Did You Know?

Did You Know? Undergraduate Class Section and Size at UWG: The number of unduplicated, undergraduate class sections offered (including online but excluding independent study courses) at UWG has grown by 21 percent from 1,317 in fall 2007 to 1,599 in fall 2011. The pace of growth in the number of class sections is responsive to the increasing student enrollment. The number of class sections with 30 or more enrolled students increased from 407 in fall 2007 (i.e. 31 percent of all class sections) to 466 in fall 2011 (i.e. 29 percent of all class sections). In relative terms, this indicates that the enrolled students’ growth has not resulted in a proportional increase in larger class sections. On the other hand, the average class size varies by the course level, with more students enrolled in lower-level courses than in higher-level courses. The 5-year average class sizes for the lower-level and upper-level courses are 34 and 22, respectively.

Learn more about student enrollment at UWG by visiting the Department of Institutional Research and Planning website. For more information, please call 678-839-6449.

Tackling the Freshman Fifteen

By Ernest Ricks

“The Freshman Fifteen” has been a curse on college campuses for decades. Many students have been able to fend off the extra pounds, but the majority fall victim to it. There are several reasons for this accelerated weight gain. Strict schedules that only allot for one or two meals a day, all-you-can-eat dining halls, lack of exercise and a lack of funds are but a few factors. Luckily, there are a few things everyone can do to shed those pounds.

The Numbers Game – 3,500. That’s how many calories are in one pound of fat. To gain one pound you’d have to have consumed 3,500 more calories than you’ve burned over ANY period of time, according to Donna Mincieli, a registered dietician specializing in counseling for weight loss, exercise and sports nutrition.

On the flip side if you burn 3,500 more calories than you consume over ANY period of time, you will lose one pound of fat.

What’s a Calorie? – Energy, plain and simple. Calories are units used to measure the amount of energy in whatever you’re eating. Think of food as energy. Before you grab a midnight snack or fast food, think about how much energy is in what you're going to eat. Ask yourself if you will be using that energy, because if not it will become fat.

Eat Often - Eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and between meal snacks. Eating frequently speeds up your metabolism. Spread your allotted calories out between these meals and snacks, but don’t go over.

Drink More Water - Cold water if possible. Water dilutes fat, adds to fullness and speeds up your metabolism. Soft drinks contain lots of calories, sugars and carbohydrates that we often don’t think about and don’t use.

Eat a Big Breakfast – Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Strive for a 400-500 calorie breakfast, but make healthy choices. A hearty breakfast provides much-needed energy, starts up the metabolism and can improve your overall mood.

Scout the Cafeteria - Do a lap or two around the dining hall to consider all your options. Consider what foods you really want, and experiment with the healthy options. This prevents the spontaneous cookies, french fries and pizza slices from ending up on your plate.

Snack Smart, Snack Often – A balanced diet isn’t about going hungry. Consider 100-200 calorie snack options, like beef jerky. It's very low in fat and high in protein, which is a great addition to any exercise regimen. It’s also low in calories and helps satisfy that meat craving.

Remember, no diet is complete without exercise. One major contributing factor to student weight gain is the adoption of sedentary lifestyles. If you want to adopt a 1,500 or 2,000 calorie diet, you should couple that with an exercise regimen that fits your schedule. Remember that magic number 3,500? Just imagine if you ate 2,000 calories a day but burned 2,500. You’d lose a pound of fat every week. That’s 52 pounds a year!

African Night 2012

The University of West Georgia African Student Association presents the 5th Annual African Night 2012, “The New Era.” The event will take place March 8^th in the Campus Center Ballroom, with the red carpet starting at 7:00pm and the how starting at 8:00pm. Show includes entertainment, music, dance, fashion, food and much more.

Tickets are $5 in advance and $10 at the door. Tickets go on sale Monday February 27^th – March 8^th in front of the UCC (1^st 10 people to buy tickets receives a free t-shirt). Come and experience African culture for yourself.

Controversies of Culture

The next “Controversies of Culture” program will take place Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 7 PM in room 1-200 of the Technology Enhanced Learning Center (TLC). Speaking will be Dr. Faramarz Parsa on the topic “Oppression of the Bahá'í Faith in Iran.” Faculty, staff, students and the general public are welcome to attend.

For more information, contact Jack Jenkins at 678-839-5940.

UWG Admissions Office Open House

The UWG Admissions Office is proud to announce that we will be hosting an Open House to celebrate, and feature, the recently completed renovations to the Mandeville Hall lobby this Friday, February 24th from 2:00-4:00pm. This event will be open to the entire campus, so all are welcome to attend. Formal remarks will be made at 2:30 pm and light refreshments will be served. Please join us in celebrating this exciting change to such a historically significant building on campus.

For more information, contact Justin Barlow at 678-839-5651.

Juried Student Exhibition

The Department of Art will open its Juried Student Exhibition tonight in the Humanities Building. The annual exhibition gives students the chance to showcase their work.

The juror, Raymond Veon, director of fine and performing arts in the Atlanta public schools, selected 64 out of 167 submitted pieces to be displayed. Displayed works include drawings, paintings, printmaking, photography, sculpture and ceramics. The awarded pieces will be announced at 6:30 PM.

The event tonight will begin at 6 PM and end at 8 PM. Pieces will be on display in both the first and second floor art galleries. The showcase will close on March 22.

For more information, contact the Department of Art at 678-839-6521.

Registration has Begun for UWG Pre-K

Registration at UWG's Pre-Kindergarten for the 2012-13 school year has begun. Please note there are a few changes to this process. The UWG Pre-Kindergarten is a 180 day educational program funded by the Georgia lottery, the university and reasonable tuition. Children must be age 4 by September 1, 2012, and a resident of Georgia, to be eligible for the upcoming school year. There are 66 available spots with 22 spots reserved for children of UWG faculty, staff and/or students. Because there are always more children seeking spaces in the Pre-K than there are seats available, we will use a lottery process as the fairest method of filling classes. Interested families should submit a Waiting List/Lottery Registration form in person, via USPS, e-mail and/or fax by 3:30 p.m. on Friday, March 2. The form Waiting List/Lottery Registration form is available at the Pre-K and online. The lottery will be held on Tuesday, March 6, and the families of the 66 children selected will be notified and advised of the date to return to campus to complete registration. Call 9-6563 for more information.

Dedication Ceremony Set for Thomas B. Murphy Replica Office

The University of West Georgia is proud to announce that it will hold a dedication ceremony for the new Thomas B. Murphy State Capitol Office replica at Irvine S. Ingram Library on the UWG campus on Thursday, April 19.

The ceremony begins at 2 p.m. at the Campus Center Ballroom with a dedication program, followed by a reception and tours of the Murphy Office at 3:30 p.m. at Ingram Library.

Murphy, who served 28 years as speaker of the House of Representatives in the Georgia General Assembly, donated his political papers and the memorabilia from his office to UWG in 2003, as he was retiring. University staff sorted through more than 1,500 items in assembling a replica office that was constructed as part of a major renovation of Ingram Library that was recently completed.

When he left office, Murphy had served continuously as speaker of a state house longer than any other individual in the nation’s recorded history. He died in 2007.

The ceremony will mark the official opening of the office, and is expected to draw dignitaries and friends from across the state, including current and former lawmakers and journalists. The dedication will include remarks from some of the dignitaries, as well as a video tribute to Murphy’s legacy.

Film, Discussion Look at Middle East Peace

Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 6:30pm in Crider Hall (Boyd), UWG Amnesty, The Fish House (Wesleyan student group), and the English and Philosophy Department are co-sponsoring the showing of a film, "Little Town of Bethlehem," and a panel afterward.

The film is a documentary featuring the stories of a Jew, a Christian, and a Muslim who are committed to peace in the Middle East. Our panelists will reflect these three faiths, and we are hoping that students will come and engage the film and the speakers to learn both about the situation in the Middle East, but also how a commitment to peace might be important in our
national and local setting.

More than 2,000 Attended Disability Day Rally

Impromptu shouts of "nothing about us without us" and "get us out, keep us out, don't put us in" echoed through cool, rainy, Atlanta streets on Feb. 16 as advocates, family members and supporters of people with disabilities filled the grounds of the state capitol for the 14th Annual Disability Day Rally, sponsored by the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (www.gcdd.org).

Gov. Nathan Deal and the top executive for AAPD addressed a record crowd of over 2,000 citizens from across the state. Deal pledged continued support to people with developmental disabilities in Georgia.

"Our team is hard at work to expand resources including: waivers to move individuals with developmental disabilities out of our hospitals, waivers to care for individuals with developmental disabilities currently living in the community, and increased family supports," Deal said. "We are strengthening our networks of crisis care with mobile crisis teams and crisis respite homes. We want to provide immediate, effective crisis care and these tools provide our state with a safety net to back up high-quality, person-centered care."

Mark Perriello, president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) and former White House liaison at the U.S. Department of the Interior, encouraged people with disabilities to find new ways of organizing in order to build strong institutions, and to learn how to be more effective in the corridors of power.

Referring to the more than 54 million Americans who have some type of disability, he said, "We are the largest minority group in the country and we should be the most powerful...we need to get all of you to the polls." "We have the power to transform the debate."  Perriello, visually impaired since childhood, called upon the disability community to pay close attention to critical policy issues, meet with their elected representatives, and "take your seat at the table" by getting into decision-making positions and running for office themselves.

He intermittently led the crowd to chant the motto of the Independent Living Movement, "nothing about us without us."

The historic 1999 Olmstead Decision originated in Georgia, which makes the state a focal point for disability rights. "My Life is FOR REAL!", the theme for this year's Rally, underscored the need to focus on individual supports and community-based services to get people with disabilities out of institutions and into the community. GCDD's "Real Communities" Initiative is one such innovation for community building.

"Real Communities" creates opportunities in which persons with developmental disabilities can participate more fully in every aspect of life, often by tapping into existing activities and joining with others to make life better for everyone.  The urgency to develop these community supports will increase as the population ages and as people with disabilities realize their right to live in the community rather than reside in institutions.

This right is mandated by the Olmstead Decision and reinforced by the October 2010 Department of Justice settlement with Georgia. 

At last week's rally, students from Flowery Branch High School in Hall County - Nick Dyson, Lyndzi Vaughn, and J.J. Martinez - introduced Deal. More than 650 students from across Georgia attended Disability Day at the Capitol to lend their voices and collect signatures on the Children's Freedom Initiative declar ation.

 Legislators in attendance included Rep. Sharon Beasley-Teague (D-Dist 65), Rep. Carl Rogers (R-Dist 26), and Sen. John Albers (R-Dist 56). People came in ones and twos as well as in groups of over 300 from across Georgia.

The rally, hosted by GCDD Executive Director Eric E. Jacobson and Chair Tom Seegmueller, was an opportunity to bestow awards as well as acknowledge fallen heroes.  Dr. Gerald Durley, recognized civil rights leader and pastor of the historic Providence Missionary Baptist Church of Atlanta where he works to ensure people with disabilities in the congregation are able to share their gifts, skills and abilities, honored 48 Fallen Soldiers who passed in the last year.

Margo Waters, disABILITY LINK Independent Living Coordinator, received the Georgia Outstanding Self-Advocate of the Year Award - In Loving Memory of Natalie Norwood Tumlin.  Joseph D. Frazier, Chairperson, Metro Fair Housing Services, Inc., received the Samuel Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Disability Day at the Capitol is made possible by a host of partnering organizations and volunteers from the disability community.  For a list, visit www.GCDD.org.

Among GCDD's list of public policy priorities are:
·         the Unlock The Waiting Lists! Campaign calling for funding of community based services for  over 6,000 persons on waiting lists for vital supports
·         Transportation Investment Act Referendum
·         Children's Freedom Initiative
·         Proposals to help people receive the supports they need to live and thrive in the community. 

GCDD, a federally funded independent state agency, works to bring about social and policy changes that promote opportunities for persons with developmental disabilities and their families to live, learn, work, play and worship in Georgia communities.  A developmental disability is a chronic mental and/or physical disability that occurs before age 22 and is expected to last a lifetime.

Visit www.gcdd.org for more information.