Students aid search for missing pilot using image database

Holly Payne (left) with her students.

DAHLONEGA (Sept. 27, 2007) – Aviation pioneer and millionaire Steve Fossett went missing in the Nevada desert on Labor Day. The National Aviation Hall of Fame inductee was flying a single-engine aircraft.

Holly Payne, who has followed the headline-making story, decided to join the rescue efforts for the missing pilot by helping search a massive 600 square-mile geographic area.

On Friday, about 70 undergraduates in her Computers and Information Systems Seminar course undertook searching more than 2,935 images – equating to approximately 5,195 acres – of desert terrain using database technology.

The North Georgia College & State University students used the Amazon Mechanical Turk computer program at mturk.com to search the images for Steve Fossett and his aircraft. When students came across images with anomalous content, they then accessed the photos through Google Earth, an online resource with satellite imagery, maps, terrain and 3D buildings, to get a closer look.

Payne, a computer science instructor at the university, said that Google purchased the most up-to-date satellite imagery of the search area so that it might be used for such a purpose.

“We may be in Georgia, but with technology, we can look for a missing person in another part of the country,” Payne said. “In that light, the students realized that this might change a family’s life if they could help the family in any way.”

The computer science course focuses on database technology and building students’ abilities to competently use information resources. It also familiarizes students with the structure, planning and usability of databases.

“We’re in the classroom developing databases using primarily Microsoft Access. This was an opportunity to look at other types of databases out there.”

Payne made the long-distance search-and-rescue effort a graded assignment. The students were assigned Global Positioning System, or GPS, coordinates and had to identify what was at the location.

“In that area of the country, it’s rugged, barren terrain with canyons, but I wanted students to make the effort and take this project seriously,” Payne said.

Through the Amazon Mechanical Turk program, students could “flag” an image and request that suspicious or unidentifiable objects be researched further. Payne asked students who flagged any photos to copy her on their findings.

“We didn't find Steve Fossett’s plane as far as I know, but it was definitely an interesting way to learn about image databases and hopefully a real-life learning experience for students to understand how they can impact peoples’ lives.”

Georgia Appalachian Center for Higher Education to award grants to 10 local high schools

DAHLONEGA (Sept. 20, 2007) – The Georgia Appalachian Center for Higher Education at North Georgia College & State University will award 10 competitive grants totaling $72,100 to area high schools at a check presentation on Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. in the NGCSU Dining Hall on the Dahlonega campus. This current academic year, the schools will implement their proposed programs, designed to assist and encourage students to finish high school and pursue post-secondary education.

The presidents of 21 area colleges, universities and technical colleges – who comprise the GACHE’s Advisory Board – will participate with Commissioner Mike Beatty, Department of Community Affairs; Mr. James Thompson, Appalachian Regional Commission Manager; and Dean Bob Michael, NGCSU School of Education, in presenting the symbolic Publishers Clearing House-style checks. Schools receiving funding include:

“We are excited that so many school principals, faculties and staff were willing to step up to the challenge of ensuring that their students graduate ready for college and with real post-secondary choices,” said Shirley Davis, director of the GACHE. “The economic consequences of leaving high school without a diploma are severe. We want every student to have college as a viable option.”

The Georgia Appalachian Center for Higher Education is located in the NGCSU School of Education and is funded by NGCSU and the Appalachian Regional Commission. As part of the Appalachian Higher Education Network and one of ten centers in the Appalachian states, the GACHE provides information to schools to increase student opportunities for pursuing postsecondary education.

Language education takes off at North Georgia

	Chi-Hsuan Catterson teaches North Georgia students in an entry-level Chinese language course.

DAHLONEGA (Sept. 14, 2007) – Undergraduates at North Georgia College & State University showed a strong interest in Chinese language courses when they were first offered in 2006. The program is now a new language minor this fall. German language studies took a hiatus for seven years, returning this year also as an academic minor.

“There’s a big interest in languages right now, particularly in strategic languages,” says Brian Mann, head of the Department of Modern Languages.

A new bachelor’s degree in transatlantic studies, starting next year, will have a major linguistic component.

"Part of the exciting aspect of this degree is that it is tied to language learning, and each course will come with one credit in French or Spanish,” says Chris Jespersen, co-director of the $350,000 federal grant being used to establish the program.

Hanna Stepp (foreground) practices writing Chinese language characters.

A newly established international affairs bachelor's degree offers the flexibility for students to pick a region and study a combination of the region's language, politics and history. 

“At North Georgia, we’re trying to kind of revolutionize language training so that it fits with the needs of a competitive global community,” says Dlynn Armstrong-Williams, who led the development of the new international affairs program.

Language education is permeating the curriculum – the university has implemented a requirement for all freshmen to take courses in a second language. A new resource called NASILP allows students to study less commonly taught languages – Arabic and Korean are currently offered – via self-instructional language tools. A unique partnership with the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif., allows cadets to receive college credit and become U.S. Army linguists through DLI. These students have come to NGCSU proficient in Russian, Arabic, Persian Farsi and other languages.

“It is language that structures the way people view the world and the doorway through which all learning must pass,” says Mann.

He makes a succinct case for studying languages when he shares with new French students a quote from medieval king Charlemagne: “To have another language is to possess a second soul.”

Business school sign unveiling Sept. 19

	The Newton Oakes Center is home to the new Mike Cottrell School of Business.

DAHLONEGA (Sept. 12, 2007) – The official sign unveiling for the Mike Cottrell School of Business at North Georgia College & State University will take place Sept. 19 at 2:30 p.m. outside the Newton Oakes Center in the black zone parking lot. The business school is the first of the university’s four academic schools to be named.

The honor will recognize local entrepreneur Mike Cottrell, who committed a $10 million contribution, the largest in the university’s history, to the business school. The Mike Cottrell School of Business was officially named on July 1.

“We have the opportunity to make the North Georgia business school one of the best schools of its kind and size in the country,” said Cottrell. “That’s the goal and I think it’s one we can achieve.”

The business school will, in the coming years, play a vital role in regional engagement, one of the university’s four strategic themes, as the Center for the Future of North Georgia – an economic development and entrepreneurial center – is established.

The Sept. 19 event will feature the unveiling of the “Mike Cottrell School of Business” sign, placed near the top of Newton Oakes next to the towering glass exterior of the building’s atrium and facing Chestatee Street. The prominent sign will be in full view along one of Dahlonega’s main downtown roadways.

Community members, business leaders, students and faculty and staff are invited to the event. The Newton Oakes Center is home to North Georgia’s business programs.

This page last modified on: Friday, 01 February 2008 15:18:05 -0500 by University Relations    

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