Augusta University
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hen choosing a topic for the Fall 2020 issue of the Phoenix, one idea kept coming to mind- 2020. 2020 with its fire storms, almost world wars, pandemics, protests and presidential election has thrown the world for a loop.   As a cultural magazine, there seemed to be no better topic than this. Just like the year as a whole, the Phoenix staff ran into some problems along the way of making this issue. Being unable to meet in person created a new challenge that the staff met head-on to work around.   Because of their hard work and dedication, I am happy to be able to present to you the Fall 2020 issue of the Phoenix Magazine. Thank you to all of the designers, writers and staff for working so hard to create this magazine and to Dr. van Tuyll for everything she does. Enjoy!
-Lauren Ramos
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COVID-19 testing began with a nose swab, where a health care worker would place a cotton swab in the nose to collect a sample. Many found this test to be uncomfortable or painful. Aware of these discomforts, a team of researchers at the Medical College of Georgia have developed a noninvasive saliva test.
Dr. Ravindra Kolhe, leader of the MCG research team, said “Saliva testing is a game changer in the fight against COVID-19, and this easier approach to testing is more comfortable for the patient and will help to make sure they are screened and evaluated in a way that avoids possible transmission to others.” Instead of having a cotton swab placed up to seven centimeters in the patient’s nose, patients are able to spit into a sterile container and give the container to the health care worker administering the test. Though saliva and nasal tests are very different, they have been delivering accurate results. According to Dr. Phillip L. Coule in a broadcast with local news station WJBF, the saliva test “runs on the same equipment that we’re running our other tests on.” The saliva test offers a different way to gather samples, but is tested in the same way as nasal samples.
In the same way complications can arise from nasal tests not being done properly, saliva tests have their own issues. Patients should not eat or drink anything in the hour leading up to the test as it can interfere with the saliva test according to AU Health officials. Kolhe says the saliva test is safer for the health- care workers administering the tests. Compared to the nasal test, contact between patient and health care worker is greatly limited.
Kolhe says that pinprick tests or at home tests may be developed in the future. 7
By: Abi Van Alstine
Scrubs, three masks plus a plexi glass face shield, booties over her shoes, two pairs of gloves, hair net and full gown. Sanitizing their hands every single time they walk in and out of a patients room. COVID-19 nurses have to live away from their families so they are not risking their families catching the virus. This is what a nurse working in a COVID-19 unit has to wear and do every single day. Sarah Wilby is one of those heroes.
“This deployment into the COVID-19 unit is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do,” she says. Working three 12 hour shifts a week and living in a cottage behind her family’s home. Sarah has been deployed two times since COVID has happened and she never knows how long that deployment will last. Her first deployment was meant to be six weeks but got cut to four and her next deployment was supposed three weeks and after six weeks she is still an active COVID nurse. “Growing up I knew I wanted to do something in the medical field, but I had seven kids and married at the age of
19 and I never got a chance to finish college,” she said. Her job for 25 years was to raise her children, so college and school were out of the question. It wasn’t until her youngest child was 12 years old that she decided to give college another shot at the age of 45. Sarah said, “My favorite part about going back to college is I got to take some college courses with my kids who were in college at that time.”
Graduating as a registered nurse was one of her proudest accomplishments, finally able to fulfill her dream. Sarah was the last graduating class from Augusta University to receive an associate’s degree in nursing. Mark Wilby, Sarah’s husband says “I was very proud of Sarah for accomplishing such a degree. She has made the most wonderful nurse.” Sarah has been a nurse for about eleven years now and still loves it. When Coronavirus came about there were so many people getting sick from the virus and very few nurses who were qualified or able to assist. Sarah had no choice but to be deployed because when she started her job she signed a form that said the hospital can deploy her at any time. She never truly wanted to take this position to work in the COVID unit because she did not want to be away
from her family as long as she was. Also, by working in this unit she had to take extra precautions and risk her health every day. Sarah said, “I enjoyed being able to be help my community and the people around me but I was excited when I got the email from the hospital telling me I could go back home.” Mark, Sarah’s husband, Lucia, Ryan and Micah, her children, were living in the house at the time that she was working in the COVID unit. “I have never been prouder of my mom than when she was working in that COVID unit, she is giving up everything just to help those around her and she is truly a hero,” says Micah Wilby. Sarah had to make the best out of the situation she was given so she took up crocheting and taught herself how to do it. By the end of her deployment she had shelves filled with yarn. Walking inside from work, exhausted and worn out, she still puts a smile on her face every day for her family. Sarah would sit on her front porch and her family would sit on their front porch and they would talk about their days while sitting across from each other with a yard in between them. Her kids bought her walkie
talkies and other gadgets for fun for her to have. Her husband also bought her a projector so the whole family could watch movies together even though they were apart. “The hardest part about working in the COVID unit was not being to hug any of my family,” says Sarah. Her second deployment was the most difficult for Sarah. She was already very exhausted from her first deployment and she was just starting to get in the groove of her regular job when the hospital relocated her to the COVID-19 unit. Working with other nurses making three times what she did but yet they are doing the same job did not go over well with Sarah. She tried to reach out to her boss to explain to her how this was not fair for the
for the travel nurses to be making so much more than her. Travel nurses made 98 an hour whereas Sarah only made 36 an hour. So, Sarah decided to look into quitting her job and become a travel nurse. A travel nurse is a nurse that is hired by a hospital away from their home to come an work for three months out of the year. The only issue with becoming a travel nurse is she would have to actually travel to another state and be away from her family again, but this time for three months. Sarah said, “After days and days of trying to convince my boss to let me out of the COVID unit or raise my pay they finally allowed me to return to my normal job in the next two weeks, I have never been so excited.” Her original job is working in the Endoscopy unit and she loves it. Sarah is loved all over for her dedication and hard work as a COVID-19 unit nurse. Ryan Wilby, her youngest said, “This has been one of her toughest experiences while being a nurse and although she shows her exhaustion at home, she is one of the strongest people I know and I know that her patients are happy to have her take care of them. She has truly been a superhero to her patients.” 9
Photos by: St. Julian Cox
During the summer of 2020, some Augusta University (AU) students and fellow Augustans participated in the Black Lives Matter protests to fight against police brutality and racial injustice. Approximately 50 years ago, they were doing the same. Dr. Tiffany Townsend, chief diversity officer at AU said, “If we look back in history, it’s frequently the students. It’s frequently the young people that drive St. Julian Cox, 22, a change. This is not unusual…This is how it communications student at AU happened in the last major civil rights explained one hindrance of creat- movement. It started with the students.” ing change is negative stereotypes about Black people who speak up. He said, “[AU students] have repeatedly talked to each other about having to hold our tongues because we don’t want to be perceived as the stereotypes as the ‘angry Black man’ or ‘angry Black woman.’”
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Cox added that being a young Black man in the U.S. “feels like having a target on your back…People are growing more aware of issues that they have been ignoring before, but with that awareness comes others trying to stifle…voices, and that just adds another layer of…not giving credibility to Black or Brown people…It seems like voices are being heard, but they’re being even more fervently oppressed.” She said, “[The pandemic] highlights the He explained that he has a feeling of uncertainty rather same issue, but in different parts of society. than fear in these times of racial injustice, “The more we It’s the same thing. It’s the same issue… see this violence on TV, the more we feel like it’s going to The [pandemic] makes it clear that this happen to us. It makes living tense, like having this issue of underlying inequity touches so cloud over you at all times.” many aspects of our society.” Rah’Mere Williams, 21, a graphic design student at Cox attended the June 1 protest during the AU, feels like “being a young Black man in today’s summer at the Lady A Pavilion, where there were society…means that we have to prove ourselves every speeches, spoken word and plugs for local Blackday. We have a chip on our shoulder. We have to owned businesses. Cox said that the protest work twice as hard as anyone else in the world to felt empowering, “It made me feel proud to be half make a name for ourselves or to be successful. We Black. It’s the same feeling I get when I’m with my have to go out and be different because all eyes father’s side of the family. I felt like I was accepted are on us and they’re waiting for us to mess as part of the group.” up at any moment.” Augusta’s protests were in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and in response to the murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and the many victims of racial injustices. Williams believes that the protests highlighted issues of police brutality and racial injustice, “but I still feel as though we need a lot more attention.” With the coronavirus pandemic and the national awareness of racial injustice coinciding, Townsend believes that timing reveals the inequities within American society. 12
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Williams attended the June 6 protest and march at the Augusta Commons. G had the opportunity to march in the front of the protest near the leaders. He said, “It was an amaing experience just to see Augusta and the Black community, to make our voices heard, to share our personal experiences and our stories on how we feel about police brutality.”
Williams then explained how attending the protest had a lasting effect on him, “Ever since going to the protest, it’s definitely made me bolder to go out and speak about how I feel.” It even changed his views on the city of Augusta itself. He said, “When I first moved out here, I didn’t really know Augusta and I didn’t necessarily like it. Since the protest, it’s definitely changed my view that Augusta is a family…we come together… to support each other’s background no matter what.”
Having grown up in Augusta, Cox did not share the same sentiment and feared it did not reach those who do not understand the Black Lives Matter movement, “It wasn’t indicative of Augusta’s population as a whole.” However, he added, “It’s starting a conversation and dialog is always good for understanding. It’s going to be a matter of individuals being willing to listen.” Williams hopes, “that they stop killing us and that we can get justice for those who’ve been killed.” Both Cox and Williams said that they were going to continue to participate in protests and social activism in the future. Williams said that he “will forever support and participate in whatever has to do with Black Lives Matter because Black lives matter.”
Townsend encourages students to be a part of this change, “We all have to play our role and our part. I support those who are protesting anyway that they can protest given their skill sets. Everybody can choose a different way to protest. I think we all have to be a part of change and be change agents.”
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“I want everybody to know the situation they are in that seems insurmountable does and can have a different solution than ending one’s life.”
-Dr.Tingen
COVID-19 has killed 1,112,743 people. With that statistic in mind, 40.9% of US adults reported “at least one adverse mental or behavioral health condition,” including depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, and substance abuse, with rates that were 3 to 4 times the rates 1 year earlier according to a June 2020 survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Mental health related issues have become more prevalent during COVID ––as well as the talk about mental health. Dr. Martha Tingen, is the Principal Investigator of the suicide prevention program. Along with this project she is a Registered Nurse, a Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, and the Associate Director of the Georgia Cancer Center. She is one of the leaders within the Suicide Prevention coalition. The suicide prevention coalition in Richmond County, as well as Jones County, because the State of Georgia funded a grant for the direct purpose of preventing suicide. Tingen was called on personally due to connection to her job as her son Nathan lost his life to suicide in January 2018. 15
Lindsay Mangrum, who has worked with the Augusta University coalition, which provides suicide prevention programs, such as the Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. She is a certified peer specialist and has had passion for mental health for years, stemming from long term recovery from her mental health diagnosis.
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“Nathan was an amazing individual. Such a sweetheart and so kind. A mother could not have a mgreater son...He’s always missing, at family gatherings, his birthday, all our birthdays, just every day. I’ll never get over it and it’s something I try to cope with every day. I miss him tremendously each and every day,” says Tingen.
“I have personally dealt with seasons of suicidal thoughts in my own life with depression and different things. As someone who has experienced that myself, in terms of ideas, I just really love to be someone who has been able to come out on the other side of it and being able to bring that to the table with suicide prevention,” says Mangrum.
Dr. Marlo Vernon, Co-Investigator within the suicide prevention coalition has been involved with the suicide prevention grant for a year and assists Tingen adds, “The isolation has really impacted younger people more than older adults.”
“Even before COVID, the rates of suicide in our area were the top three or four causes of death from people ranging from the ages 15-44. COVID has definitely affected these numbers,” Mangrum said.
Vernon stated during the National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month in September, “The CDC said among college-age students, [ages] 18-24, more than 25 percent shared they had considered suicide.”
Gina Hopf, a research assistant on their team who works on the suicide prevention program, says, “I acted as a bridge between the student body and counseling services.”
She adds, “It was really impactful to have a role in bettering people’s mental health and getting them to know about resources.” September is Suicide Prevention Awareness month. During this month, the coalition had two main initiatives they promoted: Chalk About Suicide Prevention, and that was where people around both of the counties they work with––Richmond and Jones County––chalk positive messages or supportive messages on their sidewalks, and Shine a Light on Suicide Prevention, where people would wear something that
would glow in support of Suicide Prevention Awareness month. “I’m pretty proud of September,” says Hopf. The key elements the suicide prevention coalition brings to the community are resources and training for people. All of their efforts go into destigmatizing suicide. “And what does that mean? We want to increase awareness that this exists, but we want to help people and prevent it. We want people who are feeling that way to reach out and come forward for help from somebody,” says Tingen. 17
Amid coronavirus, it has been harder to initiate things that are in person and actively on campus. Because of this, one big initiative the suicide prevention program is pushing for is Kognito, which should be initiated sometime this year. Tingen explained that Kognito is a united effort with student health to promote health on campus. It is for all students, all faculty, all staff, and anyone that works within the Augusta University system. Kognito gives ideas on how to help somebody that may be at risk within their mental health. “We are doing a major engagement on our campus. That’s a really big deal. I want people to use it because we’re in the midst of COVID-19 and because there are so many challenges,” says Tingen. It doesn’t deal with just mental health–– “it helps anybody that needs help coping with the stress of life and the stress of school,” says Tingen.
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One goal Tingen, as well as all members of the suicide prevention coalition, wants for this program is to see if we can decrease the number of suicides on campus. “I’m starting to do some really serious investigation at the university. Nobody on this entire campus can tell us what our suicide rates are. We do have a suicide prevention coordinator, Dr. Lacy Till, for whom I am thankful, yet no one has any idea of the suicide rate on our campus. It seems that at least once a month we get an email about a student loss, yet we never know what it’s from,” says Tingen.
Tingen’s main goal through her investigation is to minimize the amount of student lives lost to suicide. “One suicide is too many!” says Tingen. She hopes her investigative efforts and the efforts of everyone in the coalition, along with the release of Kognito, will aid and impact those struggling.
“My whole new message in life are words that come out of our mouth matter. Words that we say can heal people, help people, and I know this sounds harsh, but words that we say can harm people and I would even say kill people,” says Tingen. “We’re going to try to get a real grip on the suicide rates that are here. We’re going to see if Kognito, resources and training can make a decrease... Regardless of how someone feels that day, there is somebody ou there that loves and adores and values you Suicide is never the answer,” says Tingen.
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By: Autumn Asbill When asking Dr. Blake why he took on the tremendous responsibility of data collection he said, “I was at home, not able to work. I didn’t have enough work. I was bored and there was a pandemic, and I found it frustrating to get information.” Dr. David T. Blake is a professor of Neurocognitive and Regenerative Medicine at Augusta University. He was recruited from a small public medical school, University of California - San Francisco, and moved to Augusta in 2005. It is here that he started his research on Alzheimer’s Disease. Dr. Blake is testing how stimulation makes lab rats’ brains smarter, which is applied to his research in Alzheimer’s. Originally, Dr. Blake was interested in sensory research, but after noticing a couple of “quirks” in his sensory research, he moved his focus to stimulation research. This research is Dr. Blake’s main focus, but when the lab closed last school year, he used his lab skills to help others in the community and at Augusta University. Using social media, Dr. Blake began posting Covid-19 information that was accurate and readable for anyone to see. Dr. Blake says, “Given my background in probability, all I did was put the information in charts and graphs.” These reports and statistics are specific to the Augusta area, which helps provide a better understanding of how Covid has affected Richmond County, Augusta University, and the surrounding area.
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Aside from teaching students and conducting research, Dr. Blake’s name can be found on the Covid Report for Augusta University’s Bellringer. Dr. Blake was recruited to write from the newspaper after a member of the paper saw his collective efforts to help gather accurate and easy to read information concerning Covid, on social media. Blake says, “I found there was a lot of public data available, but it wasn’t readily available for people to read, so I made graphs.” He interpreted the existing information into graphs, summaries, and charts which are all accessible on his social media, and now, the Bellringer’s Covid Report. Now Blake says, “I update as needed” with the Bellringer, but on his Twitter, he still updates almost every day with the current charts and information available. Dr. Blake was not intending to do anything more than make information more understood by the public, but the lasting impression he has made on the community is evident by his follower basis and his work with the Bellringer. When Dr. Blake is not in the lab, working on his Covid reports, or with his family, he is working with the Boy Scouts of America, which he has been a troop leader for in the past. Dr. Blake continues to teach and work on his research while maintaining his social media presence.
From the lovely Suir, of the waters pure with it’s wild birds, game and trout Past Liberty Square , with its hurler there I joyfully set out I saw horses train by Seskin Lane and Bawntameena bright As I set sail, from the Golden Vale to view Sliabh Felim’s Height. On Killinan Hill, I took my fill of the beauty all around Past Maher’s abode, and the long straight road towards The Ragg’s new hurling ground On a far off brow, stood Ballinahow with its Purcell’s Castle bright A gem so rare, a land so fair among Sliabh Felim’s Height. And by bright Ballycahill where Cathaldus used to go I saw the school and chapel where the lovely flowers now grow Castle Fogarty ... Lies hidden as in shame of it’s sad plight But the peasant roams round those happy homes along Sliabh Felim’s Height. I looked into the Clodagh from the Anglesey New Bridge Ere I passed by Laffan’s Folly and Rosmult’s rough rising ridge There were cars at “Mary Peelers”, Templebeg looked clean and bright From the “Barracks” and Rossoulty you could see Sliabh Felim’s Height.
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The Owenbeg’s waters glistened as they rippled o’er each ridge In the pool, the young were swimming at the famous Metal Bridge At “Poll an Eas” the Salmon were jumping with delight; At The Mill , there’s music playing, as they sing of Phelim’s Height... The little lambs were leaping o’er the lands round Lognasceach There were cows and bullocks grazing on the slopes of KnockaloughIn the pubs around the village, they’re still talking, day and night, How there fathers fought for freedom all along Sliabh Felim’s Height. They speak of ghosts and phantoms and often times they see, Atshanbo’s Eamon an Chnoic the famous raparee Through the roads around Kilcommon, all in the dead of the night They hear brave Sarsfield’s horses ride through Sliabh Felim’s Height.
Through the Milestone men are moving from Nenagh to Tipp town; Through the village homes of Hollyford where the grand Blackstairs look down. Through Curraheen and Piper Hill , Foildearg, and Cappawhite... Those people are so kindly all around Sliabh Felim’s Height. The Bilboa bright comes from the right by Seán Treacy’s field it goes By Máthair Slea it makes its way to where the Mulcaire flows I passed Coonmore, where oft of yore, when all was calm and quiet , The póitín smell from hidden dell spread through Sliabh Felim’s Height.. I stopped to pray, at the church of Rea and past history to recall When brave men gave,heir lives to save, when they stormed the barrack wall There’s freedom still on every hill and in every home at night Sean Treacy’s name and Dan Breen fame ring o’er Sliabh Felim’s Height. And Paddy Ryan, The Lacken Lion...
still holds an honoured place, Where the deer run free, in the ‘forestry’, safe from that murdering race, I was not far from the Congo Bar and Lackamore looked bright Ryan Fancy’s song and his heirs belong to grand Sliabh Felim’s
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At last I came to the Walls of Fame and I long kept looking down On sweet Clare Glens, that’s winds and bends its way towards Newport town There was Limerick, Clare and clear Mulcaire, Ryan Park and the Church so bright Ahane of old, with their hurlers bold are well known, through Sliabh Felim’s Height. When life is spent, and my last ascent is made through the heavenly door May I have the chance to often glance around those hills once more I will spend my days in song and praise and gaze from morn to night From the realms above, on the land I love Fair, famed Sliabh Felim’s Height.
WINGSPAN 2020
Author of these poems, was a native of Newtown in the rural parish of Upperchurch Drombane, County Tipperary. He was born in 1930. He was the seventh child of 11. He attended Newtown National School in the 1930s and lived a simple life that included farming, fishing, cycling, and, most importantly, hurling (Ireland’s national sport that goes back to prehistory. It’s similar to lacrosse). In Easter 1942, Perkins left Newtown National School and made his way to the Christian Brothers School in Thurles, Co. Tipperary, for his second level education. He joined the Christian Brothers order in 1945 and served in various schools throughout Ireland. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Irish and Latin and spent many years teaching. His main passion was hurling, and he devoted his spare time to the ancient Gaelic game and all that it encompassed. Perkins also wrote for the local newspaper, The Tipperary Star, contributing his weekly column titled “Tales Of The Gales.” He would include short verses about local hurling events, special places, and local musings. Tipperary residents enjoyed the column for many years. His poems and articles were a chronicle of the events and happenings of the day. Perkins was also a scholar of national and local history, particularly the origins of the local place names whose meanings have been obscured with the decline of the Irish language. He spoke Irish fluently and promoted all things Gaelic. He traveled extensively around Europe and spent some time in Africa. He wrote simple verse appealing to all readers and is best remembered for his weekly column which was eagerly awaited by all.
This poem below details the landscape of the Sliabh Felim range of mountains. The Sliabh Felim mountain range is in Munster and stretches right across County Limerick and Tipperary. Sliabh Felim is derived from the Irish name “Sliabh Eibhlinne” meaning “mountain of Ébliú”an ancient goddess. It is a mountain of historical significance where many of the dispossessed were forced to relocate. These people lost their lands both in the Elizabethan and Cromwellian plantations. The poems commences with Perkins leaving his abode in Thurles and travelling through the rural villages and towns-lands along the way which skirt the Sliabh Felim hills. It brings to life the beauty and history of the landscape and charts the various characters and landmarks along the meandering roadway from Thurles to Newport town in the county of Tipperary. This poem evokes emotion for the rugged beauty of the mountains. These mountains have sheltered “Eamon an Chnoic” the famous raparee of whom many Irish songs and stories are written about. O’Neil and O Donnell, the famous Irish chieftains traversed these mountains on their way to the ill-fated battle of Kinsale in 1601 and Patrick Sarsfield with the aid of the famous Galloping Hogan hid in these mountains on the way to King William’s siege train of Ballyneety. These mountains are etched in the hearts and minds of the people who live there and forever held in fond adoration.
GRETA NI RIAIN
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WINGSPAN 2020