Mike Gilliam
 Mike Gilliam, a fourth year Agribusiness major from Tallahassee, Florida, was one of the five Georgia Bulldog captains in the Nokia Sugar Bowl. Mike gives us a glimpse into the lives of the Bulldogs through his journal documenting his activities with teammates during the practice days in Atlanta leading up to the big game with West Virginia.
On the first day of practice before the game scheduled with West Virginia, Mike awakened at 6:15 a.m. and attended a breakfast for the Fellowship for Christian Athletes, where he greatly enjoyed hearing Irving Fryer (the number 1 pick out of Nebraska) speak about his career and life. Fryer’s words made a positive impression on Mike, and he was really touched by what Fryer had to say. After breakfast, the players suited up for practice at St Pius High athletic complex, and Mike enjoyed “role playing” Pat White (West Virginia’s Speedy quarterback) on the scout team. He was pounded by the defense during the whole practice, to the extent that he had to soak in a tub to recover from taking so many hits during the day. After practice and “soaking,” Mike and his teammates enjoyed a delicious dinner while they joked and reminisced about the season and the good times they had experienced.
On the second practice day, Mike awakened at 6:15 a.m. for breakfast at the Omni Hotel. He contemplated that he only had a few more days as a Bulldog and resolved to make the best of them. After breakfast, he and his teammates struggled to stay awake during meetings where they watched film and went over the game plan. Before practice started, Coach Mark Richt decided the team could use some extra conditioning and instructed them to run three sprints. The only good that Mike saw in this activity was that it warmed them up a bit. Joe Cox took Mike’s place role playing Pat White on the scout team, and Mike viewed the team as loose and focused. Mike and Mikey Henderson went to the CNN Center for lunch. Following practice, the team headed to the Georgia Aquarium which was “absolutely beautiful.” Later, the team rode buses to the Georgia Dome and watched the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl with LSU and Miami where Mike was disappointed that Miami lost. After the game, Mike fell asleep watching a movie, one of his hobbies when he is “away from the field.”
Mike awakened at 6:00 a.m. on the third practice day and ate breakfast. At 7:15 a.m., Coach Willie Martinez talked to the defensive group about maintaining their focus as the game against West Virginia drew closer. On the bus ride to St Pius, Mike and Greg Blue reflected that they only had a couple more practices left and would not be putting on their practice jerseys ever again. After practice, Mike, Tra Battle, Thomas Flowers, Mario Raley, and Chris Burgett went to a sports bar for lunch. Then the group went back to their hotel, changed and went out to celebrate New Year’s before their curfew. Mike and Tra went to the CNN Center for dinner. Later that night, Mike, Chris, and Paul Oliver went to Jocks and Jills for yet another meal. They returned to the hotel and watched the ball drop in New York City, then fell asleep soon after midnight.
On practice day four, Mike enjoyed sleeping in and having a late brunch with Tra Battle, Ramarcus Brown, Max Jean-Gilles and Russ Tanner. He and Russ discussed their feeling going into their last practice as Bulldogs. They both expressed how they would miss the guys on the team and the coaches as well as all the Bulldog fans who had supported them through everything. Mike took a nap on the bus on the way to the practice field. His last practice was filled with mixed emotions of happiness and sadness. He was joyful because he viewed this as the last pages of a great chapter of his life; but when the final whistle blew, he was saddened because he knew he would miss the game and especially the guys he had spent so much time with over the last couple of years. On the bus ride back to the hotel, Mike reminisced about all the great times he had as a Bulldog. His favorite memory was that of being voted to be a team captain for the 2005 season. Upon returning to their hotel, Mike and Tra ate lunch at the CNN Center, watched a “Law & Order” marathon, and took a nap prior to dinner. Mike made a special effort to concentrate during the defensive meeting. After the meetings, Mike and some teammates played PlayStation and cards until their curfew at 11 p.m. Mike took a defensive backs test and reviewed the tip sheet several times before falling asleep.
Back to Top
Dr. Wetzstein’s Textbook is Well Received  Michael Wetzstein authored a textbook, Microeconomic Theory - Concepts and Connections (with Economic Applications), which was published by Thomson South-Western in 2005. The book is a calculus-based microeconomic theory text for undergraduates and graduates that successfully balances theoretical/intuitive, graphical, and mathematical presentation. The text combines theory and applications more completely than most offerings in this course area.
In its first year of publication, Dr. Wetzstein’s textbook has achieved a high level of adoption from a number of eminent schools. As of October 2005, the book has been adopted by over ten percent of the members of the Association of American Universities, including Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ohio State University, SUNY, Buffalo, Texas A&M University, University of Colorado, and University of Minnesota. Other prestigious universities which have adopted the textbook are BYU, Idaho, Bowling Green State University, Southern Illinois University, University of Georgia, University of North Dakota, and University of South Alabama.
The Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics extends congratulations to Dr. Wetzstein for his important contribution to his profession and for the outstanding recognition his book is receiving.
Esendugue Greg Fonsah
 Esendugue Greg Fonsah, Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics at the Rural Development Center, University of Georgia, Tifton Campus, was presented the 2005 Young Professional Award of the Southern Region and the Service Award for his service as Senior Director by the Georgia Association of County Agricultural Agents (GACAA).
Dr. Fonsah’s extension and outreach activities are focused on production, marketing, trade and policy for fruits, vegetables, and pecans. His research interests include agricultural marketing and consumer demand, agribusiness management, production economics, international trade and policy. Of special interest to him are international trade and marketing related issues. He provides updates of marketing and price information to help penetrate existing and new markets locally, regionally and internationally. By working hand in hand with other specialists, county agents, financial institutions, growers and the fruit and vegetable industry, Dr. Fonsah disseminates economic and marketing information to appropriate agencies and individuals. He develops enterprise cost and price trend analysis for Georgia growers to help in their crop production decisions. To enable growers to take advantage of NAFTA and CAFTA-6 agreements and to facilitate exports to the member countries, he investigates, develops and provides new strategies. In addition, he conducts studies of the European Union (EU) import and export regulations to facilitate U.S. exports of fruits and vegetables to European markets.
Dr. Fonsah received a B.S. in Management and Executive Secretarial from Berea College in 1983, an M.B.A. in Business Administration/Management from Morehead State University in 1985, an M.S. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Kentucky in 1987, and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1993.
Back to Top Home
|
