March 2002: Vol. 81, No. 2March 2002: Vol. 81, No. 2 Washington is now an armed city. |
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he collective impact of Sept. 11 on America and the UGA family is evident for a second consecutive issue, as GM returns to New York City and the World Trade Center attacks, then visits Washington, D.C., which has become an armed city with soldiers in fatigues dotting the corners of our nation's capital.
Our Dec. '01 cover story profiled Bill DeCota (MBA '81), who runs New York City's airports and works for the Port Authority, which built the World Trade Center complex. In this issue, a writer for the National Law Journal profiles Susan Waltman (AB '73, MSW '76), who, as general counsel for the New York Hospital Association, helped orchestrate the city's emergency medical response to the terrorist attacks. The sad subtext to Waltman's Herculean efforts is that the city's hospitals were far better prepared to care for the few hundred victims who needed medical attention than for the crush of people who moved from one medical facility to another trying desperately to find out if a family member or friend was alive or dead. Waltman helped bring some sanity to that situation through the creation of a telephone hot line and a Web site.
The irony of how much less national media coverage we've seen of what happened in Washington on Sept. 11 is that, while the loss of life was much greater in New York, Washington is where our elected officials must reconstruct a more vigilant and secure nation. Front and center in that effort are a number of UGA alums who serve in both the U.S. Senate and House. Among them are Sen. Phil Gramm (BBA '64, PhD '67), ranking member of the Senate banking committee, who spearheaded legislation that provided $40 million in emergency retaliatory, recovery, and assistance funds for President Bush; and Rep. Saxby Chambliss (BBA '66), who is chair of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Defense.
Here at home, the growth and modernization of America's fastest-rising public university is in high gear, thanks in large part to the efforts of Jack Rooker (BBA '60) and Jo Ann Chitty of the UGA Real Estate Foundation (see cover). Instead of competing with 33 other university system institutions for state money to pay for necessities like new residence halls, REF issues 30-year, tax-exempt revenue bonds that get the job done in a fraction of the time. When REF's highest-priority project—the new East Campus Residence Hall complex—is completed, students who live there will be right next door to the Ramsey Center, making it possible for them to work out on the way to and from class.
This issue also features a wonderful story of a retired faculty member and his wife, Hugh and Carol Nourse, who have messed up their retirement plans by falling in love with nature photography. So good are these Johnny-come-lately shutterbugs that they now travel the world —from the State Botanical Garden here in Athens to the shores of Hawaii and the wilds of New Zealand—photographing flowers for books and magazine articles. We call their story "Irrefutable evidence of life after retirement." Read it and you'll see why.
And if you were wondering what happened to Georgia's placekicker extraordinaire Kevin Butler, we caught up with him after his recent induction into the College Football Hall of Fame—the only kicker ever to be honored. Congratulations, Kevin
