Carrollton High School Students Meet their College Counterparts

A group of Carrollton High School students crowded into a graphic design class at the University of West Georgia recently. The teenagers had at least one thing in common with their college counterparts: art.

The students looked at their drafts for the upcoming AJC Peachtree Road Race T-shirt Design Contest and made suggestions

Beyond the “I like that one” comments, the suggestions in the critiques were useful: change the font here, move the image there, try another color, the letters are too close, the words are too far apart.

It was a first for the Carrollton students, said Clint Samples, an associate professor of art. Samples reached out to Mike Lewis, the graphic communications teacher at Carrollton High School. Samples hopes the visit serves as a recruitment tool for prospective art majors and both teachers want to collaborate soon.

Lewis said his students were “very encouraged. And that makes them want to try harder.”

UWG art students got a chance to pass on their knowledge.

“When I was in high school, I liked the fun fonts,” said Brittany Watkins, a UWG senior. “But as you get older, you realize that a simple, sleek text is a lot better than a really out-there font.”

It was an eye-opening experience for the Carrollton students.

“I learned a lot about how fonts influence the way your design looks, about placing things in the right spot and how that affects your design,” said Fernanda Lara, 18.

The deadline for the AJC Peachtree Road Race T-shirt Design Contest is Feb. 28. The July 4th race is a premier Atlanta event and in 2011 it drew 60,000 runners from around the word.

Designs by Samples’ students have been finalists in the competition since 2009. He’s had two winners: Allison Bennett in 2010 and Jessica Ferguson in 2011.

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In this photo: Carrollton High School student Kelsey Lujan, UWG student Brittany Watkins (in the background), and CHS students Sydney Samson and Fernanda Lara.

UWG Tennis Set for Home Opener

The UWG tennis team will play host in their first home match of the season this Wednesday at 2 p.m. The match will take place at Sunset Hill Country Club as the team play's host to NAIA national powerhouse Shorter.

Head Coach Michael Coleman has already claimed his first win at West Georgia as the Wolves' beat Christian Brothers in five straight games on February 3. With the first win out of the way, the young Wolves' will look for consistent play and contributions from everyone on the team.

The Wolves' currently hold a record of 1-2 and will go up against a Shorter team that is 4-1 and came into the season ranked 15 in the NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Preseason Poll. With one match already completed between these teams it will be interesting to see what each coach decides to do in regards to roster positioning.

After Wednesday's match the Wolves' will hit the road yet again and will face off against Young Harris on February 18.

Learn more at: UWGSports.com

UWG Professor Plays Key Role in Afghanistan

Story by Master Gunnery Sgt. Phil Mehringer

MARJEH, Afghanistan -- Construction of a new produce packing plant, the Marjeh Fruit and Vegetable Packing Facility, complete with a solar-powered cold storage facility, was recently finished, inspected and is now ready for business.

The Marjeh plant could change the supply-and-demand economic model for area farmers.

Marjeh lies just east of the Helmand River which provides the necessary water, through an intricate network of canals, to grow a variety of crops year-round. But local farmers struggle to deliver their produce to distant markets.

Maj. Erich Bergiel, project supervisor and member of the Regional Command Southwest Economic Development section, related the problem of getting produce to market in an Afghan parable: “Put fresh pomegranate in the back of your truck and on the way to market it turns into pomegranate jelly.”

... Bergiel, a Reserve Marine from Carrolton, Ga., who teaches management at the University of West Georgia, said the Marjeh packing plant is the first of its kind in Helmand province.

To read more: http://www.dvidshub.net/news/83366/new-solar-powered-packing-facility-could-change-supply-demand-paradigm-afghan-farmers#.TzkyQs35OPP

Big Blue Friday!

Sex Therapy and Flirt Fest

The Student Activities Council along with the Student Government Association present "Sex Therapy Show and Flirt Fest" featuring Daniel Packard. The event will take place Monday, Feb. 13, from 7pm-9pm in the Campus Center Ballroom.

Wind Ensemble First Spring Concert

UWG Social Media Day

Get social with us! The UWG Social Media Collaborative and Auxiliary Services is thrilled to announce the first UWG Social Media Day, March 6. We invite you to connect on campus real-time with students, other departments and student organizations that are utilizing social media as a way of communicating and experiencing campus life.

Ways to participate:

• Register your department for the Tweet-n-Greet (for a table; space permitting), 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. in the TLC Atrium.
• Use the event hash tag #UWGsocial12 to tweet about the day’s activities.
• Connect face to face with students.
• Promote your Department’s Facebook, Twitter, YouTube pages; gaining new fans/followers.
• Encourage your Marketing and PR students to visit with Keith Meade, COO of What’s Up Interactive, at 1:00 p.m. in TLC1305.
• Have a ‘social’ event in your office from 2:00-5:00 p.m. inviting students to drop in (promote that day via Twitter and the event hashtag)
• Attend the next UWG Social Media Collaborative Meeting on February 23 at 3:00 p.m. in UCC 210 to become involved!

If you would like to register for the Tweet-n-Greet or for further information contact Sherri Shelnutt of Auxiliary Services at 678-839-5077 or sshelnut@westga.edu.

9 Ways Students Can Use Social Media to Boost Their Careers

Social media has become a powerful tool to connect us with friends, family, celebrities and anyone else you could possibly think of. It can also be used for professional purposes and students can launch their careers utilizing social media.

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Kate Brodock is executive director of digital and social media at Syracuse University, where she leads efforts in the space. Connect with her on Twitter at @just_kate and@othersidegroup.

If you’re a Generation X-er or older, you likely use social media to cut it in the real world. You may also use social networks for personal reasons, but it’s always with the understanding that you’re a professional.

But newer generations of college graduates began their social media experience as a very personal one. And the shift to using social media for career development may seem optional. But it’s a necessary evil at the very least, and can actually be quite beneficial to your future at the very best.

Here are a few things students should consider when starting to use social media professionally.

Read more: 9 Ways Students Can Use Social Media to Boost Their Careers

A Business Built on Garbage

A company that started with worm poop has turned into a global phenomenon that tackles some of the toughest stuff in the waste stream.

“We focus on things that are hard to recycle, not the things that are easy,” said Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of TerraCycle. The company has reduced tons of waste and donated millions to charity since it was founded.

Szaky was a freshman at Princeton when he and his friends were using worm poop to fertilize their gardens. The poop inspired them. In 2004 they had their first purchase order – from Wal-Mart for $250,000 – for poop packaged in soda bottles.

“We realized there was inherent value in poop,” he said. “In business you want to focus on areas where there are problems and you try to find creative solutions.”

From there, Szaky and his friends developed different flavors of poop for different types of plants – African violets and orchids have different tastes. Then they developed gardening tools from recycled materials.

From the beginning they have looked for creative ways of remaking materials that are hard to recycle: cookie sacks and drink pouches became tote bags; vinyl records became clocks and coasters; and bicycle chains became picture frames.

Companies are eager for solutions, he said. TerraCycle’s scientists and designers look at the garbage to figure out the best way to transform it.

“It’s all driven by the waste stream,” Szaky said. “Everything starts with the garbage. Garbage comes in, products go out.”

Since its founding the company has expanded into 20 countries, including Mexico, Canada, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, Denmark, Israel, Belgium, Argentina and the Netherlands. Through its collections and brigades programs the company has donated $5 million to charity globally, Szaky said. In 2011 it turned a small profit, he said.

The company is still growing and learning, he said. TerraCycle has tried three times to get a retail store going. But none has taken off. He said the company would likely try again.

“You have to take risks,” he said. “You have to be open to failure and to learn from that failure.”

And there’s the lesson for would-be entrepreneurs.

“If you have an idea, give it a shot. And if you fail, try again,” he said. “Be open to risk.”
University of West Georgia's Richards College of Business will present Szaky on Friday, Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. in the Townsend Center for the Performing Arts.

The presentation, part of the BB&T Lectures in Free Enterprise series, is free and open to the public.

Free tickets are available at the Townsend Center box office. Audience members will have chances to win TerraCycle products and other door prizes.

For ticket information, contact Beth Chandler at 678-839-5261 or bchandler@westga.edu, or call the Townsend Center at 678-839-4722.

Wolves Beat Delta State

It took a little while for the University of West Georgia men's basketball team to get used to being back at home, but once it did the Wolves thrived in an 82-70 win against Delta State on Thursday night at The Coliseum.

"It was great having the crowd with us, on our side after six of seven on the road. They were yelling at us, and it's better them yelling for us than against us and it gets us pumguaped up," UWG seniorrd Gavin Field said. "We started off slow, I think, because we were at home and it felt different. I think we thought the home crowd would give us the energy we needed and we didn't bring it ourselves."

West Georgia (19-5, 6-4 Gulf South Conference) found itself trailing, 38-35, at halftime after it came back from being down as many as 13 points in the first half. Field said the team got together in the locker room at halftime and knew it had to pick up the energy.

Providing the energy lift were freshmen Thomas Higginbotham and Taylor Cochran. Cochran came in while Lavon Gray got into foul trouble late in the first half and early in the second half to provide a spark, scoring nine points.

"Really got some nice lift from Thomas Higginbotham and Taylor Cochran. I thought they really lifted us. Lavon Gray foul trouble hurt us in the first half," UWG men's basketball coach Michael Cooney said.

Read more:Times-Georgian - Happy homecoming Wolves down Delta