He had a second transplant after a near-fatal heart attack in 2007.

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Serving

GEORGIA

nourishment with culinary spirit 75 NATIONAL AWARDS

University of Georgia Food Services www.uga.edu/foodservice (706) 542-1256 SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE 53

Want to reach the Bulldog Nation? Advertise in Georgia Magazine. Published quarterly and mailed to the household, your advertising message reaches your audience directly, giving you one of the strongest demographic buys in the region. For information on advertising in the award-winning Georgia Magazine, contact Pamela Leed at 706/542-8124 or pjleed@uga.edu.

Health Service. Evelyn Wynn-Dixon (MSW ’95) of Riverdale received the 2011 Business Woman of the Year Award from the Clayton County Chamber of Commerce’s Women in Business Council. Rachelle “Shelly” Hutchinson (MSW ’00) of Lawrenceville received the Outstanding Field Instructor-Gwinnett

Award from UGA’s School of Social Work for her role as field practicum supervisor for BSW and MSW student interns from UGA. Veterinary Medicine Walter C. Cottingham (DVM ’61) received the Distinguished Veterinar-

ian of the Year Award from the South Carolina Association of Veterinarians. Steve Bowen (DVM ’71) was awarded the Silver Buffalo Award, the highest award given by the Boy Scouts of America for distinguished service to youth on a national basis, at the national annual meeting held in San Diego. India Lane (DVM ’88) of Knoxville, Tenn., is the assistant vice president of academic affairs and student success for the University of Tennessee. Jason Eisele (BS ’96, DVM ’02) purchased Specialists in Veterinary Surgery (SVS) in Estero, Fla. SVS is a small animal referral practice specializing in orthopedic, oncologic, neurologic and soft tissue surgical care. His wife, Melissa Johnson Eisele (BBA ’97) will serve as co-owner and practice manager. Emily Hoppmann (DVM ’05) of Columbia, S.C., bought Elgin Veterinary Clinic in Elgin, S.C. The clinic specializes in small animal and exotic animal medicine and surgery.

SEND US YOUR NOTES! Help UGA and your classmates keep up with what’s happening in your life—both personally and professionally—by sending Class Notes items to one of the addresses listed below. And please include your hometown to help us keep our alumni database up to date. If you send a photo, please make sure it is a resolution of 300 dpi. Due to the volume of submissions we are not able to confirm that we have received your note. Please be patient. It can sometimes take a few months for a note to appear in the magazine after it has been submitted. Quickest way to send us Class Notes E-mail: GMeditor@uga.edu Fax: 706/583-0368 website: www.uga.edu/gm UGA Alumni Association Send e-mail to: btaylor@uga.edu website: www.alumni.uga.edu/alumni Or send a letter to: Georgia Magazine 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North University of Georgia Athens, GA 30602-1999

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Shiloh Farms

In-Town Convenience - Rural Seclusion • Frontage on the North Oconee River • 10-Acre Homesteads • Sites suitable for Horses • Underground Utilities • Protective Covenants

Shiloh Farms is a quiet country enclave located in the very heart of Athens-Clarke County. We are only 10 minutes from Sanford Stadium’s gameday excitement and the heart of downtown Athens. Shiloh Farms offers the most convenient 10-acre home sites in Athens. Our wonderful location enables us to enjoy the beauty of a country lifestyle and also actively participate in all the exciting and enriching activities which Athens provides.

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Additional information available: Martha Henderson 706-540-6764 www.MarthaHenderson.com SEPTEMBER 2011 • GEORGIA MAGAZINE 55

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John O’Looney Senior Public Service Associate, Carl Vinson Institute of Government B.A., psychology and philosophy, Yale University M.A., English, University of Georgia Ed.S., language education, University of Georgia Ed.D, language education, University of Georgia Ph.D., political science, University of Georgia Photo on location in the UGA photography studio by Andrew Davis Tucker

“I kind of like to see what the future could be and how good things could be—little things like, in Amsterdam they give you a number so you don’t have to stand in line… when you’re going to get a train ticket. I have a personal dislike of busy work, of hassles and transaction costs that make me want to eliminate those for everyone in the state of Georgia. Because I’m a Georgian too.” — John O’Looney on what he finds satisfying about his job streamlining human service operations and developing e-government systems to be more efficient for Georgia residents.

GEORGIA MAGAZINE • www.uga.edu/gm

The Sanctuary you seek... Tucked away in the heart of Oconee County amongst family farms and gently rolling hills, Vintage Farms is a gated residential community in a tranquil, secluded atmosphere. The use of the highest quality materials, attention to detail and aesthetic balance of man-made structure to nature are characteristics immediately apparent in the homes located in this one-of-a-kind setting. Vintage Farms provides the sanctuary you seek, only 1.4 miles from Hwy 316 and just 15 minutes from downtown Athens.

Lots ranging from 1.5 to 4 acres 706.355.9961 VintageFarmsOconee.com For more information, contact B. Presnell, Exclusive Realtor for Vintage Farms cell: 706.540.0757 • B@AthensClassicProperties.com • ofﬁce: 706.543.3800

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286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602 Change Service Requested

2012

Economic outlook sEriEs Mark your Calendar Now!

dAlton

January 31, 2012

The University of Georgia Terry College presents the annual economic forecast for the State of Georgia. This comprehensive, detailed look at the economy will provide you with the tools you need to plan for 2012. Forecast data is provided by the Selig Center for Economic Growth.

Athens March 7, 2012

AtlAntA

November 29, 2011 Georgia World Congress Center

AugustA December 9, 2011

The series premieres at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta on November 29, 2011 featuring: • Governor Nathan Deal – Opening Remarks

MAcon

January 17, 2012

swAinsboro January 9, 2012

coluMbus

January 18, 2012

sAvAnnAh January 11, 2012 AlbAny January 19, 2012

• Dennis P. Lockhart, President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta – National forecast • Robert T. Sumichrast, Dean, Terry College of Business – Georgia forecast

For additional information and registration or to sponsor one or more events, contact the Office of Executive Programs at 706-425-3051 or expr@uga.edu Jekyll islAnd January 23, 2012

eol.terry.uga.edu