UGA Columns Nov. 27, 2017

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Study finds that investing in conservation helps protect global biodiversity RESEARCH NEWS

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Thursday Scholarship Series ends semester with annual holiday concerts Vol. 45, No. 17

November 27, 2017

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UGA GUIDE

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Student helps women find ways to improve maternal health By Christopher James chtjames@uga.edu

Andrew Davis Tucker

From left: Montine Brightwell talks with senior psychology major Alaina Buschman of Roswell and Kaeli Evans, campus kitchen assistant coordinator and AmeriCorps VISTA staff member, as they deliver meals to her home in Athens.

Special delivery Campus Kitchen at UGA feeds senior adults across Athens

By Kellyn Amodeo

kwamodeo@uga.edu

Five miles doesn’t seem like much. It’s a short car ride for some and a morning jog for others. But for student volunteers in the University of Georgia Campus Kitchen program, 5 miles from the main campus in Athens takes them to Montine Brightwell’s doorstep to deliver food. The realization that such a vast community need is so close to campus is a wake-up call for students, according to volunteer Allison Vita. “You don’t expect to drive five minutes out and see people living with so much less,” said Vita, a fourth-year health promotion and

behavior major in UGA’s College of Public Health. Every two weeks, Campus Kitchen volunteers travel to Brightwell’s home to deliver a made-from-scratch meal and bag of groceries. The meal is prepared by UGA students using donated food from grocery stores and farmers markets. Students also harvest fresh produce from the UGArden, the university’s student farm. Brightwell, a 69-year-old lifelong resident of Athens and an employee of the Clarke County School District, has been served by the Campus Kitchen for years. “I just love it,” she said of the program. “I’m a diabetic, and the food is really healthy. Since it’s just

me and my granddaughter, I hardly ever have to cook.” Brightwell is one of many senior adults struggling with food insecurity. According to the Athens Community Council on Aging, one in every five seniors in Athens is classified as food insecure. This means they lack access to healthy, adequate and affordable food. The lack of access is not just a financial barrier but also can be transportation issues that prevent seniors from going shopping or health problems that limit their dietary options. In 2010, a study by the ACCA and the foods and nutrition department in UGA’s College of Family See KITCHEN on page 8

Editor’s note: This is part of a series of stories about UGA and economic development in rural Georgia. University of Georgia undergraduate Shivani Rangaswamy is getting a head start on a career in medicine by helping pregnant women in rural Georgia understand how to lower their risk of having low birth weight babies. Through an internship with UGA’s Archway Partnership, Rangaswamy created a resource guide to educate women about behaviors, such as smoking, stress

and poor nutrition, that could result in babies weighing less than 5.1 pounds at birth. The guide, for pregnant women and Shivani health care Rangaswamy workers, offers local resources ranging from Medicaid to local health departments and pregnancy centers. The guide includes phone numbers so readers don’t need internet access to use it.

See HEALTH on page 8

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

Early action applications bring record academic credentials to UGA By Sam Fahmy

sfahmy@uga.edu

Nearly 15,000 students applied for early action admission to the University of Georgia’s Class of 2022, bringing record academic qualifications to the birthplace of public higher education in America. This year more than 8,000 students are being offered early action admission to UGA, and their average GPA of 4.11 reflects their dedication to academic excellence and rigorous coursework such as Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses. The average ACT score of students being offered admission through early action is 32, which exceeds

last year’s record of 31. The average SAT score is 1390, which exceeds last year’s average of 1363. The mid 50th percentile ranges for the ACT and SAT scores of admitted students are 30-32 and 1320-1470, respectively.The average number of AP, IB and dual enrollment courses is nine, with a mid 50th percentile range of seven to 11. “The academic achievements of these admitted students are remarkable,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “They were selected from our most outstanding pool of applicants for early action ever, attesting to the increasing recognition of the quality and value of a degree from the University of See ADMISSIONS on page 8

DRUG DISCOVERY CORE LABORATORY

OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

Chambliss Leadership Forum exceeds $1 million New DDC laboratory works to develop treatment for diseases fundraising goal for learning opportunities By Emily Patuek epateuk@uga.edu

Colleagues and friends of former U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss have now exceeded the goal of $1 million for the Chambliss Leadership Forum endowment at the University of Georgia. The fourth fundraising dinner for the program was held earlier this month at the Altria office in Washington, D.C. Chambliss and his wife, Julianne, attended along with UGA President Jere W. Morehead, current UGA student interns and members of the U.S. Congress. “One of the components of the Chambliss Leadership Forum is a unique experiential learning opportunity for students to live

and work in our nation’s capital while continuing their pursuit of an academic degree,” said Morehead. “This is an exceptional experience, and the University of Georgia is grateful to Sen. and Mrs. Chambliss and the many contributors who are supporting the Chambliss Fellowship Program.” Current Chambliss Fellows Tyler Ashe, Lindsay Moore and Nada Elrhalami attended the dinner. Ashe, a fourth-year student from Loganville, Georgia, majoring in international affairs and minoring in Arabic and statistics, is interning for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Moore, a fourth-year student from Decatur, Georgia, is double majoring in international affairs and Spanish, both of which

she has put to use this semester during her time as an intern for the U.S. Trade Representative’s office. Elrhalami, a fourth-year student and international affairs and political science double major from Columbus, Georgia, is an intern for the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations this semester. “Julianne and I are grateful for the support of so many friends and former colleagues,” said Chambliss. “The Chambliss Leadership Forum at UGA is close to our hearts, and we are grateful that so many folks from both sides of the aisle see the value in providing bright students, regardless of economic background, the opportunity to live and work in See CHAMBLISS on page 8

By Mickey Y. Montevideo mickeym@uga.edu

The University of Georgia has created the Drug Discovery Core laboratory, a campus-wide collaborative facility designed to hasten the development of therapeutic drugs for a number of major diseases. A survey distributed to UGA researchers in 2016 identified chemical screening and toxicity profiling as the most critical needs for enhancing drug discovery research at UGA, and the DDC will address many of those needs for faculty working in infectious disease, regenerative medicine, cancer biology and other human health-focused disciplines.

Phase one of the new lab will allow for the curation, management and distribution of chemical libraries containing more than 50,000 compounds. The lab also will enable researchers to rapidly screen these chemical libraries in miniaturized models of various diseases using robotics and highthroughput signal detection. Finally, the lab will provide opportunities to identify the potential toxicity of the compounds and determine if their chemical properties will allow them to be successfully delivered to patients. Additional capabilities, including pharmacokinetic characterization, genotoxicity and assay design, are under development. See LABORATORY on page 8

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Commit to Georgia 2018

Why I Give

Name: Jared Peden Position: Business Manager II, Carl Vinson Institute of Government, a public service and outreach unit At UGA: Three years

Jared Peden

Beneficiary of his gift to the university: Carl Vinson ­Institute of Government

Why he contributes: “The University of Georgia has given so much to me as a person, including a professional career and the opportunities to meet my wife and some of my lifelong friends. To give back to a university that has given so much to me is an honor and a privilege. On top of that, the ability to support the work done at the Institute of Government throughout our state via private giving helps me know we are continuing to better the state of Georgia.”

To make your contribution to the Commit to Georgia Campaign, please contact the Office of Annual Giving at 706-542-8119 or visit give.uga.edu.

Around academe

US Education Department approves Purdue’s plan to purchase Kaplan U.

The U.S. Education Department “preliminarily concluded” that it had no objections to Purdue University’s acquisition of Kaplan University. While Purdue still needs final, official approval, the university is confident the purchase will happen. With the purchase, Purdue will create a new public institution, Purdue NewU, which will use Kaplan’s established online infrastructure to reach students who either did not complete college or have no post-secondary education whatsoever.

D.W. Brooks speaker: GMOs will be necessary to feed growing world By J. Merritt Melancon jmerritt@uga.edu

If the world’s food supply is going to double by 2050, it’s not going to happen without genetically modified crops. That was the message delivered by molecular biologist Nina Federoff at the 2017 D.W. Brooks Lecture, which was designated as a Signature Lecture. Federoff was a pioneering biotechnologist at Pennsylvania State University before becoming a science advisor to the U.S. Department of State, USAID. She founded the Center for Desert Agriculture in Saudi Arabia and is a longtime proponent of biotechnology in agriculture. Lack of support of GMO crops is based in fear of new technology and science denial, she told an audience of more than 350 at the lecture. “All of the indicators suggest that we’re reaching the limits of the world’s land and water resources, yet the population is still growing,” Federoff said. “We’re also becoming increasingly aware that we’re going to have to produce food more sustainable than we ever have before if we’re going leave the land in reasonable condition for those who follow us. … The answer

Matt Hardy

CAES Dean and Director Sam Pardue, center, congratulates recipients of the 2017 Brooks Awards. This year’s winners are, from left, Katrien Devos, Ignacy Misztal, Maria Navarro, Wade Parker and Calvin Perry.

lies in a combination of technology and biology.” Federoff’s talk was part of the D.W. Brooks Lecture series, which also included recognition of the 2017 D.W. Brooks Award recipients. Ignacy Misztal, professor of animal and dairy science, received the Brooks Distinguished Professorship. Maria Navarro, professor of agricultural leadership, education and communication, received the Brooks Award for Excellence

A recent University of Michigan study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, indicates that one out of five teenagers are diagnosed with a concussion at least one time in their life. The research was conducted by the university’s Institute for Research on Women and Gender and used data from a previous Michigan study that tracked approximately 13,088 U.S. students in grades eight, 10 and 12. The study also indicated that 5.5 percent have experienced more than one concussion in their lifetime.

The fiscal year 2018 General Liability Insurance Identification Card is now available on the UGA Insurance and Claims ­Management website (http://busfin.uga.edu/insurance/FY18_ GA_Liability_Insurance_Indentification_Card. pdf). The coverage date will end June 30, 2018. Print and place a copy of the auto liability insurance card in each state vehicle. A copy of the card also may be provided to employees who drive personally owned or rental vehicles while on official state business. If an accident occurs, report all accidents within 48 hours to the Claims Center regardless of who is at fault. Reporting of an accident is required and applies to all accidents involving state vehicles and/or involving state employees operating personally owned or rental vehicles while on official state business. The Claims Center 24-hour toll free number is 1-877-656-7475. Time is of the essence; do not delay reporting the claim because you do not have all of the information or the police report; additional information or updates are acceptable at any time. The Claims Center will assign each accident a report number. Contact Vance Silcott, UGA insurance and claims manager, at vsilcott@uga.edu or ­706-425-3083 with the Claims Center report number.

in Teaching. Katrien Devos, professor of crop and soil sciences and plant biology, received the Brooks Award for Excellence in Research. Calvin Perry, superintendent of the C.M. Stripling Irrigation Research Park, received the Brooks Award for Excellence in Extension. Wade Parker, agriculture and natural resources program coordinator for UGA Extension’s Southeast District, received the Brooks Award for Excellence in Public Service Extension.

GEORGIA WRITERS HALL OF FAME

ETHICS AWARENESS WEEK AT UGA

Author, poets discuss writing perspectives By Krista Richmond krichmond@uga.edu

U. of Michigan study: Fifth of teens suffer from concussion at least once

Insurance ID card now available

News to Use

COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Dorothy Kozlowski

Judge Stanley Birch speaks with lecture attendees at the reception following the Ethics Awareness Week lecture.

Former judge explains neutral dispute resolution By Aaron Hale

aahale@uga.edu

Navigating ethical decisions can be “no easy matter,” according to the Honorable Stanley F. Birch Jr., especially when it comes to the complex world of dispute resolution. Birch delivered the keynote address Nov. 9 for UGA’s observance of Ethics Awareness Week in the Hatton Lovejoy Courtroom of the UGA School of Law. His lecture was on the ethics of alternative dispute resolution, which is the use of mediation or arbitration to resolve a dispute instead of litigation. Birch is a retired judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, where he served for more than 20 years. He is now a mediator and arbitrator with JAMS, one of the largest private alternative dispute resolution firms in the world. Alternative dispute resolution touches most Americans even if they don’t realize it. Birch noted that people can hardly sign a phone contract or own a credit card without agreeing to waiving their right to sue in favor of arbitration. The mediator or arbiter, sometimes called the “neutral,” in these cases must abide by ethical guidelines to ensure the proceedings are fair and thus maintain the trust of both parties. These guidelines, according to Birch, include avoiding conflicts of interest, upholding confidentiality between the parties and maintaining impartiality. During his lecture, Birch highlighted how the state of Georgia is a national model for ethical guidelines in alternative dispute resolution. “We are very fortunate in Georgia to have a very robust ethics system in place for arbitration and mediation services,” he said. “We should be proud of that situation.” In conjunction with the University System of Georgia, the University of Georgia was once again a participant of International Fraud Awareness Week. In support of this week, UGA observed Ethics Awareness Week Nov. 13-17 to promote an ethical culture on campus and raise awareness about ethics resources available at UGA. The university’s Internal Auditing Division led the observance.

For writer James Cobb and poets Alfred Corn and Kevin Young, the South isn’t just a place. It’s a way of life. “Being a native Georgian has given me some distinct advantages in terms of an anchor and perspective,” said Cobb. “Georgia has, in many ways, been part of my window on the world. It might be smudged here and there, but it opened me up to a lot of things that helped me as a Southern historian and writer and kept me grounded.” The three discussed their thoughts on writing and Southern perspectives during the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame Author Discussion, held Nov. 5 at the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries as part of the fall 2017 Signature Lecture series. Hugh Ruppersburg, University Professor Emeritus in the UGA English department, moderated the discussion between Cobb, the B. Phinizy Spalding Professor of History Emeritus at UGA; Corn; and Young, who also directs the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library. “I don’t know that I thought it [writing] would be a profession,” Corn said. “It’s just something I enjoy doing.” Each of the participants started writing in his own way, but the common theme for all of them was an insatiable appetite for books in their formative years. Young said he started writing as part of a summer program. Cobb said he read frequently as a child and often wondered what it would be like to craft sentences that others would read. He began writing more seriously in high school. Corn recalled being inspired to write poetry in eighth grade and short stories around age 12. “To me, writing is like a bare-knuckled, nose-biting, eye-gouging fight with a bunch of words to make them say, by God, what you want them to say,” said Cobb. “It became this all-encompassing urge to write.” The panelists also discussed who they think about when writing. “Audience is a tricky business if you start thinking too much about it because you can end up tricking yourself,” Young said, mentioning that broad stories might be taken personally and vice versa. Cobb’s “target” is writing for educated, interested public audiences to make a difference. Corn writes for himself and for others while trying to keep a range of tastes in mind. The participants, along with the late Eugenia Price, an historical novelist many credit with helping to preserve the history of coastal Georgia, were inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame during a ceremony on Nov. 6.

RESEARCH NEWS

columns.uga.edu Nov. 27, 2017

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Digest Registration underway for 2018 Flavor of Georgia Food Product Contest

File photo

John Gittleman, dean of UGA’s Odum School of Ecology, was senior author of the paper, which found that the $14.4 billion countries spent on conservation from 1992 to 2003 reduced expected declines in global biodiversity by 29 percent.

Money well spent

Investing in conservation pays off, study finds By Beth Gavrilles bethgav@uga.edu

Governments and donors have spent billions of dollars since the 1992 Rio Earth Summit attempting to slow the pace of species extinctions around the world. Now, a new paper in Nature provides the first clear evidence that those efforts are working. The study by an international team of researchers found that the $14.4 billion that countries spent on conservation from 1992 to 2003 reduced expected declines in global biodiversity by 29 percent. The findings could be used by policymakers to set conservation budgets that would allow their countries to meet the goals of international species protection agreements. “This paper sends a clear, positive message: Conservation funding works,” said senior author John Gittleman, dean of UGA’s Odum School of Ecology. The study, led by Anthony Waldron of Oxford University, the University of Illinois and the National University of Singapore, shows that conservation spending by 109 signatories of the United Nations Convention on B ­ iological Diversity significantly reduced biodiversity loss

in those countries. To accurately explain the impact of conservation funding by country, the researchers incorporated information about changes to each country’s biodiversity from 1996 to 2008 as well as government and nongovernmental organization spending targeted toward protecting biodiversity from 1992 to 2003, which researchers say allowed enough lag time for that spending to have had an impact. The researchers also examined how human development placed stress on species and their habitats. Among the study’s findings were that 60 percent of the world’s biodiversity loss could be attributed to seven countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, China, India, Australia and, principally driven by species loss in Hawaii, the U.S. Meanwhile, another seven countries—Mauritius, Seychelles, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Poland and Ukraine—saw their biodiversity improve. “The good news is that a lot of biodiversity would be protected for relatively little cost by investments in developing countries with high numbers of species,” said Gittleman. He added that it was important to

note that as development pressures increase, conservation spending will have to keep pace. Policymakers could use the model to determine these budgets. “This model provides a framework we can use to balance human development with maintaining biodiversity,” said Gittleman. “In my view, this is an empirical scientific framework of true sustainability.” By providing evidence that conservation funding already has had a significant impact on the protection of global biodiversity, the authors hope that more countries will be motivated to invest in meeting international biodiversity commitments. “For 25 years, we have known that we need to spend more on nature conservation or face a modern mass extinction as serious as that of the dinosaurs,” said Waldron. “But governments and donors have been unwilling to come up with the necessary budgets, often because there was little hard evidence that the money spent on conservation does any good.” The paper, “Reductions in global biodiversity loss predicted from conservation spending,” is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature24295.

COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE

UGA research team studies age, flu vaccine By Lisa Herrmann

lisa.herrmann@uga.edu

A team of researchers at the Center for Vaccines and Immunology at the University of Georgia has published a study that examines the relationship between age and previous exposure to influenza on a population’s reaction to the flu vaccine. The study is the product of an ongoing collaboration between UGA and Sanofi Pasteur, the world’s largest manufacturer of influenza vaccines. They published their findings recently in the journal PLOS One. The team examined volunteers aged 18 to 85 in four consecutive flu seasons between 2013 and 2016. Each volunteer was vaccinated with Fluzone, an influenza vaccine produced by Sanofi

Pasteur, and monitored for the ability of the vaccine-generated antibodies to neutralize a variety of influenza viruses over a four-year period. Producing these long-lived antibodies is one step in creating a universal influenza vaccine that would eliminate the need to have a new flu vaccine each year. “We examined the effect of your age and background to previous influenza exposures to determine if these factors make a difference in how you react to the flu vaccine year after year,” said Ted M. Ross, director of UGA’s Center for Vaccines and Immunology and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in Infectious Diseases in the College of Veterinary Medicine. “We found that both age and prior exposure to the flu do indeed play a part in response to

and effectiveness of the flu vaccine.” UGA researchers Ivette A. Nunez, Michael A. Carlock, James D. Allen, Simon O. Owino, along with Ross, found that the older population had a broader immunity to older influenza strains thanks to years of exposure to different strains of influenza through either vaccination or natural i­ nfection; however, they were susceptible to newer strains. Conversely, the younger population had immunity that could effectively fight the newer viruses, but they would typically not react to the historical strains as well as older people do. The goal of this research is to develop a more broadly protective influenza vaccine that could protect against multiple strains of the virus as an improvement to the current vaccine.

The University of Georgia’s Flavor of Georgia Food Product Contest helps to highlight the state’s burgeoning food product scene with its annual competition. Registration for the 2018 contest, which is coordinated each year by the UGA Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development, is now open at flavorofga.com. Now well into its second decade, the competition serves both food entrepreneurs, assisting them in testing new products and reaching a larger audience, and established brands, helping them break into new markets and receive accolades for established product lines. To date, more than 1,200 food products have entered the contest. Many of these products are sold in regional and national markets. As a result of the contest, some have increased their wholesale distribution or internet sales or experienced better traffic at local farmers markets. Product categories include barbecue sauces, beverages, condiments and salsas, confections, dairy and related products, honey, jams and jellies, meats and seafood, meat-alternative products, sauces and seasonings, snack foods, and miscellaneous products. There is no limit to the number of products an individual business can submit. The early registration fee is $100 per entry and continues through Jan. 19. After that date, the price increases to $150 and remains open until Feb. 8. All entries are featured in the annual product directory, which is seen by leading food industry buyers and media outlets.

UGA basketball player named to 2018 Katrina McClain Award watch list

Caliya Robinson, a junior forward on the UGA women’s basketball team, has been named to the watch list for the inaugural Katrina McClain Award, putting her name among the top-20 power forwards in the country. Named for UGA’s Katrina McClain, a twotime All-American, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association National Player of the Year in 1987 and three-time Olympian, this honor is in its first year of existence. The selection committee for the Katrina McClain Award is composed of top women’s college basketball personnel including media members, head coaches, sports information directors and Hall of Famers. In March, they will narrow the list down to five finalists before announcing the recipient during the 2018 NCAA Women’s Final Four. This is the second recent honor for Robinson, who was named to the All-SEC second team by league coaches.

Terry College team wins Hispanic Heritage Month Case Competition

For the second straight year, a Terry College undergraduate team won the Hispanic Heritage Month Case Competition at Emory University. Terry’s team, the Dawg Squad, was composed of Rishi Bagga of Alpharetta; Alejandra Gonzalez of Flowery Branch; Rhonda Taha of Suwanee; and Belle Wang of Shenzhen, China. The foursome captured the contest’s top prize of $3,000. The competition required teams to devise a marketing strategy for the Atlanta Hawks that would enable the NBA franchise to target, educate and sell premium products to Atlanta’s business community. Terry’s team competed against groups from the University of Virginia, Georgia State University, Kennesaw State University and Dalton State College.

PERIODICALS POSTAGE STATEMENT Columns (USPS 020-024) is published weekly during the academic year and

biweekly during the summer for the faculty and staff of the University of Georgia by the Division of Marketing & Communications. Periodicals postage is paid in Athens, Georgia. Postmaster: Send off-campus address changes to Columns, UGA Marketing & Communications, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Athens, GA 30602-1999.

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OUTREACH NEWS

GEORGIA INFORMATICS INSTITUTES

GII to host workshop on advancing informatics in government, industry By Terry Marie Hastings thasting@uga.edu

The University of Georgia is hosting a half-day workshop, “Advancing Informatics in Government and Industry,” Dec. 1 at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education, to promote discussion of how academia, industry and government can work together to address critical challenges in cybersecurity, data analytics and data science. The workshop is sponsored by the Georgia Informatics Institutes, an interdisciplinary, campus-wide institute that promotes the growth of research and academic programs in the area of informatics and analytics. The GII comprises the Institute of Bioinformatics, the Health Informatics Institute and the Institute for Cyber-Security and Privacy. The workshop will feature panel discussions by industry, academic and government experts on two important topics in this rapidly evolving field: talent needs and workforce development, and technical challenges and research opportunities in the next five to 10 years. Keynote speaker for the event is Ron Pontius, deputy to the commanding general, U.S. Army Cyber Command, Fort Gordon, Georgia. As senior advisor, Pontius oversees strategic support planning and resourcing strategy to enable the Army to achieve the right mix of cyber capabilities for the future. Industry participants include Boehringer Ingelheim, Deloitte, Southern Company, GE Power, Siemens, GlaxoSmith Kline and AGCO. Government participants include Bobby Laurine, vice chancellor and CIO of the University System of Georgia, and Robins Air Force Base. UGA faculty participating as panelists and moderators include Nick Berente, associate professor, management information systems department, Terry College of Business; Dorothy Carter, assistant professor, geography department, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences; Timothy M. Chester, UGA vice president for information technology; Dale Green, associate professor, health policy and management department, College of Public Health; Larry Hornak, professor and associate dean for research, College of Engineering; Kang Li, professor, computer science department, Franklin College, and director, Institute for Cybersecurity and Privacy; Ben Manning, instructor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering; Deepak Mishra, associate professor, geography department, Franklin College; Shannon Quinn, assistant professor, computer science and cellular biology departments, Franklin College; Lakshmish Ramaswamy, professor, computer science department, Franklin College, and associate director of GII; Dawn Robinson, professor, sociology department, Franklin College; and WenZhan Song, Georgia Power Mickey A. Brown Professor, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, and director, Center for Cyber-Physical Systems. There is no fee to attend the workshop, but registration is required at http://bit.ly/2zH5Ptu.

Dorothy Kozlowski

Barrow Elementary fifth-graders watch cell movement while Aaron Harris, a UGA doctoral researcher in cellular biology, supervises.

Science ‘Cell-a-Bration’

Franklin College biological sciences lab team brings science to life for elementary school students By Leigh Beeson lbeeson@uga.edu

It’s 8 o’clock on a Friday morning, but the room in Barrow Elementary School is full of energetic chatter. Fifth-grader Nora Murthy, in particular, is really excited. She’s about to examine protists and other microorganisms under a high-power microscope. She and her classmates also will see the damage caused to red blood cells by parasites that cause diseases like malaria and African sleeping sickness, and they’ll swab their hands and the bottoms of their shoes, maybe even the inside of their noses, to grow bacteria they’ll examine in a few days time. At the center of the excitement is Karl Lechtreck, an associate professor of cellular biology at UGA, accompanied by his team of three graduate students and a postdoctoral researcher. A self-described “Barrow Buddy,” Lechtreck started bringing his lab to the school when his children were students there and keeps coming back to help the students mark the end of

their unit on cellular systems. “I think that learning by doing is the best way to learn,” Lechtreck said. “The teachers try hard to provide a good education and do a really good job with that. It’s worth supporting, and UGA has so many possibilities to do just that.” Located on the edge of campus in Five Points, Barrow frequently partners with the university to bring exciting learning opportunities to its students, said Jan Mullins, a teacher in the school’s gifted program. “Our community and our school have deep schisms in our population, having both students whose families live in poverty and those who live in affluence, so it is crucial that we provide extra enrichment and sparks to learning for them all,” Mullins said. “UGA is a treasure trove for us and the community at large.” As part of the Cell-a-Bration event, Lechtreck and his team set up four stations equipped with microscopes and iPads or computer screens that projected the image under the scope.

The goal of these kinds of events is to engage students and catch their interest through hands-on learning opportunities. Lechtreck isn’t the only UGA faculty to help out at the elementary school. Scott Dougan, associate professor of cellular biology, also has participated in past Cell-a-Bration events, and Nell Andrew, associate professor of art history, helped judge a Save the Frogs art contest at the school. “When experts in the field, such as Dr. Lechtreck and his assistants, come in with passion, awesome technology (high-powered microscopes) and engaging activities, it’s only natural that students will gain a lasting learning experience,” said Shelley Olin, Barrow’s fifth grade science and social studies teacher. “And that’s the goal: For students to have fun in their learning and leave with a deeper understanding.” And that was exactly what happened for Murthy. “It was fun,” she said. “I like how you have a topic and then you can go deeper and deeper and deeper into it.”

INNOVATION GATEWAY

I-Corps Accelerator program helps startups avoid market risk By Allyson Mann tiny@uga.edu

For pediatric patients, MRI is one of the best diagnostic tools because it doesn’t involve exposure to radiation, unlike X-ray and CT scans. But it does involve loud noise and a dark, confined space that children can find intimidating, and it requires them to lie still for long periods of time. Sedating patients is an option, but IV pumps and other monitoring and life support devices aren’t allowed near an MRI machine and its magnetic field. Zion Tse, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, believes he can solve this problem. He and the students in his Medical Robotics Laboratory are building an infusion pump that can operate inside an MRI, allowing physicians to sedate patients for the duration of the imaging. “There’s a commercially available pump, but it’s way too expensive,” Tse said. “It’s cost prohibitive for a lot of hospitals.” His group has spent the past five years developing MRI-compatible devices, and he believes he can build and manufacture a viable alternative for a fraction of the cost. Tse and his students are one of five teams participating in UGA’s new Innovation Corps, or I-Corps, Accelerator program. The six-week program helps teams determine if there is a market for their idea, technology or product,

said Ian Biggs, I-Corps lead and senior associate director of UGA’s Innovation Gateway. “The worst that can happen is somebody spends two to three years of their time and the best part of a million dollars on developing a product that nobody wants,” he said. “Over 40 percent of all startups fail because there’s no market.” I-Corps removes that risk, according to Biggs. In the spring, UGA was named an I-Corps Site by the National Science Foundation, providing the university with an in-house means for faculty to assess the commercial possibilities of their inventions. The award enables UGA to serve up to 30 new startup projects a year and provides funding to help teams better evaluate their ideas, improve risk assessment and define success earlier. For three months, the program contributes up to $3,000 per team that can be used to create a prototype; travel to consult with potential clients or experts; and to seek training or education. “The I-Corps Site designation helps the university ensure that the full commercial potential of inventions is realized,” said David Lee, vice president for research. “As a land- and sea-grant university, it’s part of our mission, but it’s also important to show funding agencies that there’s a real-world outcome for their investment.” At an I-Corps meeting in October the group discussed customer interviews, which require getting out of labs and

offices to find out what potential customers think, need and want. Jared Bybee, startup catalyst with Innovation Gateway, emphasized that interviews are not a pitch—they’re about asking questions. “The purpose of the interviews is to just learn and learn and learn and learn,” he said. “You’re going to be like a sponge—getting in front of the customers and absorbing all the things that they know.” Tse and his students are interviewing radiologists, anesthesiologists, MRI technologists and nurses to design an infusion pump that will address everyone’s needs. Getting this information early will help answer the question that’s at the heart of the I-Corps program—is the idea worth pursuing? If the answer is yes, the I-Corps experience will have prepped a team for the next round of funding. If the answer is no, a researcher can repeat the process with a new or revised project. The purpose is to avoid having a researcher “make an invention and then it sits on the shelf,” according to Biggs. “We actually want to move it out into the market in the most useful form it can be,” he said. Tse has the same goal. “I enjoy doing basic research, running the lab, developing new intellectual properties,” he said. “But at the same time, I would like to see our ideas used in hospitals, making a big impact.” For more information, visit ugaicorps.uga.edu.

UGAGUIDE

columns.uga.edu Nov. 27, 2017

For a complete listing of events, check the Master Calendar on the Web (calendar.uga.edu/­). The following events are open to the public, unless otherwise specified. Dates, times and locations may change without advance notice.

EXHIBITIONS

Gold-digging in Georgia: America’s First Gold Rush? Through Dec. 5. Special collections libraries. 706-542-8079. jclevela@uga.edu

Louise Blair Daura: A Virginian in Paris. Through Dec. 10. ­Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu A Partial View. Through Dec. 15. ­ Circle Gallery, Jackson Street Building. 706-542-8292. mtufts@uga.edu Covered With Glory: Football at UGA, 1892-1917. Through Dec. 22. Special collections libraries. 706-542-7123. hasty@uga.edu Martha Odum: Art Intersects Ecology. Through Dec. 31. ­Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu Muse: Mickalene Thomas Photographs and Tete-a-Tete. Through Jan. 7. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu Wrestling Temptation: The Quest to Control Alcohol in Georgia. Through Sept. 21, 2018. Special collections libraries. 706-542-7123. jhebbard@uga.edu

MONDAY, NOV. 27 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Tennessee Tech. $5. 7 p.m. Stegeman Coliseum.

TUESDAY, NOV. 28 HOLIDAY BOOK AND FRAME SALE Through Dec. 1. Shop at the museum’s annual holiday book and frame sale, which features new and used publications in all genres as well as a selection of frames. Credit cards are accepted. 10 a.m. Georgia Museum of Art. hazbrown@uga.edu CINEMA POLITIQUE Film screening and discussion explore politics with an international perspective. Film summary: The 2016 documentary Chuck Norris v. Communism looks at 1980s Romania, when a black market operative and a courageous translator smuggled and dubbed thousands of Western films, providing a glimpse of freedom and possibilities to those laboring under Ceausescu’s oppressive communist regime. Discussant: Tudor Vlad, director of the James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research and professor in the journalism department, Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. Vlad has 20-year experience as a journalist in a totalitarian system and as a communication expert in an emerging democracy. After the fall of communism in Romania, he was the editor-in-chief of two prestigious publications (one in English). 7 p.m. 250 Miller Learning Center. 706-542-4789. mlmiller@uga.edu

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 29 WORKSHOP After the work of writing Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs), collecting data and analyzing results, what happens?

“Unbreaking the Cycle: Making Use of Assessment Data” will explore how to use and make sense of assessment results and address how programs can (or should) use results to ultimately improve student learning and strengthen academic programs. 9 a.m. 372 Miller Learning Center. 706-542-1355. madeline.smith@uga.edu CONSERVATION SEMINAR “Stream Restoration: Building on a Checkered Past,” Brian Bledsoe, professor of environmental engineering, College of Engineering. The Conservation Seminar Series exposes students to multiple aspects of the field of conservation through inspiring speakers from many different disciplines. The one-hour seminar is followed by a 30-minute question-and-answer discussion period. 1:25 p.m. Auditorium, ecology building. 706-542-7247. bethgav@uga.edu UNIVERSITY COUNCIL MEETING 3:30 p.m. Theatre, Tate Student Center. 706-542-6020. univcouncil@uga.edu

THURSDAY, NOV. 30 FILM SCREENING Join the Georgia Museum of Art for films discussed by scholars, filmmakers and students. Each film will include a 15-minute introduction by a guest speaker and short conversations about the film following the screening. Female artists, writers, photographers, designers and adventurers settled in Paris between the World Wars. They embraced France and cherished a way of life quite different than the one they left behind. Paris Was a Woman presents archival footage, music, paintings, literature and interviews with folks who were there, including Berenice Abbott, Djuna Barnes, Sylvia Beach, Adrienne Monnier, Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, Colette, Janet Flanner, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce. (1996, NR, 75 min.) 7 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu READING The Creative Writing Program presents poets Morgan Parker and Tommy Pico for a reading. This event is in partnership with The Georgia Review. Parker is the author of There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce (Tin House Books 2017) and Other People’s Comfort Keeps Me Up At Night (Switchback Books 2015), which was selected by Eileen Myles for the 2013 Gatewood Prize and a finalist for the Poetry Society of America’s Norma Farber First Book Award. Pico is the author of the books IRL (Birds, LLC 2016), Nature Poem (Tin House Books 2017), Junk (forthcoming 2018 from Tin House Books), the zine series Hey, Teebs and the chapbook app absentMINDR (VerbalVisual 2014). Together, Parker and Pico co-curate the Poets With Attitude (PWA) reading series. 7 p.m. 40 Watt Club. WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Furman. $5. 7 p.m. Stegeman Coliseum. THURSDAY SCHOLARSHIP SERIES: UGA HOLIDAY CONCERTS Concerts scheduled for Nov. 30 and

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

Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. The UGA Symphony Orchestra, choirs and other ensembles will celebrate this joyous season with a variety of music. The Thursday Scholarship Series began in 1980 and, as the flagship concert series at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, continues the tradition of “Music Appreciation Programs” started by Hugh Hodgson in the 1930s. Proceeds from contributions and ticket sales to these concerts are among the primary means through which School of Music scholarship funds are raised each year. $25; $10 student/ child. Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall. 706-542-4752. (See story, right.)

5

SCHOOL OF MUSIC’S ANNUAL HOLIDAY CONCERTS RETURN NOV. 30, DEC. 1

FRIDAY, DEC. 1 LECTURE “Poverty and the Consequences of Nonpayment of Monetary Sanctions for Women in Georgia,” Sarah Shannon, sociology. Part of the Women’s Studies Friday Speaker Series. 12:20 p.m. 213 Miller Learning Center. 706-542-2846. tlhat@uga.edu DIALOGUES IN DIVERSITY LUNCHTIME SERIES This Dialogues in Diversity Lunchtime Series discussion will focus on mental health disparities in underserved student populations and the risk and resilience factors that contribute to and protect against negative outcomes for student success. Speaker: Isha Metzger, assistant professor, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Lunch is provided, and space is filled on a first-come basis. There is no cost to attend, but registration is required. Register at https://ugeorgia.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/ SV_ebrXGmG0lNNKYol. 12:30 p.m. 473 Tate Student Center. diversitytraining@uga.edu PERFORMANCE Dec. 1 and 2. The UGA Latin American Caribbean Studies Institute, the UGA Portugese Flagship Program, the UGA theatre and film studies department and the UGA LGBT Center have the opportunity to collaborate on a one-of-a-kind research project that will produce both an innovative oral history repository as well as an original performance piece, Always (K)new, reflecting the diversity of the UGA community. LACSI and the PFP are bringing Alberto Tibaji to campus for a 10-week artistic residency that ends in December. Tibaji is an internationallyrecognized theater artist who specializes in using Theatre of Oppressed Techniques in devising original movement/ text pieces drawn from personal narratives. 7:30 p.m. Seney-Stovall Chapel. 706-202-9664. gcontini@uga.edu

SATURDAY, DEC. 2 FAMILY DAY: HOLIDAY CELEBRATION Discover festive themes in the permanent collection, then create a glittering, bright, wintry work of art in the Michael and Mary Erlanger Studio Classroom. Enjoy refreshments and a performance by Meridian Women’s Choir. 10 a.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu FOOTBALL SEC Championship. Televised on CBS. 4 p.m. Atlanta.

The UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music Holiday Concerts, which includes a variety of musicians and singers, are set for Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. in Hodgson Concert Hall.

By Jessica Luton jluton@uga.edu

The UGA Hugh Hodgson School of Music Holiday Concerts, a longstanding Athens tradition, will usher in the holiday season at the Hodgson Concert Hall Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 at 7:30 p.m. The annual concerts, which are part of the Thursday Scholarship Series, will feature the UGA Symphony Orchestra, Hodgson Singers, Collegium Musicum, University Chorus, the Men’s and Women’s Glee Clubs and the UGA British Brass Band. “This concert is one of the largest concert productions of the school year, incorporating the UGA Symphony Orchestra, over 200 singers from five UGA choirs, the UGA British Brass Band and a jazz combo with vocal soloist,” said Daniel Bara, director of choral activities. “It is an opportunity for a large cross-section of the Hugh Hodgson School of Music to celebrate and perform sacred and secular music associated with the holidays.” This year’s musical selections include Holst’s Christmas Day, the Prelude to Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel and A Feast of Carols by Randol Bass, as well as other concert highlights including an audience sing-along of holiday carols. “We’ve invited Teresa Grynia, a violin Doctor of Musical Arts student, to sing with her jazz trio,” said Bara. “The British Brass Band, led by renowned trumpet faculty Phil Smith, is also a highlight. And, of course, the sound of the full symphony orchestra and more than 200 singers collaborating on two grand holiday medleys is always a thrill to hear and a sight to behold.” The Holiday Concerts conclude the Thursday Scholarship Series for 2017. The series returns Jan. 11 with a solo performance from Evgeny Rivkin, professor of piano. Tickets are $25 for general admission and $10 for children and are available at pac.uga.edu and the Performing Arts Center box office. Those unable to attend can view the performance live on the School of Music’s website at music.uga.edu/streaming.

SUNDAY, DEC. 3

MONDAY, DEC. 4

FRIENDS MEMBERSHIP DAY Members of the Friends enjoy a 20 percent discount in the Museum Shop on regularly priced items, just in time for the holidays. Attractively wrapped gift memberships will also be available for holiday hosts, teachers, friends and colleagues. Not currently a member? Join onsite to receive the discount. Light refreshments will be served while you stroll, shop and save. 1 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu

ELEARNING COMMONS DROP-IN HOURS Consultants will be available for assistance. There is no formal instruction in this session, but consultants can assist with eLC tasks such as setting up a gradebook, customizing a homepage, adding and managing course content and creating assignments and assessments. 10 a.m. 372 Miller Learning Center. 706-542-1355. sac@uga.edu

SWIMMING & DIVING Georgia Fall Invitational finals. 3 p.m. Gabrielsen Natatorium, Ramsey Student Center.

CLASSES END Dec. 5. For fall semester.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Texas. $5. 4 p.m. Stegeman Coliseum.

TO SUBMIT A LISTING FOR THE MASTER CALENDAR AND COLUMNS Post event information first to the Master Calendar website (calendar.uga.edu/). Listings for Columns are taken from the Master Calendar 12 days before the publication date. Events not posted by then may not be printed in Columns.

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

COMING UP

READING DAY Dec. 6. For fall semester. FINAL EXAMS Dec. 7-13. For fall semester. NEXT COLUMNS DEADLINES Dec. 6 (for Jan. 8 issue) Jan. 3 (for Jan. 16 issue) Jan. 10 (for Jan. 22 issue)

6 Nov. 27, 2017 columns.uga.edu

CAMPUS CLOSEUP

Hip-hop education

Bettina Love, an associate professor in the educational theory and practice department in UGA’s College of Education, was recently quoted by NBC News about the use of hiphop as a teaching tool. Several teachers are using hip-hop to help educate their students and keep them engaged in class. Love believes that hip-hop education can help young, black students become more successful by giving them the chance to embrace not just who they are, but how they express and what they have to say. However, she advises against using hiphop as a teaching tool if educators are not familiar with black culture. “You have to know something about black expression. You have to appreciate it and love it,” Love said, who lectures on the use of hip-hop in civic education. “There has to be some cultural matching and cultural appreciation. I tell people all the time, it’s not just simply bringing it into the classroom.”

Holiday health

Jamie Cooper, an associate professor of foods and nutrition and graduate coordinator in UGA’s College of Family and Consumer Sciences, was quoted in a Consumer Reports article about healthy eating over the holidays. The holidays are filled with foods that can negatively affect your health. According to a 2013 study, on average, people gain 2 pounds over the holidays, as well as increased body fat, blood pressure and resting heart rate. “The holidays really can have adverse health effects beyond just weight gain,” said Cooper, who studies holiday and vacation weight gain.

‘Change the narrative’

Henry Young, UGA’s Kroger Associate Professor of Community Pharmacy, was quoted in a Men’s Health article about the opioid crisis in America. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 30,000 Americans die annually from opioid and prescription painkiller overdoses. Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts and Virginia have declared states of emergency for the opioid epidemic. Under that declaration, most states allowed law enforcement and the public to broadly dispense naloxone, an antidote that rapidly reverses the effects of opioids. “So often, many of these conditions go undetected and undiagnosed,” said Young, who made a presentation about the crisis last month at Georgia’s sixth State of the Public’s Health conference, which was hosted at UGA by the College of Public Health. “This begins to change the narrative around substance use and shift that conversation from a stigmatizing condition to one that we’re all dealing with and need help with.”

‘Super invader’

Karan Rawlins, who works in the entomology department at UGA’s Tifton campus, was quoted in a WRAL.com article about a flea beetle that may be able to stop an invading tree in the South. The tallow tree is a “super invader” with toxic leaves and no natural enemies in North America. It has overtaken forests from Texas to Florida. Tallows grow three times faster than most native hardwoods, and each one casts off 100,000 seeds a year. Neither controlled burns nor herbicide sprays have stopped their advance, and cutting them down only works when each stump is immediately doused with chemicals. Some scientists believe that introducing a flea beetle from the tallow’s native habitat in eastern China may stop the tallow from advancing. “Chinese tallows are very competitive, and they have no natural predators here like in their native China,” said Rawlins, who is the invasive species coordinator for the Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health. “Very few if any insects recognize it as a food source, so it has basically become a super invader.”

Dorothy Kozlowski

Donella Moore studied interior design but built on experience at Stone Mountain Park to create a career in administrative work.

Senior accountant takes unconventional career path to College of Pharmacy By Jim Lichtenwalter

james.lichtenwal25@uga.edu

When Donella Moore graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta with a degree in interior design, never did she think that she’d become an accountant. Yet, two decades later, Moore isn’t working in interior design professionally. Instead, she is a senior accountant for the University of Georgia’s College of Pharmacy. “It’s funny,” she said, “I always look back and wonder how this happened.” Moore oversees the college’s 89 state accounts that fund its purchasing and expenses. She examines the school’s purchases of lab equipment, office supplies, books and materials for classes. Moore also confirms that the college has adequate funding to meet its spending needs and that it is following UGA purchasing guidelines. Moore’s career path has been an unconventional one. Unlike many accountants, she doesn’t hold a certified public accountant license and did not study the subject in college. “Everything I learned about accounting was through trade and my own work experience,” she said. “I’ve been working with numbers for over 25 years. I love the problem solving that goes into it.” While attending the Art Institute of Atlanta, Moore worked at Stone Mountain Park in a variety of jobs, including handling the park’s payroll. Following graduation, Moore married Claude, an Atlanta police officer, in 1993. While she enjoyed interior design, she found

that making a career in the field would be impractical. Instead, Moore began building on the experience she received at Stone Mountain Park. Throughout the years, Moore worked a variety of administrative jobs before coming to UGA. She was an executive administrative assistant at Alltel Communications and a contract administrator for a building company, Damascus Homes. “I always wanted to work at UGA,” she said. “I kept running into people who worked there and asking them how they got a job there.” Over the course of a year, Moore applied for about 20 UGA jobs that didn’t require any previous university experience. In July 2012, she got her first job at the university, running the front office for what is now the Georgia Genomics and Bioinformatics Core. Over the next few years, Moore worked in a few university departments in administrative roles, gaining experience in an academic setting. She was hired as an associate accountant in the College of Pharmacy in August 2015 before being promoted to senior accountant in March 2017. Moore has enjoyed her time at the college working with what she refers to as the “Pharm Family.” “I love the College of Pharmacy,” she said. “We do everything in the college as a team.” During her time at the college, Moore has received a number of honors from her co-workers. In April, she was the recipient of the college’s quarterly STAR Award, which is given to staff members who go beyond the required

FACTS

Donella Moore Senior Accountant College of Pharmacy A.A., Interior Design, Art Institute of Atlanta, 1993 At UGA: Five years

duties of their work. Last year, Moore was elected president of the Pharmacy Staff Resource Group. In this position, she organized any necessary training, planned group events and organized educational lunches for her co-workers. Outside work, Moore enjoys spending time with her husband and two daughters, Megan and Chloe, while pursuing her artistic passions, including sewing and interior design. Chloe is a freshman at Athens Christian School and involved with the school’s dramatic productions. For the past three years, Moore has put her sewing skills to use and helped make costumes for the school’s plays. She’s worked on The Wizard of Oz, Beauty and the Beast and Music Man. Currently she’s hard at work making costumes for the production of Aladdin. While it’s not where she thought she would end up 25 years ago, Moore is very happy with her work at UGA, and said she wouldn’t change a thing. “I have about 15 to 20 years until I retire. I will not leave the College of Pharmacy,” she said. “My job will always be here.”

AUGUSTA UNIVERSITY/UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA MEDICAL PARTNERSHIP

Campus associate dean for curriculum named

By Mary Rogers

mk.rogers@uga.edu

Dr. Andrew P. Morris has been named the campus associate dean for curriculum at the Augusta University/ University of Georgia Medical Partnership, a four-year campus of the Medical College of Georgia in Athens. Morris joins the Partnership campus after serving as assistant dean for foundations of medicine at West Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine for the past four years. “Dr. Morris will be an extraordinary asset to the Partnership campus,” said campus Dean Michelle A. Nuss. “He brings a wealth of knowledge

in curriculum development and was instrumental in developing an integrated medical education curriculum at the Stryker School of Medicine. We look forward to his leaderAndrew Morris ship as we continue to develop a curriculum that is innovative and forward-thinking.” Morris is originally from South Wales, United Kingdom. He obtained a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry and physiology from the University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom,

in 1983. He then earned a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom. This was followed by a Cystic Fibrosis Fellowship at the University of Alabama from 1988-1992. In his role as campus associate dean for curriculum, Morris will be responsible for leading and managing the fouryear undergraduate medical education curriculum at the AU/UGA Medical Partnership, while ensuring the overall Partnership curriculum meets the mission of the Medical College of Georgia. In addition, Morris is appointed as a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University.

DIVISION OF STUDENT AFFAIRS

Century of service

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columns.uga.edu Nov. 27, 2017

University Health Center celebrates 100th anniversary

Dorothy Kozlowski

File photo

The University Health Center has seen many technological advancements in the last 100 years. On the left, X-rays are examined on film. On the right, Dr. Fred Reifsteck looks at X-rays on a computer.

By Krista Richmond krichmond@uga.edu

It started with one physician working one hour per day in a one-room infirmary in 1917. Now, the University Health Center is an 111,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility with 13 clinics where approximately 400-600 patients are seen each day. The UHC, a department in the Division of Student Affairs, will celebrate its century of service throughout the 2017-2018 academic year. A kickoff event for the 100th anniversary was held Aug. 18, and a gala, originally scheduled for Sept. 12 and postponed due to Tropical Storm Irma, was held Nov. 2. “Today, we celebrate the University Health Center’s 100th anniversary,” UGA President Jere W. Morehead said at the Nov. 2 event. “This milestone achievement recognizes our world-class health center, which complements the world-class learning environment that we are building at the University of Georgia.” The location and facilities may have changed through the decades, but the mission remains the same. For Dr. Jean Chin, executive director of UHC, it’s as simple as this: “Exceptional students need exceptional heath care.” “The bricks and mortar have changed. The names have changed and the faces have changed. But the compassion, the professionalism, the empathy and the commitment to the health and wellness of students—that is the hallmark of health center staffers and caregivers,” Chin added. “That is the thread that ties all of us together through the decades.” The University Health Center on UGA’s main campus means that students have easier access to health services. Not having to drive to an urgent care facility or wait for an appointment in their hometown allows students to be seen more quickly. Services offered include urgent and primary care services; dermatology; massage therapy;

physical therapy; counseling and psychiatry; radiology; sports medicine; and on-site dental, vision, allergy and women’s clinics as well as a pharmacy. “We absolutely will continue to provide the highest quality student center care and support to UGA students, faculty and staff every single day,” said Victor Wilson, vice president for student affairs. “That is the foundation on which this health center is built.” That foundation began with the Crawford W. Long Infirmary on Lumpkin Street in 1917. In the early 1940s, services moved to Gilbert Infirmary (now Gilbert Hall, which houses the department of Romance languages). In 1997, the current building on East Campus opened and was expanded in 2009. “The building is a tool for the various programs,” said Dr. John Curtis, executive director of the UHC from 1968 to 1985. In fact, Gilbert Infirmary saw several changes in services during Curtis’ time as executive director. He hired the first health educator, started the dental and women’s clinics and expanded mental health services. Those changes continued throughout the decades. Health services offered on campus eventually shifted from urgent care to preventive care, with a focus on routine checkups and healthy habits to prevent getting sick. Records are now stored electronically for faster and easier access by UHC staff. Students are now assigned to a color-coded medical “team” and see the same practitioners throughout their time at UGA. “There aren’t many places that offer the breadth of what we offer and the speed at which we offer it,” said Dr. Chadwick Palmer, a physician for Medical Clinic Red and Sports Medicine who also used University Health Services as a student at UGA. “Here we are today, one of only 17 college health centers in the U.S. to be Joint Commission accredited,” Chin said, referring to the independent nonprofit organization that

WEEKLY READER

accredits more than 21,000 U.S. health care organizations and programs.“We are at the pinnacle, I believe, of college health.” Students who use the center’s services often give back by volunteering on one of seven student organizations that provide education and support on everything from nutrition to body image. The 21 members of the Student Health Advisory Committee provide a student voice for the UHC. They promote and advocate communications between UHC staff and the student body, address student health concerns, recommend changes in the mandatory health fee, serve on provider search committees and participate in various health center campuswide initiatives such as mental wellness and health literacy. “It wasn’t until I got a peek behind the scenes that I truly realized how special this place is,” said Daniel Couper, a fourth-year student in exercise and sport science and SHAC member. “When I joined the Student Health Advisory Committee a few years ago and came to work alongside staff, I realized that the faculty’s dedication to students runs deep, from top to bottom.” The Healthy Dawg Ambassadors are a group of students who are chosen to represent the health center through outreach across campus. The 20-25 ambassadors selected each year work at the UHC information desk, provide UHC tours, organize outreach activities promoting the health center vision and mission, assist at UHC events and participate in UHC social media campaigns. “We want to make sure every student here is familiar with the services we provide,” said Brandon Davis, a fourth-year biology major and one of the Healthy Dawg Ambassadors. Chin expects that dedication to guide the UHC’s next 100 years. She said she’d like to see the center add additional dermatology services; expand the Fontaine Center’s space and increase alcohol and other drug prevention, early intervention and recovery support programs and offerings; and increase space for counseling, physical therapy and massage services.

CYBERSIGHTS

ABOUT COLUMNS

New book details evolution of far right

The Far Right in America By Cas Mudde Routledge Paperback: $19.95 Hardback: $60 Ebook: $17.96

Cas Mudde, an associate professor of international affairs at UGA’s School of Public and International Affairs, has released The Far Right in America, a compilation of his own blog posts, interviews and op-eds about the U.S. far right. Mudde, who also is a researcher for the Center for Research on Extremism at the University of Oslo in Norway, has compiled these works to emphasize two important developments of the 21st century: the Tea Party and Donald Trump. Written in a style that appeals to nonacademic audiences, the book is light on jargon, explains terminology and clarifies key organizations and people and their relationship to (liberal) democracy. It also covers topics ranging from right-wing populists to neo-Nazi terrorists. An expert on European politics, Mudde has published widely on topics such as (un) civil society, democratization, Euroskepticism, extremism and democracy, political parties and populism. His prime geographical regions of expertise are Europe, both East and West, and North America.

Columns is available to the community by ­subscription for an annual fee of $20 (secondclass delivery) or $40 (first-class delivery). Faculty and staff members with a disability may call 706-542-8017 for assistance in obtaining this publication in an alternate format. Columns staff can be reached at 706-542-8017 or columns@uga.edu

Editor Juliett Dinkins Art Director Jackie Baxter Roberts

Biomedical Microscopy Core updates site

bmc.uga.edu

The Biomedical Microscopy Core facility in the Paul D. Coverdell Center for Biomedical Research has updated its website. The fees and scheduling page has been simplified, so that users can easily see the facility’s rates on equipment and schedule times to use it. An equipment page details all

the tools and microscopes available to users. The front page has a banner image gallery with new images. The BMC serves UGA and external researchers by providing microscopy related expertise, training and assistance for advancing their projects on various model organisms.

Photo Editor Dorothy Kozlowski Writer Leigh Beeson Communications Coordinator Krista Richmond The University of Georgia is committed to principles of equal opportunity and affirmative action. The University of Georgia is a unit of the University System of Georgia.

8 Nov. 27, 2017 columns.uga.edu HEALTH from page 1

Babies born at a low birth rate are more likely to have health problems later in life including diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome and obesity. That not only reduces quality of life but also puts a strain on already stressed rural health care systems. There is a dramatic divide between the number of low birth weight babies born in rural Georgia and those born in urban areas of the state, in part because resources to help pregnant women are not as accessible in many rural communities. “I knew that birth weight gaps would exist,” Rangaswamy said. “I was surprised [the incidence of low birth weight] was 17 percent higher (in some rural areas), comparable to what you see in developing countries.” It is a significant problem, said Houston County Nurse Manager Chris Sikes. “Georgia has some big counties,” Sikes said. “In Twiggs County, you may be in Dry Branch and the health department is 50 miles away in Jeffersonville. You might not know about these resources or how to navigate them.” Working alongside Michelle Elliott, an operations coordinator for the Archway Partnership, Rangaswamy spent the spring semester researching programs aimed at tackling risk factors and identified providers available in rural Georgia communities. During the summer, Rangaswamy traveled to current and alumni Archway Partnership communities—Grady, Spalding, Colquitt and Clayton counties, as well as Houston County—where low birth weight babies had been identified as an issue during the local hospitals’ Community Health Need Assessments, a federally mandated program.

ADMISSIONS In each community, she met with doctors and nurses and learned what resources for patients were available in the area. She found that both health care providers and patients were unfamiliar with some of the resources she had discovered. The printed guide will help doctors and nurses in those counties point their patients directly toward targeted support services, many of them free, that otherwise may be hard to find or even unknown to patient and provider alike. “Not only did she share her expertise, but she also had an opportunity to see innovative work going on in that area in diverse communities across the state,” Elliott said. “I think she has a greater understanding of the challenge in rural communities now and how innovative they’ve been in adapting programs to needs in their communities.” For Rangaswamy, the project was a way to make a difference right now instead of waiting until she’s a doctor. “I love working in science labs, but it’s hard to see the end goal,” she said. “The end goal here is changing someone’s life. There’s a tangible end goal as opposed to a published paper.” Rangaswamy became involved with the Archway Partnership as a 2016-17 Public Service and Outreach Student Scholar. During the fall semester she and the other student scholars learned about the eight PSO units’ outreach in general at UGA. During the spring, each was assigned to one of the eight units to do a 150-hour internship. The Archway Partnership, established in 2005, is a program that connects Georgia communities to the vast resources of the university to address critical challenges as identified by that community.

Bulletin Board

Library course reserves

The Course Reserves service provided by the UGA Libraries ensures timely access to course-related resources for a large number of students. Requests may be submitted at any time. To ensure all materials are available on the first day of class, submit requests at least four work weeks in advance. For spring semester, the guarantee date is Dec. 4. Requests received after this date will be processed as quickly as possible, but their availability cannot be guaranteed by the start of classes. To submit a course reserves request, inquire at the circulation desk of any of the course reserves locations or fill out the form online at http://www.libs.uga. edu/contact/course_reserves_form. For more information, contact Ben Lawrence at 706-542-2081 or mainresv@uga.edu or Brenda Robbins at sciresv@uga.edu or 706-542-4535.

PLC grant applications

The University of Georgia Parents Leadership Council Grants Program is seeking undergraduate student groups that demonstrate a positive impact on the university to apply to receive funding for the 2018-2019 academic year. Grant applications are due Jan. 23 by 5 p.m. Grants will be accepted from only UGA schools, colleges, units, departments, divisions or student organizations registered with the Center for Student Activities and Involvement. Eligible groups and programs show a clear commitment to enhancing the student experience at UGA. Since 2002, the council has funded $1.7 million in grants to various programs and organizations on campus, including the Counseling and Psychiatric Services Center at the University Health Center, the Office of the Dean of Students, Designated Dawgs Safe Rides program, Campus Kitchen at UGA and more. To apply for a Parents Leadership Council Grant, and for a complete list of

guidelines and requirements, visit give.uga.edu/plcgrants. For more information, email Anna Gray, parent and leadership giving coordinator, at annagray@uga.edu.

University Woman’s Club

The University Woman’s Club will hold its holiday luncheon, “Celebrating the Joys of the Season,” Dec. 12 at 11 a.m. at the Athens Country Club, which is located at 2700 Jefferson Road. The deadline to purchase a ticket, which is required for admission, is Dec. 1. The group’s next general meeting will be held Jan. 9 in the Fellowship Hall of Alps Road Presbyterian Church, which is located at 380 Alps Road. The guest speaker for the Jan. 9 program, which will begin at 11:30 a.m., is Seth Wilson, the UGA doctoral candidate who is one of the top earning contestants on Jeopardy! Wilson, who won $267,000 over 13 episodes of the game show last summer, will give a talk titled “The Fox and the Hedgehog, or How I Escaped Student Debt!”

Freedom Breakfast tickets

The 15th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Breakfast will be held Jan. 12 at 7:30 a.m. in Grand Hall of the Tate Student Center. Recipients of the President’s Fulfilling the Dream Awards will be announced at the breakfast, which is open to the public. The awards recognize individuals from UGA, the Athens area and surrounding counties who have made significant efforts to carry on King’s work. Tickets are $25 each or $200 for a table of eight. They may be purchased online at http://bit.ly/2zsmyCP. Tickets will not be sold the day of the event, and initial ticket sales are limited to one table. To purchase more than one table, email Shirley Reyes at diverse@uga.edu. Bulletin Board is limited to information that may pertain to a majority of faculty and staff members.

from page 1 Georgia. We are excited to offer admission to this first group of students in the Class of 2022.” The number of students who apply for early admission to UGA has increased by more than a third over the past five years, and the number of students who apply through the regular decision process has grown substantially, as well. Early action applicants are considered for admission based solely on their grades, the rigor of their high school curriculum relative to what is available at their school and the results of their SAT or ACT scores. Regular decision applications, which are due no later than Jan. 1, are reviewed holistically, with the core academic qualifications supplemented by factors such as a student’s intellectual and creative pursuits, community involvement and leadership, and recommendations from counselors and teachers. Students who apply through early action admission but are deferred have their applications reviewed with the regular decision applicant pool, and decisions are typically announced in mid-March. “If a student was deferred, they still have

a chance to be a part of the incoming firstyear class,” said Patrick Winter, associate vice president for undergraduate admissions and enrollment management. “Deferred is not the same thing as being denied. It means that we are still considering their application in the holistic review. This gives us a chance to learn more about their involvement and activities beyond the classroom.” The demand for a UGA education has risen dramatically in recent years in tandem with academic enhancements that include the launch of the university’s campus-wide experiential learning initiative and a small class size initiative. Earlier this year, the university launched its Double Dawgs linked-degree program, which gives students more than 100 opportunities to earn both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in five years or less. UGA recently moved up to 16th among public universities in the latest U.S. News & World Report ranking—its highest U.S. News ranking yet—and Kiplinger ranks UGA among the nation’s top 10 values in public higher education. For more information on admissions at UGA, see https://www.admissions.uga.edu/.

KITCHEN

CHAMBLISS

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and Consumer Sciences found that 78 percent of grandparents raising grandchildren were struggling to provide food for their families. “We saw a significant need, but we knew we didn’t have the resources alone to meet that need,” said Eve Anthony, CEO of the ACCA. This began the partnership with the Campus Kitchen Project, a national organization that partners with high schools and colleges across the country to implement food recovery plans and engage students as volunteers to prepare and deliver meals. UGA’s Campus Kitchen program is based in the Office of Service-Learning, which is jointly supported by the Offices of the Vice President for Instruction and the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach. Campus Kitchen at UGA is unique because it is the first to focus on senior food insecurity, a community-specific need. In the 2016-2017 school year, students collected more than 42,000 pounds of food and made more than 13,000 meals from scratch. Of the recovered food, 25,000 pounds was redistributed to the program’s clients or donated to other local organizations around Athens. Students are responsible for all aspects of the operation, from collecting food to cooking meals and delivering them. Vita is one of 30 student shift captains who are responsible for guiding volunteers in the kitchen and helping promote Campus Kitchen’s mission on campus. More than 300 students volunteer with Campus Kitchen each year, many of whom volunteer because of a class service-learning component. Although Vita’s service started as a class requirement, it has grown into a passion that is shaping her future career path. “Campus Kitchen has made me much more engaged as a community member,” Vita said. “Because of this program, I’m considering focusing on nonprofit management in graduate school.”

LABORATORY

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our nation’s capital. I believe strongly these internship opportunities are valuable not just to the students, but to the university, our state, and ultimately those public institutions where they serve.” Attending the event were Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Sen. Angus King (I-ME), Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Sen. David Perdue (R-GA), Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), Sen. John Thune (R-SD) and Sen. Mark Warner (DVA). Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA), Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA), Rep. Karen Handel (R-GA) and Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA) were also in attendance. “Thanks to the generosity of Senator and Mrs. Chambliss, my semester in D.C. has furthered my education more than I could imagine,” said Elrhalami. “I am inspired by the gracious support of so many who have chosen to invest in my future and whose support will grow generations of future leaders.” In addition to the current Fellows, inaugural Chambliss Fellows Ishana Ratan and Eleanor Traynham attended the event. Ratan interned for the Center for American Progress during her time as a Chambliss Fellow and now works as an international trade project assistant at Wiley Rein LLC in Washington. Traynham, who worked as an intern in the office of U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, also chose to stay in D.C. following her tenure as a Chambliss Fellow. She now works as a scheduler for U.S. Rep. Sean P. Duffy (R-WI). Presenting sponsors were Altria Group, General Dynamics, Georgia Crown, The Home Depot, Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Gates, Northrop Grumman, Mr. and Mrs. Dan Jeter, Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Jeter, Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Mobley, and Mr. and Mrs. David Tyndall.

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“The most immediate outcome of the DDC lab will be to generate preliminary data from pilot chemical screens, which is necessary to secure large drug discovery grants from the National Institutes of Health to fund more advanced drug discovery research,” said Shelley Hooks, interim director of the Center for Drug Discovery and associate professor of pharmaceutical and biomedical science in the College of Pharmacy. “The longer-term goals of the lab are to discover and develop new drug candidates and chemical probes as well as enhance training of graduate students in biotechnology.” Creation of the DDC was initiated by Hooks in collaboration with Brian Cummings, director of the Interdisciplinary Toxicology Program and professor in the

pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences department, and Scott Pegan, chair of the DDC steering committee and associate professor of pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences. Sponsoring campus organizations include the College of Pharmacy, the College of Veterinary Medicine, the Office of Research, the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases and the cellular biology department in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. The laboratory is located in Room 224 of the Wilson Building in the College of Pharmacy. For more information on capability, resources and access to the libraries and screening instruments, email Pegan spegan@uga.edu or visit cdd.rx.uga.edu.