September 2000: Vol. 79, No. 4September 2000: Vol. 79, No. 4 |
 GWINNETT CENTER WILL BE A SIGNATURE HIGH-TECH FACILITY  The Gwinnett University Center began as an experiment in both geography and instructional technology. The idea was to bring UGA's educational resources closer to the burgeoning population of metro Atlanta. The result is a new high-tech facility—operated in partnership with Georgia Perimeter College—that will open in 2002 on a 160-acre site on Collins Hill Road just north of Highway 316. UGA will offer several master's degree programs at the center—in education, social work, business, and public administration. The new facility will enhance economic development in Gwinnett County, thus strengthening UGA's public service mission.  |
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 ROLLING OUT THE WELCOME MAT During the month of April, the Visitors Center logged 4,478 visitor contacts—2,000 more than in July 1996, the month of the Summer Olympic Games. Visitors by category: Walk-ins—727 Regular tours—1,019 Special tours—1,295 Telephone calls—1,437
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ATLANTA—Archbishop Desmond Tutu called on the U.S. to provide $2 billion in aid to South Africa for the next five years to help his country recover from the legacy of apartheid.
 Tutu wants the U.S. to provide something akin to the Marshall Plan to help South Africa recover from apartheid. |
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"After World War II, Europe was devastated and this country, in its typical generosity, produced the Marshall Plan to help put Europe back on its feet," said Tutu at the award ceremony. "I want to suggest that South Africa—southern Africa—really needs something akin to the Marshall Plan."
South Africa is "hobbled by the fact that it has to deal with the most horrendous legacy of apartheid," he said. "Freedom has come, democracy has come, but we still live in shacks with no clean water and no lights."
Tutu noted that the U.S. supports the peace process in the Middle East with aid to Israel, Egypt and the Palestinians, and thus should support reconciliation and reconstruction in South Africa.
"This is important not just for southern Africa, but for the whole continent, since South Africa can act as an engine for development throughout Africa," he said. "Development in Africa is important for international stability."
Tutu's appearance at the Delta Prize ceremony was his last scheduled event in Atlanta before his return to South Africa, following two years as a visiting professor of theology at Emory University.
Tutu said he accepted the Delta Prize on behalf of "the anonymous ones, the voiceless ones" who suffered under apartheid. Despite the injustices suffered by millions, Tutu said there was no "orgy of revenge and retribution" when a black-led government took over.
"Instead the world watched and human hearts thrilled" to see the Truth and Reconciliation Commission extend pardon and forgiveness.
Tutu is the second recipient of the Delta Prize. Last year's inaugural award went to former President Jimmy Carter, his wife Rosalynn, and the Atlanta-based Carter Center.
The Delta Prize was presented to Tutu by UGA president Michael F. Adams and Frederick W. Reid, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Delta Air Lines. Reid noted that the grant to establish the award represents the largest contribution in the history of the Delta Air Lines Foundation.
New senator Miller critiques higher ed
As GM was going to press, Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes (AB '69, JD '72) was appointing UGA faculty member—and former Georgia governor—Zell Miller (AB '57, MA '58) to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Paul Coverdell, who died July 18.
Miller had previously been mentioned as a possible running mate for Al Gore. Miller discounted the vice presidential talk, but "America's education governor" has had plenty to say about the condition of higher education in recent months. His May 31 speech at UGA's Georgia Center for Continuing Education was so incisive that Georgia Magazine is running excerpts from it in this issue.
Then in an essay that appeared in the July 14 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education, Miller listed the "10 Crucial Things the Next President Should Do for Colleges."
Here's Miller's memo to the next president in short form:
1. Articulate a clear vision of higher ed's contributions to our well-being as a nation.
The future belongs to communities that can match innovative ideas that drive technology forward with educated workers who can make something, literally, of those ideas. In our knowledge-based economy, universities form the crucial infrastructure of economic development.
2. Curb excessive regulation and control of higher ed.
The thicket of federal regulation encumbers higher education at the very moment it needs to become more nimble. Moreover, such regulatory zeal unwisely imposes uniform regulations on a group of institutions that is growing ever more diverse.
3. Encourage higher ed's role in the global environment.
Fewer than 10 percent of American undergraduates now study abroad, and international students make up only about 3 percent of our college enrollment. Foreign students who study in our country often become leaders back home, and a well-educated cadre of such world leaders who understand the U.S. will help create a positive international business and political climate.
4. Support steady, non-politicized support for university-based research.
As Ben Franklin noted 200 years ago, "an investment in knowledge pays the best interest." But the federal government today is not making that investment. Government now pays for about 30 percent of total R&D; with a 66 percent rate of return, it should be spending much more.
5. Pressure colleges of education to produce better teachers for public schools.
We spend $300 billion a year for public school education. But how much do we spend for fundamental research on the teaching-and-learning process? Not even $300 million.
6. Restore the integrity and dignity of NEA and NEH.
Art is not a luxury—it is essential to education and a necessity to our national life. Culturally, we are still cavemen; there is nothing of civilization in our genes: no language skills, no knowledge of history or literature, no understanding of the great truths of life, no comprehension of who we are as a nation and how we came to be that way. The transfer of our heritage from one generation to the next is not automatic.
7. Recognize the tremendous ramifications of information technology for higher ed.
Only a fraction of the potential market for higher education can conveniently make it to campus when class is in session. Distance learning technology provides education on demand—anytime and anywhere you can boot up a computer.
8. Promote policies that enhance diversity on campus.
Higher education must change its mindset—bringing minority students into the mainstream, rather than regarding them as a politically correct yet peripheral obligation. The Educational Testing Service calculates that raising the education level of African-American and Hispanic students to that of whites would add $231 billion annually to the American economy.
9. Halt the growing financial crisis facing America's teaching hospitals.
If the president wants to avoid a crisis reminiscent of the savings-and-loan bailout, he should encourage a major revision of the Balanced Budget Act with the aim of ensuring the long-term health of teaching hospitals—and without political posturing.
10. Rethink the issue of improving access to higher ed.
Acknowledge that managing a modern, efficient, multi-billion-dollar student aid delivery system is beyond the capability of the Department of Education, and that we should create a management system that is equal to the task.
Judge rules against '99 admissions plan
U.S. District Court Judge Avant Edenfield of Savannah ruled in July that three white female applicants denied admission to UGA in 1999 should be offered admission for fall semester 2000. Edenfield (BBA '56, JD '58) said UGA's 1999 admissions process "violated Title VI and Title IX by intentionally discriminating against them based on race and gender." The majority of UGA students are admitted solely on academic criteria, but additional factors—including race and gender—have been used to determine the final 10-15 percent of the freshman class. Gender was dropped for this fall's entering class.
Redcoats 1st in SEC to win Sudler Trophy
The Redcoats are not only coming, they've arrived!
During Homecoming festivities on Oct. 14, UGA's Redcoat Band will be presented with the Sudler Trophy, the most prestigious award a college marching band can win.
Representatives of the John Philip Sousa Foundation will present the award—which has never before been won by a band from the Southeastern Conference. The Redcoats are the first!
"The Sudler Trophy recognizes college marching bands that have made outstanding contributions to the American way of life," says Redcoat director Dwight Satterwhite. "It's awarded annually to the band that has demonstrated the highest musical standards and innovative marching routines. We're thrilled to have been honored as one of the greatest college marching bands in history."
Arboretum set up by Dooley committee
 Now that campus has been designated an arboretum, visitors can take tree tours, where plaques identify the multitude of species. |
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UGA is one of the most beautiful universities in the U.S. To make it official—and to ensure that its natural beauty will grow—the campus has been designated an arboretum.
The arboretum was established by a committee chaired by athletic director—and avid gardener—Vince Dooley. The committee included representatives from horticulture, environmental science, and forestry.
"We had a talented committee," says Dooley. "I provided the focus, but the visionary—and the real workhorse—was UGA's internationally known horticulturalist Mike Dirr."
The result of the committee's labors is a newly developed campus tree tour and a set of plaques that identify a multitude of tree and plant species.
The identification process increases the value of campus as an educational tool, says Dooley, and workshops and seminars are being planned.
"The arboretum makes the campus a living laboratory," says Dooley. "It's a great addition to the campus and it becomes a nature guide for visitors, students, artists, and photographers."
The University is also home to the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, which is located on South Milledge Avenue.
To sign up for a tree tour or get a copy of the arboretum brochure, contact:
Campus Arboretum
Horticulture Dept.
1111 Plant Sciences Bldg.
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602-7273
(706) 542-2471
ATO house closed
The UGA chapter of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity has voted to release its charter. Under investigation for the hazing-related death of pledge Benjamin Grantham of St. Simons Island on March 30, the fraternity had been on interim suspension since April 4.
The vote to disband the fraternity came on the same day that UGA administrators charged ATO with five violations of the University's conduct code for campus groups.
In May, three students—one of whom was an ATO member—were arrested on marijuana charges in the attic of the ATO house, which was padlocked and posted with "No Trespassing" signs.
Spano makes Athens debut with the ASO
Classical music lovers are in for a double delight on Sept. 24, when Hodgson Hall presents the Athens debut of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's new music director, Robert Spano, and also hosts world-renowned pianist Emanuel Ax.
Spano is well-versed in the lore of Hodgson Hall. "I've heard it's a very gratifying hall," he says on the phone from Colorado, where he's conducting the Aspen Music Festival orchestra. "The sound is good on stage and for the audience."
Spano, who will continue to serve as music director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic alongside his ASO duties, is scheduled to give only four concerts in Atlanta this season. The fact that UGA's Performing Arts Center was able to sign him to kick off its fifth season is "a happy coincidence," says Timothy Bartholow, director of the Office of Performing Arts.
The highlight of the concert will be Ax performing Brahms' "Piano Concerto No. 2."
"That piece is a towering kind of masterpiece," says Spano. "Brahms wrote it late in life. He was vacationing in Italy and he had a tremendous love for the Italian countryside. The piece has a certain kind of sunniness."
Following the Sunday afternoon concert, Ax will board a chartered plane for New York, where he's performing at Carnegie Hall that night.
Upgrades enhance beauty and safety
Four major UGA grounds-improvement projects will enhance safety, beautify streets, preserve green space, and encourage pedestrian and non-vehicular traffic on campus.
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 Lumpkin Street's esplanade is a model for how Baxter Street will look, with recessed walkways and iron fencing—to make it safer, prettier. |
Baxter Street Esplanade
The sidewalk on the south side of Baxter, which funnels students from high-rise dorms to the main campus, will be moved back several feet from the heavily traveled street. An ornamental fence and landscape buffer will be installed between the new sidewalk and the street to prevent crossing Baxter except at intersections.
Oconee River Greenway
The first phase of UGA's part of the greenway will be an asphalt path beginning at the intersection of River Road and College Station Road, extending north to a spot on River Road near the Kappa Sigma fraternity house.
East Campus Pedestrian
A "raised speed table" designed to slow traffic and give people exiting buses a better view of the street will be installed at the bus stop on the south side of the River Road Loop between the Ramsey Center and Four Towers.
College Station Gateway
The intersection of College Station and East Campus will be realigned with two new turning lanes. Timed traffic lights, and protected pedestrian and bike crossings will be installed. The railroad crossing hump will be eliminated, and new railroad signals installed.
Academic calendar is set for 2000-01
Mark your calendars now:
| FALL SEMESTER 2000 Residence halls open—Aug. 13 Classes begin—Aug. 17 Labor Day holiday—Sept. 4 Fall break—Oct. 26-27 Thanksgiving holiday—Nov. 22-24 Classes resume—Nov. 27 Fall classes end—Dec. 7 Reading day—Dec. 8 Final exams—Dec. 11-15 |
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SPRING SEMESTER 2001 Residence halls open—Jan. 2 Classes begin—Jan. 8 MLK holiday—Jan. 15 Last day of classes—March 2 Spring break—March 5-9 Classes resume—March 12 Spring classes end—April 30 Reading day—May 1 Final exams—May 2-4, 7-8 Commencements—Dec. 16, May 12 |