June 2002: Vol. 81, No. 3June 2002: Vol. 81, No. 3New undergraduate degree programs offered in business, science, education
UGA at Gwinnett
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 University System Chancellor Tom Meredith (left, in foreground) tours a new high-tech classroom and library building at the Gwinnett University Center in Lawrenceville. |
Beginning this fall, the University will offer three undergraduate degree programs at the Gwinnett University Center in Lawrenceville. These programs are open to new transfer students (not currently enrolled at UGA), as well as to students who already hold a bachelor's degree and are seeking a second degree, according to Bob Boehmer, associate provost for institutional effectiveness, who serves as UGA's senior administrator for the Gwinnett programs.
The degree offerings include:
"The degree earned will be a UGA degree," says Boehmer, "though the course work is delivered in a setting other than Athens."
UGA has been providing graduate degree programs and continuing education in Gwinnett since 1984, when the University System Board of Regents first established the GUC as a locus for such activity. The College of Education has offered graduate programs in a variety of fields, ranging from early childhood education to occupational studies. Other graduate degree programs are offered in social work, food science and technology, public administration, and non-profit organizations.
One of the newest graduate offerings is an evening M.B.A. program for working professionals that was established in Gwinnett in 2000.
Classes have previously been held in temporary space leased by the Gwinnett University Center. But in January of this year, the GUC moved to a new 177-acre campus at Collins Hill Road and Highway 316. One classroom building is now open, with a second to follow in the fall.
"With these new facilities, we're able to add a new dimension to UGA's involvement in Gwinnett," says Boehmer." In doing so, we're extending educational opportunities to meet obvious needs."
As is already true of the graduate program offerings, the standards for admission to UGA's undergraduate degree programs at the Gwinnett University Center will be on par with standards in Athens. Transfer students must have completed at least 60 hours of transferable course work and earned at least a 2.5 GPA. Additionally, prospective students must meet the criteria for admission into the specific degree program they wish to pursue.
The Gwinnett University Center is a unique partnership involving the University System of Georgia, UGA, and Georgia Perimeter College.
For more information on UGA at Gwinnett, visit www.uga.edu/gwinnett.
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They said it |
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RALPH NADER On the need to hold the government accountable after 9/11: "Millions of people wanted to say something in dissent and failed to follow through because they didn't want to be accused of being unpatriotic. Dissent is the essence of patriotism. The American flag was never designed to be a gag."
On corporate control of government agencies: "The airlines control the FAA, and that has brought horrible consequences, resulting in Sept. 11. For 30 years consumer groups have been pressing for tougher security standards, including stronger doors and latches for the cockpit. The airlines resisted year after year with the help of the FAA. Without that standard, the access was made on Sept. 11." |
Scientists at UGA and ProLinia, Inc., an agricultural biotechnology company, have produced the first calf ever cloned from cells of a slaughtered cow. The calf, delivered by Caesarian section in late April, is an example of how cloning can potentially revolutionize the beef cattle industry by allowing producers to select cells from the highest quality meat after it has been graded to clone animals to stock their herd.
 Cloned from a slaughtered animal, K.C. offers hope that meat producers can select cells from high-quality beef after it's been graded. |
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The process will also allow researchers to study the roles of genetics and environment in beef production. The centuries-old "nature-nurture" debate is being tested in the laboratories of UGA.
"Genetics plays a critical role in the ultimate quality of the meat we eat. Equally important are the animal husbandry practices used, like the quality of feed provided," says internationally known cloning expert Steve Stice, professor and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar in UGA's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences—and also chief scientific officer at ProLinia, Inc. "Some traits are more heritable than others. We believe that production and meat quality traits like marbling and tenderness are readily passed on to an animal's offspring and, in this case, the animal's clone. This science will give us an opportunity to prove our theories and ultimately ranchers and meat producers will be given a tool to produce more consistent, higher quality meat."
Genetic material for the clone was taken from the cow's kidney area—a part routinely left with the side of beef in processing—about 48 hours after the cow had been slaughtered in a local commercial facility. The cells were processed for transport and cloned in a UGA-ProLinia lab. The ProLinia scientific team, under the direction of John Gibbons and Wash Respess, performed a similar process with cells from the intercostal region (between the ribs) and cells from the end of the forelimb.
"It was important that we did not modify the processing of the beef," says Wanner. "We wanted to develop a procedure that had little or no disruption to the meat processors' routine. Processors do not have the luxury of modifying their practice after the beef receives a favorable grade. We needed to use cells from parts that remain with the saleable meat."
The female calf, named K.C. for "kidney cell," is an Angus-Hereford cross sometimes called a "Black Baldy." The surgical team that delivered the calf at the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine was led by Fred Caldwell. The medical team that cared for the calf after delivery, also from UGA, was led by Amelia Woolums, DVM.
The technology developed for producing this cloned calf will be patented by UGA and exclusively licensed by ProLinia, whose goal is to become the high-volume provider of superior genetics exclusively to the cattle and hog production industries. Sponsored research and licensing agreements with the UGA Research Foundation provide ProLinia with access to the University's state of the art laboratories and demonstration production facilities.
For more information about ProLinia, headquartered in Athens, Ga., please see www.prolinia.com.
Visitors Center breaking attendance records
Was director Fran Lane (AB '69, MEd '71) showing a bootleg version of "Spider-Man" on the plasma screens in the lobby, or is the UGA Visitors Center simply the hottest attraction in town? In July 1996, the month UGA hosted the Olympics, Lane & Co. hosted 1,046 visitors. In April 2002, that number had more than doubled to 2,712—just 325 short of the total number for all of '96.
New residence hall won't open till fall 2004 due to coal ash removal
East Village delayed
UGA's East Campus Village project will be delayed at least a year till fall '04 by a coal ash removal problem that came to light when land adjacent to the Athens Perimeter was being graded for a new parking deck.
Funded by tax-exempt, 30-year revenue bonds issued by UGA's private, non-profit Real Estate Foundation (see GM cover story, March '02), the East Campus Village complex includes four five-story residence halls that will accommodate 1,200 students, plus a new dining hall and an 850-space parking deck.
Miscommunication between REF and the contractor resulted in 800-900 truck loads of coal ash being transported to an inert landfill. Georgia law requires that coal ash be disposed of in a lined landfill.
"We are doing everything possible to get this project back on track," says REF president Jo Ann Chitty, "but we found that a 90-day delay would not allow for construction completion by August 2003. Student housing delivered after the start of fall semester is not very useful. Therefore, we've decided to bring the housing on line in mid-summer 2004, in plenty of time for the fall 2004 academic year."
ABC, NBC, and NPR honored for coverage of terrorist attacks
Peabodys remember Sept. 11
In a year forever marked by the terrorist attacks on America, the 61st annual Peabody Awards acknowledged programming related to Sept. 11. The Peabody board recognized ABC News, citing its depth and breadth of coverage on Sept. 11 and the following day. Peabodys were also presented to National Public Radio for its more than 180 hours of programming related to Sept. 11, and to NBC for a special episode of "Third Watch: In Their Own Words."
CNN Productions and Channel 4 International received awards for two documentaries, "Beneath the Veil" and "Unholy War," produced by Saira Shah. Both chronicle the terror and violence in the lives of Afghan women. The board also awarded a Peabody to "America: A Tribute to Heroes," produced by Joel Gallen and simulcast by more than 30 broadcast and cable networks.
The awards were presented at a May 20 luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York with Walter Cronkite serving as master of ceremonies. The Peabody Awards have been administered by UGA's Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication since the program's inception in 1940.
"Throughout the deliberations of the board, there was a strong sense that this year was special," says Horace Newcomb, director of the Peabody Awards. "Sept. 11 was in our thoughts, especially when considering comedy programs, works made for children or documentaries focused on the arts. But we were constantly reminded of the many roles played by radio, television and the Web—the ways in which grief and anger can be altered by laughter and by the joy in beautiful images and elegant ideas."
The Peabody board singled out the ABC news program "Nightline" for an institutional award, citing its more than 20 years of outstanding news presentations. Institutional awards also went to WGBH, a mainstay in the world of public broadcasting, and to Youth Radio, a Bay-area organization that instructs teenagers in techniques of radio production while offering guidance in community service, critical thinking skills and self-esteem.
CBS's "60 Minutes II" received a Peabody for one of the most difficult segments in the history of the series, an exploration of Bob Kerrey's actions in Vietnam that presents multiple perspectives on events that took place in the village of Thanh Phong in 1969. A Peabody also went to the ABC movie "Anne Frank."
Cable TV won a number of Peabodys. Showtime won for "Things Behind the Sun," a harrowing depiction of rape and its lingering emotional effects. HBO received multiple awards for programs such as "Band of Brothers," the World War II miniseries from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, and "Wit," adapted from the play with a superb performance by Emma Thompson as an English professor dying of cancer.
For a complete list of this year's winners, go to www.peabody.uga.edu.
Business, law, education among nation's best graduate schools
UGA shines in latest U.S. News rankings
UGA's Terry College of Business posted the most dramatic move in its category in U.S. News & World Report's annual ranking of America's best graduate schools. Terry rose 16 spots, from 50th to 34th, tied with four other schools. Its MBA program is ranked 13th among public business schools.
UGA's College of Education and School of Law are also ranked among the nation's top graduate schools. Education is ranked 23rd overall, and several of its programs are ranked in the top 10: vocational/technical education (4th), secondary education (5th), elementary education (5th), curriculum/instruction (8th), and counseling/personnel services (9th).
Law moved from 27th to 32nd in the 2003 rankings, but remains in the top 20 percent of all accredited law schools in the nation and is ranked 12th among public law schools and third in the southeast U.S.
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 When you make the kind of move the Terry College of Business made in the latest U.S. News & World Report's graduate school rankings—moving from 50th to 34th—it's time to celebrate, as Dean George Benson and students are doing here. |
Two of the 10 factors used to rank the schools propelled Terry up the rankings: a substantial improvement in the MBA program's rating by corporate recruiters and higher average admission test scores for incoming students.
"We offer students a tremendous legal education as is evidenced by our successful alumni," says law school dean David Shipley. "Our alums currently lead all three branches of Georgia's government, 11 are listed on Georgia Trend's 2002 list of "Most Influential Georgians," and they are leaders in the judiciary, the legal profession, the business community, and civic and public affairs."
U.S. News & World Report also ranks a different set of specific programs each year. UGA's programs in biological sciences (54th) and psychology (73rd) are ranked in the top 100 such programs.
"We are very pleased that two of our programs are included in these rankings," says Wyatt Anderson, dean of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. "This is a tribute to the faculty, students and staff who have worked hard to make education a top priority at the University of Georgia."
The rankings appear in the 2003 edition of "America's Best Graduate Schools" and are available online at www.usnews.com.
Selig Center study: University's impact on Athens area is huge
$ billion cash cow
More than $1 billion a year flows into the Athens-area economy from the budgets and checkbooks of the University of Georgia, its employees and students, according to a recently completed study by UGA's Terry College of Business.
Conducted by the Terry College's Selig Center for Economic Growth and sponsored by Georgia's Intellectual Capital Partnership Program, the study shows that in 1998 more than 20 percent of the jobs held by local residents owed their existence directly to UGA-related spending. Today, it's about 30 percent, according to Selig Center director Jeffrey M. Humphreys, who wrote the study.
The study included UGA spending in fiscal year 2001 on salaries and fringe benefits paid to Athens residents, operating supplies and expenses and other budgeted expenditures, spending on construction projects, and money spent locally by students. According to Humphreys, that pumped $1.128 billion into the Athens-area economy last year, but the actual economic impact was much closer to $2 billion. Humphreys' study determined that every $1 spent locally generated an additional 56 cents for the local economy.
The study didn't take into account the impact of tourism or money spent in Athens by sports fans attending various athletic events throughout the year or even money spent by parents visiting students.
"We didn't include money spent by visitors who come here because of the University," says Humphreys. "We only included capital projects and student and employee spending." To track other kinds of income and spending would have made the study more costly and complicated to conduct.
The Athens area was defined as Clarke, Oconee, Barrow, Jackson, Madison, and Oglethorpe counties. Humphreys says limiting the study area to what in the past was considered the Athens metro area would have ignored the large numbers of students and UGA employees who now live in those areas.—Jim Kvicala
Improving governance still the focus today, just as it was back in 1927
Vinson Institute is 75
In the beginning, there was the Institute of Public Affairs, then the Institute for the Study of Georgia Problems, followed by the Institute of Law and Government, the Institute of Government—and, finally, the Carl Vinson Institute of Government in honor of the man who served in the U.S. House of Representatives for more than 50 years.
The name may have changed a number of times, but in the course of 75 years the outreach mission of this important UGA unit remains essentially the same as it did in 1927, when the Institute of Public Affairs was established to "provide a forum to study international, national, state, and local affairs and to make recommendations for improved governance."
The first Biennial Institute for Georgia Legislators was conducted in 1958 and it remains one of the longest running educational and orientation programs for newly elected legislators in the country.
On any given day, a Vinson Institute faculty or staff member is somewhere in Georgia providing outreach—whether it be teaching a local government clerk about new budget procedures, staffing a special legislative committee on water issues, facilitating a leadership retreat, conducting an economic impact or personnel study, working with a consolidation committee, or developing civic education lesson plans.
"Our city has been involved in a 10-year planning project," says Duluth city administrator Phil McLemore. "This would not have been possible without leadership from the Vinson Institute."
"Dependable is one of the words I use to describe the Institute," says Eddie Bennett, executive director of the Georgia Council for the Social Studies. "The faculty remain faithful to Georgia teachers by providing up-to-date materials, workshops, and expertise year after year."
In recent years, the Vinson Institute has established the International Center for Democratic Governance, which extends outreach to the world's emerging democracies. Faculty from throughout the Institute are working on the Southern Study on Persistent Poverty and the Balanced Growth Initiative. An expanded survey research function produces the Peach State Poll.
Consumer advocate Ralph Nader spoke at the Chapel in April.