Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Endowment in Women's Studies at UWG Established

A $25,000 endowment for the Women’s Studies program at the University of West Georgia has been established.
The Women’s Studies program at UWG is a minor and courses are interdisciplinary. Recipients of the Menkes Family Women’s Scholarship will receive their awards after they complete the Introduction to Women’s Studies course and declare the program as their minor. They must also write an essay about the importance of women’s studies.
At least one award, totaling up to $1,400, will be given each academic year. Recipients will receive $100 for each women’s studies course completed, up to a maximum of four. After graduation, recipients will receive $1,000.
Michael Menkes, a graduate student in criminology, funded the scholarship. He gave an additional $5,000 to fund scholarships during the first two academic years. Last spring, Menkes created a women’s studies scholarship and eight students received awards. The present endowment replaces that scholarship.
The money will help ease the financial burden on students at a time of rising education costs and diminishing financial aid resources, said Tiffany Parsons, director of the program. Many students at UWG work full or part time and receive financial aid, she said. The money may mean not having to work an extra shift to pay for their classes.
“It helps them study, gives them time to study. And it helps them get started with $1,000, that’s a lot of money to a new grad,” Parsons said.
“To know that at least one student a year for eternity will be able to receive this award is great for women’s studies. It’s great for the university, and it’s great for the College of Social Sciences.”
For scholarship details please contact Parsons at tparsons@westga.edu.

Blood Drive at UWG Today

American Red Cross is holding a blood drive in the Campus Center Gym II today—August 31. The hours will be 9:30a.m.-2:30p.m.

In an effort to reach our quota for number of pints collected, American Red Cross Blood Drive is giving away a $50.00 Visa debit card to one lucky donor. To register for a chance, you must come donate blood.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The Past Revealed Bit by Bit

Anthropology professor Dr. Thomas Foster and his students spent much of the summer in the searing Alabama heat excavating Apalachicola, the site of what was once the capital of the Muscogee Creek.

Anthropology professor Dr. Thomas Foster and his students spent much of the summer in the searing Alabama heat excavating Apalachicola, the site of what was once the capital of the Muscogee Creek.  The dark earth gave up a few of its mysteries, leading to more questions. The team carried away sherds, beads, buttons, buckles, glass and other artifacts in brown paper bags.

Students on the dig are taking an undergraduate course in archaeological field research. They work they do, including digging, examining and cataloguing the artifacts, prepares them professionally for work in the field.

The dig tested their physical and intellectual mettle. They spent hours in the sun, brushing away thin layers of dirt to unearth the past.

The pieces amazed them.

“The cool thing is, the further we dig – we are pulling larger sherds from the dirt,” said Danny Tolliver, who retired from the U.S. Navy and returned to school to study anthropology for his second career.

“One piece we pulled, you could see little cherries painted on this piece,” he said. “I thought that was really, really neat. It might have been a portion of a plate. Think about it, two hundred years ago someone was using that for something. We just have to figure out what it is.”

Some of the pieces they found are much older than Foster expected.

Among their most exciting finds was a fragment of an effigy in clay. It could be from the much earlier Mississippian Indians – the mound builders that flourished in the Southeast from about 900 to 1500 AD, Foster said.

The delicate face became clear as Foster turned it and turned it and turned it in his hands. “It was this carved face, very accurate, very human-looking face,” Foster said. “You don’t typically see those during the Creek period…. They are much more common about 500 years earlier.”

The artifacts are on campus now in the Antonio J. Waring, Jr. Archaeological Laboratory, where Foster is the director. They will be re-examined, catalogued and studied further.

It’s still early in his research, but Foster said he will likely have to update some of the articles he has written about the Muscogee Creek because of the older artifacts he found.

Much of the area, just over the Georgia-Alabama state line, is now covered with dense pines, but hundreds of years ago the Muscogee Creek thrived here. The people lived in rectangular homes up and down the Chattahoochee River, trading with English colonists and with the Spanish soldiers, who posted to small fort only a few hundred yards away from 1689 to 1691.

“I’m getting a much later assemblage of artifacts. I wasn’t expecting that,’ Foster said. “I was expecting to see more Spanish materials here.”

For a time, the village was the home of Chekilli, the chief of the Creek Confederacy. Chekilli and other Native American dignitaries traveled to Savannah to meet with James Oglethorpe, founder of the Georgia colony.

“This town is part of the founding of Georgia,” he said. “It’s relevant to Georgia history. It’s relevant to Southeastern history. It’s relevant to Native American studies.”

William Bartram, the 18th Century naturalist, traveled to Apalachicola in the 1770s, where native inhabitants took him to “the old town,” Foster said.

“He described mounds and ancient terraces from the old times. So they are here somewhere and some of the older pottery items that we are finding…. are probably an indicator of those time periods.”

Foster is spearheading the three-year, interdisciplinary research. The fields of archeology, geology, botany, archeozoology, dendrology and history are represented in the project.

“We are trying to measure a lot of different things at one time…. to see what they are doing with each other and what they are doing to their environment,” Foster said.

A $211,320 grant from the National Science Foundation is funding the project that explores how village life changed in a 150-year period, from the late 17th Century to the early 18th Century. UWG is the lead institution. Foster is working with researchers from Penn State, the University of Arizona and Columbus State University. He will also do oral histories of the Muscogee Creek Nation as part of the project.

The researchers are also examining the impact the native inhabitants had on their environment, for example the effect of forest fire on forest composition and the impact of slash-and-burn agriculture on the plant and animal communities.

“We can take that information from the past and apply it to modern environmental management,” Foster said.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Georgia's Senators Speak to Crowd at UWG

Georgia's U.S. senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, conducted a town hall meeting on UWG's campus on Monday morning, speaking about issues of the day and fielding questions from the audience.

The two Republicans made UWG's Townsend Center the latest stop on their tour across Georgia in which they've given constituents their take on Washington politics.

Among the issues the pair discussed were the debt ceiling, government spending, taxes and immigration.

Chambliss said that with the magnitude of problems facing the nation, all Americans will have to be part of the solutions.

The fiscal challenges must be met with a multi-pronged approach, he said. "You can't just do it by reducing spending and just by reforming entitlements. We've got to ... raise revenues. And we can do it without raising taxes. Those are the issues that are on the table in Washington today and those are the issues we're going to be debating over the next 100 days."

Isakson said spending cuts needed to be handled judiciously.

"You have to put everything on the table and negotiate it and try to cut your spending proportionally."

Both senators, responding to a question, said that for students who use financial aid to help pay for their educations, the most optimistic projection would be that aid programs would be maintained, but there would be virtually no chance of any such programs seeing increases.


Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Art Teachers to Connect at UWG


For young students, a solid foundation in their basic courses will set them on the path to success for years to come. For teachers the challenge is to make sure students understand the importance of the basics.


“If you start them off well, if they do well as freshmen and sophomores, they are going to do well as upper classmen,” said Clint Samples, associate professor of art and the foundations coordinator at UWG. “If they are not doing well, usually, we can work with them.


In September, Samples and his Department of Art colleagues will swap stories and share ideas with other teachers attending the Connecting the Dots gathering on campus. It is the first time UWG hosts a regional forum of the Foundations in Art: Theory & Education (FATE) organization, a collective of art and design teachers.


The instructors teach the introductory level design, drawing and history of art courses that all students need to get to the next level. “Freshmen are a lot different than juniors or seniors. Foundations set the stage for what they are going to do in the future,” Samples said. In addition to the subject matter at hand, “we are teaching them good work habits, life skills, time management. Basic things that you don’t usually see with a senior student.”


The department has about 140 pre-art and art majors in their freshman and sophomore years. Samples and his Art Department colleagues, Stephanie Smith, Casey McGuire, Rebecca Reynolds, Eilis Crean and Erin Dixon, are coordinating the forum.


The keynote speaker will be Nancy Palmeri, an associate professor from the University of Texas at Arlington. FATE members represent schools such as California State University, Long Beach, Savannah College of Art and Design and Northern Illinois University. Attendees to the forum will include art teachers from Florida State University, North Georgia College and State University, Armstrong Atlantic State University, Columbus State University, Young Harris College and the University of Toledo.


“This is good for us because we are putting our name on the map,” Samples said. “We want to be a recognized leader in foundations teaching.”

Office of Institutional Diversity Calendar

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The Office of Institutional Diversity offers a full list of activities to enliven the academic year. Check out the list below, and make plans to attend as many events as you can.

2011-2012

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

AUGUST

22-26

Row Hall Mates Popsicle Days – 12 noon – 5:00 pm (ROW HALL LOBBY)

29-30

Student Organization Fair Participant

31

MAP & OID Minority Meet & Greet:4:00 pm – Campus Center Ballroom

SEPTEMBER

1

Open House – 8:30 am-6:00 pm- Row Hall East-2nd Floor

7

Multicultural Conversations Series:11:30-1:00 pm: Hubbard Dining Room (Z-6)

7

Guest Speaker: Dr. Alan Godlas- Campus Center 108.2 : 7:00 pm

15

v Hispanic American Month Observance: Row Hall East-219: 8:30- 5:00 pm (M-F) thru Oct 15

22

Poet and Author, Tim O’Brien- Coliseum (UWG collaboration) 8:00 pm

OCTOBER

11

Asian Film Festival: “Donor” (Philippines, 2010) – 7:00 pm- UWG Campus Ctr. Ballroom -108.2

12

Multicultural Conversation Series:11:30-1:00 pm: Hubbard Dining Room (Z-6)

13

Asian Film Festival: ‘Hospitalite” (Japan, 2010) – 7:00 pm- UWG Campus Ctr. Ballroom 108.2

17

Hispanic Appreciation Celebration: Victor A. Gonzalez :Campus Center Ballroom-108.2
(co-sponsor: Latino Cultural Society (LCS)

18

Mix It Up Day (co-sponsors MAP, Dept. of Ed. Diversity Committee & SGA): Z-6 &
UCC Food Court 11:00 am – 2:00 pm

18

Controversies of Culture – 7:00 pm-8:00 pm – TLC 1200

25

4th Annual Multicultural Ball – 7:00 pm-10:30 pm – Campus Center Ballroom

NOVEMBER

1-30

Native American Heritage Month Observance-Row Hall- 219 8:30 pm-5:00 pm (M-F)

1

Native American Celebration- Row Hall- Room 212- 10:00 am-2:00 pm

4

Fair Trade Coffee Tasting (faculty & staff) – Row Hall East 212: 10:00 am-2:00 pm

9

Multicultural Conversations Series: 11:30-1:00 pm: Hubbard Dining Room (Z-6)

15

Controversies of Culture Series – 7:00 pm-8:00 pm- TLC 1200

16

Diversity Workshop: Campus Center Ballroom 9:00 am -2:00 pm & 4:00 pm -7:00 pm

DECEMBER

2

Multicultural Book Discussion: Row Hall East 212: 12 Noon- 1:00 pm


JANUARY

10– 21

January: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Display: Row Hall East 219: 8:30am-5:00 pm (M-F)

11

Multicultural Conversations Series- 11:30-1:30 pm- Hubbard dining room (Z-6)

12

3rd Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Observance–UWG Campus Center Ballroom-7:00 pm

31

Controversies of Culture Series – 7:00 pm-8:00 pm- (TBA)

FEBRUARY

1-28-

Black History Month Observance (Row Hall, room 219) 8:30-5:00 pm (M-F)

8-29

Apex museum exhibit -Black Inventors- Ingram Library (OID & Library co-sponsors)

7

v Black History Celebration- Campus Center Ballroom 108.1: 7:00 pm

8

Multicultural Conversations Series – 11:30-1:30 pm–Hubbard Dining room (Z-6)

21

Black History- Campus Center Ballroom- Campus Center- 108.1

28

Controversies of Culture Series – 7:00 pm- Location (TBA)

MARCH

1-31

Women’s History Month Observance; Row Hall, 219: 8:30 am-5:00 pm (M-F)

14

Multicultural Conversations Series- 11:30-1:30 pm- Hubbard Dining (Z-6)

15

3rd Annual Multicultural Festival- UWG Campus Center ballroom 12 Noon-5:00 pm
(co-sponsor: UWG Department of Anthropology)

27

Women’s History Celebration: Campus Center Ballroom- 108.2 : 6:00 pm

APRIL

2-27

Older American’s Month Sock Drive Collection- Row Hall East-2nd Floor

6

Multicultural Book Discussion- Row Hall East- 212 –12 Noon- 1:00 pm

11

Multicultural Conversations Series- 11:30-1:30 pm Hubbard Dining room (Z-6)

12

Office of Institutional Diversity- Campus Center Ballroom 108.1- 6:00 pm

MAY

1-31

Asian Pacific Heritage Month Observance – Row Hall East- 219: 8:30-5:00 pm (M-F)

VISIT US: ROW HALL EAST – 2ND FLOOR

www.westga.edu/diversity
CONTACT US AT: 678-839-5400

Our Staff

Dr. Jack O. Jenkins, Special Associate to the President for Institutional Diversity

Mrs. Deirdre Rouse, Program Coordinator

Mrs. Cheryl T. Hill, Program Coordinator-African American Male Initiative

Mrs. Doris Kieh, Staff Assistant

Mrs. Nancy Watkins, Staff Assistant

Run With The Wolves is Saturday


Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Georgia’s U.S. Senators to Hold Town Hall Meeting at UWG

Georgia’s U.S. senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, will hold a town hall meeting with constituents at the University of West Georgia’s Townsend Center for the Performing Arts on Monday, Aug. 29 at 10 a.m. The meeting is free and open to the public.

Chambliss, an attorney from Moultrie, won election to the U.S. Senate in 2002 as a Republican. Before that, he had served since 1995 in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Isakson, a Marietta businessman, began serving in the Senate in 2004. Prior to that, he served 17 years in the Georgia legislature and three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

For maps and directions to UWG’s Carrollton campus, see the following link: http://www.westga.edu/index_map.php.

Summer Riots and Protests: Lessons Learned

by

Throughout four nights of violence in some London neighborhoods, rioters updated each other on social network sites. Police struggled to get the situation under control.

Following the protests, Prime Minister David Cameron told members of the House of Commons that police and intelligence services would look into “whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality.”

In July, the fatal shooting of a homeless man by public-transportation police led to protests in San Francisco. When another protest was planned, public-transportation authorities shut down all mobile communications. The result: thousands of frustrated riders; a cyber attack by anonymous hackers on Bay Area Rapid Transit; and a Federal Communications Commission inquiry into the matter.

But somewhere between the extremes — struggling to keep up with protests that can be planned with just a few keystrokes and a complete shut down of service — law enforcement agencies need to develop an effective cyber policy.


Read more:

http://likethedew.com/2011/08/22/summer-riots-and-protests-lessons-learned/

Monday, August 22, 2011

Be Positive 5K Registration is Open



The brainchild of Carroll County Recreation Track Coach Andrell Roberts, the BE[POSITIVE] 5k is open to all ages and all athletic backgrounds. Seriously. Doesn’t matter if you can dash 3.1 miles (that’s 5 kilometers if you want to get all metric) or if you’re the type to enjoy a leisurely 3.1 mile stroll. Come on out. Get a little fresh air. Get a little exercise. Connect with your neighbors or meet some new friends. We promise you’ll be glad that you did. AND all funds raised through the event will go to the American Red Cross and the newly-formed Carroll County Cross Country Team.

The event begins at 8 a.m. on Sept. 3 at the East Carrollton Recreation Center. All participants will receive a t-shirt, with the first and second place finishers in each category receiving a medal. The cost is $15 a runner prior to Aug. 26. After that date, the cost is $20, and t-shirt size is not guaranteed. To sign up or for more information, go to the www.bepositive5k.tumblr.com. And spread the word! We’re still in need of both runners and sponsors, so tell your friends and neighbors!


Friday, August 19, 2011

George Washington Exhibit Opens at the Ingram Library

"The Many Faces of George Washington," a national traveling exhibition that examines the real-life man behind the myth, continues at the Ingram Library of the University of West Georgia.


This exhibit explores the many different facets of Washington's life, public service and leadership. It closes on Sept. 23.


Dr. John Ferling, UWG professor of history emeritus and an expert on the American Revolution. will speak on Aug. 30 at 7:00 p.m.


There is no admission charged for the exhibit or exhibit talk.


Parking on the UWG campus is unrestricted on Saturdays and Sundays. On the evening of the exhibit talk, special public parking will be available at the Townsend Center, beginning at 6:00 p.m.


For more information, visit www.westga.edu/library or contact Catherine Hendricks at chendric@westga.edu or 678-839-5337.


For a preview go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQosw3wIe3s

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Preview Day Dates are Set

Preview Day dates for the coming academic year have been set. These dates serve as opportunities for prospective students to visit the campus and learn more about UWG, its people and programs.

The dates are as follows:

Fall—Sunday, November 6, 2011

Winter—Sunday, January 29, 2012

Spring—Sunday, April 15, 2012

Transfer Preview Day—Friday, March 2, 2012 (This is a smaller event targeted at Transfer Students)

History Scholarship Established at UWG



The local chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution has given the University of West Georgia a $27,000 gift to establish an annual scholarship for history students.

March, the Casimir Pulaski chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution started a scholarship fund. Shortly afterward, the chapter received anonymous donations for the fund, including one for $5,000 and another for $20,000, said George Wheeless, the chapter president.

“We wanted to support the university,” said Wheeless, who earned his master of education and specialist in education degrees at UWG.

“The university has been a great source for speakers,” Wheeless said. “If they have anything to do with American history, they’ve come and spoken to us at least once, if not more.”

The first $1,200 scholarship will be awarded in 2012-13 academic year to an undergraduate or graduate student in history. The student should have a 3.5 GPA. Preference will be given to students whose research focus is American history and who have a demonstrated financial need.

“This will help students for generations to come. We are very grateful to the chapter for facilitating this gift and, obviously, to the anonymous donors,” said Randy Hendricks, the dean of the College of Arts and Humanities.

“But I think it’s also a sign of the good work that our history department has done for decades,” Hendricks said.

Pulaski was a Polish count fighting Russian and Prussian influence in Poland. He fled to Paris where he met Benjamin Franklin and volunteered to fight in the American Revolution. He is considered the “Father of the American Cavalry.” Pulaski was mortally wounded in the Battle of Savannah in October 1779.

Deployed UWG Members Meet in Afghanistan


Two members of the University of West Georgia community currently serving in the military ran into each other overseas recently.

Maj. Erich Bergiel ran into his former student, 1st Lt. Jennifer Moore, at the United States embassy in Kabul. Bergiel is currently with Regional Command (Southwest) C-9 at Camp Leatherneck Afghanistan. He is an associate professor of management in Richards College of Business.

Moore, of Newnan, is the Officer in Charge of the Personnel Security Detachment for the Joint Visitors Bureau at Camp Eggers in Kabul, Afghanistan. She graduated from UWG with a degree in management in the fall of 2009.

“It was just a great experience to be able to have dinner with one of our students in Kabul, Afghanistan and hear what wonderful things she is doing,” Bergiel said in an email.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Fresh from the garden Farmers markets spring up

by Amanda Thomas/Times-Georgian

With news of a salmonella-related death and the recall of 36 million pounds of ground turkey that was distributed at the retail level nationwide, it’s nice to know where your food comes from.

Farmers markets are offering residents just that by providing fresh, local produce, dairy products and more.

“Look what’s in the paper today on the salmonella in turkey,” said Eddie Holtz, a board member of the Bowdon Farmers Market. “Here are people who are buying from grocery stores. But those grocery stores have no idea where their food comes from — or minimal idea — so when you get sick, they throw up their hands. Whereas, when you buy butter from one of our local folks you see the lady that made it and if you got a problem, you call her on the phone.”

Holtz, the owner of Bowdon Coffee Roasters, said that anything that’s grown locally is going to have a better flavor.

“You need to come down,” he said. “I’ll make you a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich with some of the tomatoes we grew out back in our composted coffee ground garden and they’re just scrumptious — homemade tomatoes on a BLT, there ain’t nothing like it.”


Read more:Times-Georgian - Fresh from the garden Farmers markets spring up around county

Friday, August 12, 2011

UWise Bridge Program Gives Math and Science Students a Head Start

About a half hour into a lesson on vectors, UWG’s Dr. Mohammad A. Yazdani asked a class of incoming freshman “is math beautiful or what?”

“When you get it, it’s beautiful” responded one girl.

“It teaches you the responsibility you need for college,” said Dusty Gonzalez, 18, a graduate of Sandy Creek High School in Fayette County. He plans to major in environmental science.

The students were deep into solving a series of math problems; science classes and final exams awaited them.

Just before the start of the fall semester, 100 students interested in majoring math or science took part in a summer bridge program dubbed UWise, for University of West Georgia Institutional STEM Excellence.

The program was designed to give them a taste of what is to come, introduce the idea of teaching as a career option and to build bonds among the students that will take them through freshman year to a successful graduation.

“We focus on teaching math and science so that they know what it takes to succeed,” said Dr. S. Swamy Mruthinti, the coordinator of the program. It was funded with a one-year $342,000 grant from the Board of Regents.

The students’ days were full, except for a meal breaks and a couple of free time hours, much of their days on campus were spent in the classroom, studying or doing homework. In class, the only electronics the students were allowed to use were graphic calculators.

“We are trying to limit the distractions,” said Mruthinti, who is an associate dean and professor of biology. Students also heard lectures on time management, problem solving and developing good homework and study habits, Mruthinti said.

“It teaches you the responsibility you need for college,” said Dusty Gonzalez, 18, a graduate of Sandy Creek High School in Fayette County. He plans to major in environmental science.

About a half hour into a lesson on vectors, UWG’s Dr. Mohammad A. Yazdani asked a class of incoming freshman “is math beautiful or what?”

Alyssa Jones, 18, liked being on campus before the start of the fall semester.

“It gave me a head start on college, finding out where everything is,” said Jones, who graduated from Brookwood High School in Snellville. She plans to become a neonatal surgeon.

“And it helped us with math and science – an introduction to that – so that’s good,” she said. “It’s a lot harder than I thought it was. But with the program, it should be easier after learning the basics.”

About 18 of UWG’s science and math professors taught classes during the two-week program. The plan is to monitor the student’s progress to ensure that they don’t fail.

UWG President Beheruz N. Sethna emphasized the urgency of a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education during brief lunchtime remarks to the students.

He noted they will compete for jobs on an international level. “It’s extremely important for America…. The world is changing, the world has changed and will continue to change,” he said.

“There will be times when the course load is really tough,” he said. “I want you to resolve yourselves that when you get to the tough part, that you keep on going.”