March 1999: Vol. 78, No. 2March 1999: Vol. 78, No. 2 | |||
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Jessica Dempsey was recognized by Student Leader magazine this winter for her work as chair of Communiversity, UGA's "volunteer clearinghouse" and the largest student organization on campus. "I try to open up [students'] minds by explaining my own experience and showing them that even if they can give 10 or 15 minutes, they'll be hooked," she explained to Student Leader. Dempsey, a senior in geography, is a leader of two alcohol/substance abuse education groups and is active in the YMCA and Big Brothers/Big Sisters.
A river runs through it, and that's the problem
About an hour's drive from the traffic jams and city lights of Atlanta, the Etowah River surges through an area bustling with development. The river is home to three federally protected species, and its watershed is also a suburban refuge.
This risky combination of urban growth and nature makes the upper Etowah basin a perfect environmental challenge for the law and ecology students in the University's Etowah River Practicum.
"It's a concept called service learning," says Laurie Fowler, the practicum's teacher and director of public service and outreach for the Institute of Ecology. "Students learn best by applying what they learn in the classroom."
As part of their work for Fowler's class, UGA students have helped the local residents form the Etowah Alliance, an organization which addresses water quality and growth. They've drafted legislation passed by the Georgia General Assembly that allows owners of undeveloped land within the Etowah watershed to transfer their development rights to land owners within cities—thereby protecting prime agricultural land.
And students saw further fruits of their efforts last fall when the Cherokee County Commission passed an ordinance allowing developers to divide land into parcels, some that can be developed, others that cannot.
"They can look in the law books and find what they did," says Fowler, who is also an adjunct professor in the law school. That's a feat few classes can boast about.
Nor do many classes offer the opportunity for students from the Insitute of Ecology and the law school to join forces.
"I worked with an ecology student on my project and really enjoyed the opportunity," says David Cazier, a law student from Athens. "I think we both respected the unique knowledge and background that the other brought to the project."
Stacie Sutton
Nuçi's Space a haven for Athens musicians
Linda Phillips created Nuçi's Space as a tribute to her son. Athens' Mental Health Benefit in January was dedicated in part to Nuçi's memory.
A mother's love is forever. Linda Phillips will tell you that.
Her son, Nuçi (M '96), who played guitar in the Athens band, Koncak, ended his life in 1996 after a long battle with clinical depression. On the night of Oct. 8, Phillips turned her grief into a mission.
That night marked the formal dedication of Nuçi's Space, a place Phillips created where musicians can rehearse, get counseling, and just be musicians. The event was well attended, but behind the pleasantries and occasional tears lies a story of a mother's love and dedication to her son's life even after his untimely death.
"We feel that when he died, a great void was left in the goodness bank of the world," Phillips wrote in a 1996 letter to The Red & Black. "We hope in a small way to start to fill that void with Nuçi's Space."
Appropriately located in the shadows of the stoic scarlet steeple that once belonged to a church where a young R.E.M. played its first gig, Nuçi's Space, according to Phillips, is the first of its kind anywhere in the country. "The way I envision it is as a home away from home for musicians," Phillips says. "We want to make it a comfortable place for the musicians. If there was a place like this, I think Nuçi would have gone."
In addition to Phillips' initial investment, the venue will seek state, federal and foundation grants and private donations to fund the space, which will be staffed by volunteers. Along with providing practical services like booking gigs and writing contracts, Nuçi's Space will offer counseling and education on clinical depression and mental illness. And it will serve as an inexpensive rehearsal alternative to warehouses that lack working restrooms or heat, and apartments bordered by angry neighbors.
Given the work that needs to be done and the money that needs to be raised, the task before Phillips may seem daunting. But she looks to Nuçi for reassurance. "From the first time I started to do this, there were powers helping us," she says. "Everything has fallen into place. Nuçi is out there helping us—he's our angel."
Nathan Solheim
A similar version of this story ran in The Red & Black. Donations can be made to Nuçi's Space by calling 706/354-0323.
Course withdrawals higher with semesters
The registrar's office expected an increase in course withdrawals last fall, but the jump they recorded in the wake of the University's first-ever semester surprised even them.
There were 10,522 course withdrawals last fall, almost a doubling of the average quarterly amount of 5,200.
The semester switch has required adjustments by both faculty and students, which may account for the increase, says Tom Bowen, assistant vice president for academic affairs. "Students are justified in their anxieties," he says. "You can't cover more material on semesters—the week just doesn't get any longer. Some faculty have thought this all out, and some haven't."
A potential problem resulting from the increase in course withdrawals, according to Bowen and James Fletcher, associate vice president for academic affairs, is that the University System Board of Regents may reduce the University's budget if they see students are taking fewer credit hours.
Still, says Fletcher, the problem will likely work itself out as students, faculty, and administrators adapt.
"We can plan out the semester conversion to the nth detail, but there will still be problems," says Fletcher. "It's probably going to take a couple of years to work everything out."
Jena McGregor
Jennifer Hanson
North Campus is like the show-and-tell of the University, while South Campus seems to be built around different themes 
I think it's a great idea to reduce traffic on campus. Relocating the buses to the perimeter of campus would seriously reduce the awful exhaust fumes and bus noise 
There needs to be some kind of spine of mass transit that would run across the Sanford Bridge between North and South Campus. I would have trains that run really slow, like the ones at Disney World. Or maybe underground subways.