In the Top 20
The University of Georgia has moved into the top 20 in U.S. News and World Report’s annual listing of the nation’s best public colleges and universities. Tied with Purdue University, the University of Iowa and Ohio State University at number 20, UGA moved up two spots from last year’s ranking in the magazine’s 2001 edition of the “America’s Best Colleges” guidebook, released Sept. 1.
University ecologists develop model ordinance to protect water resources
As Georgia streams, rivers and lakes approach record lows, governments are fighting to keep the water flowing. At least one Georgia city faces running out of water completely this month.
Dry 2K
The severe drought this year has focused attention on Georgia’s water supplies and on the health of some of the state’s rivers. Georgia faces many long-term water-resource challenges and issues. Columns discussed them with Todd Rasmussen, a hydrologist in the Warnell School of Forest Resources, who is working on a number of research projects related to water-resource management in our rapidly growing state.
A wing and a sprayer
 They’re out there, chomping away. Gypsy moths and spruce budworms can defoliate entire forests in short order. Consequently, several times a year, specially equipped airplanes and helicopters set out to deposit loads of pesticide over thousands of acres.
The good news is that careful planning and precise aerial spraying can kill the pests before they grow out of the larval stage and begin to gnaw through the forest canopy. The bad news is that there’s much room for improvement in how the pesticides are targeted on forests.
That’s why a team that includes a UGA computer scientist is, for the first time, using artificial intelligence tools called genetic algorithms to control how aerial-spraying application models do their work. The new system has been tested successfully in the lab and could be in field trials by the end of this year.
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UGA scientists lead $3.4 million National Science Foundation grant
The National Science Foundation has awarded $3.4 million to a team led by a UGA botany professor which will study the role of transposable elements in rice.
The research could lead to new understanding of the world’s number-one crop. More than three billion people around the globe depend on rice as their major staple.
New group hosts first Parents and Families Weekend
Parents and family members of current UGA undergraduates have been invited to campus for a special Parents and Families Weekend Sept. 15 and 16. The weekend is the first major event sponsored by the new UGA Parents and Families Association, organized by UGA Foundation trustees Peter Amann and Read Morton and coordinated by Tammy Gilland, a staff member in the Division of External Affairs.
Carol Churchill’s ‘Top Girls’ opens University Theatre season
Top Girls will be presented in the Cellar Theatre, located on the ground floor of the Fine Arts Building, at 8 p.m. Sept. 13-16 and at 2:30 p.m. Sept. 16-17. Tickets are $10 for regular admission and $8 for students and are available at the box office in the Fine Arts lobby. Box office hours are noon-5 p.m., Monday-Friday. During those hours, the box office can be reached at 542-2838. If tickets are still available, they may also be purchased one hour prior to showtime at the Cellar Theatre.
The first 2nd Thursday concert of the season features the University of Georgia Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Mark Cedel. The program will include Mozart’s Overture to The Marriage of Figaro, The Planets by Gustav Holst, and Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. The orchestra will be joined by UGA’s own Steve Elliott-Gower as guest narrator for the Prokofiev.
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