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North Georgia News
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Earth Day participants show a commitment to
promote change
DAHLONEGA (April 28, 2008) – Carbon footprints, renewable energy sources, going green, composting – these topics may not be familiar to the average student, but junior Duane Kelley at North Georgia College & State University clearly understands their relevance to humankind’s survival.
Kelley, a transfer student from Young Harris College, was part of a group called Common Ground on that campus that taught environmental sustainability. The 20-year-old’s efforts helped garner a $10,000 grant to build learning and enrichment programs that involved the campus in environment-friendly practices. He plans to do the same thing at North Georgia within one year. Kelley started small on Earth Day, April 22, by taking 13 trash bags from buildings across campus and separating the recyclable content.
“I want to combat waste management ignorance on campus and show how much we save by reusing, reducing and recycling,” says Kelley, who will graduate next May. A group of students – five Charlie Company cadets and Kelley’s fiancé Ashley Crunkleton – sifted through more than 100 lbs. of trash for an hour, retrieving aluminum cans, plastic containers, paper and cardboard. Kelley weighed the trash bags before and after the recyclables were taken out, calculating that approximately 20 percent of the total trash was salvaged for recycling. “When we were digging through the trash, certain recyclable materials were contaminated. I bet about 65 percent would have been recyclable,” says Kelley. That telling figure is one of the reasons Kelley knows some action must be taken on campus. “Our imprint on this planet will be much less noticeable if we do,” says Kelley. The political science major is on a new Student Government Association committee to study recycling, but he says that reducing the use of natural resources and reusing resources is a key part of the solution for sustainability.
Earth Day came during the end of the semester as students began to cram for final exams, but that didn’t stop one class of 21 female students, mostly teacher education majors, from focusing on another type of test – how to help preserve the planet. Kelly West’s Environmental Science class took the spring semester to plan and organize an Earth Day event for Sardis Elementary School and executed it on April 2 to fit around the grade-school schedule. Despite the project’s early arrival before Earth Day, its clear focus was to educate a future generation on how to conserve the environment and earth’s natural resources.
“We really are at a point where current and future generations are going to have to step up and make changes in the way we treat the environment and the choices we make,” says freshman Courtney DeWitt, one of the event’s organizers. The 90-minute showcase at the Hall County school included a snack shack with organic fruits donated by Jaemor Farm Market in Alto, Ga., a recycling relay where students raced to pick up materials and place them in recycling bins, and “Save Our Water” interactive skits about water conservation. It also included a planting station, where students identified parts of a plant and planted their own seeds; a compost station, where students filled plastic bottles with organic material to learn about decomposition; and a small recycling demonstration showing how paper is recycled. “My students not only learned about the environment and environmental sustainability but how to make those concepts applicable to first-grade students,” says West, an instructor of biology at North Georgia. “The activities they set up for the children were fun and helped them grasp concepts that are hard for some adults.” The Environmental Science course is part of a learning community of four interlinked courses that helped facilitate the Earth Day project. “In a normal class you might not have that bond but in a learning community, you want to hold up your responsibility to each other,” says DeWitt. The 19-year-old didn’t want to see anyone fail and that sentiment among the group helped keep the Earth Day project on track through the semester. DeWitt tries to practice what she taught the children.
In addition to recycling, she uses reusable bags when shopping for groceries
and light bulbs that require less energy throughout her apartment. Some of
the students from the class also started their own recycling program in
Donovan Residence Hall and take their recyclables to Lumpkin County
facilities. Alpha Phi Omega President Elizabeth Bauman wanted to use Earth Day as a symbolic time to initiate new members into the NGCSU chapter of the national service fraternity. Members collected recycling from the residence halls on April 22 and took it to local recycling bins the following day. “This last service project kind of ushered in a new era,” says Bauman. “One of the main purposes of the fraternity is promoting leadership by providing initiative and motivation to make changes. When new members see a change it gives them the motivation to do even more.” Students in the Foundations of Leadership course finished shooting and editing 12 videos just before Earth Day and screened the films for students on campus. The videos will eventually be used in the Lumpkin County community. “Some are very funny and some are very educational,” says Michele Hill, who teaches the course. “All spoke to the issue of how the planet is in need of such activities and how recycling helps.” Kelly Davis combated the problem of littering by going directly into her community. The freshman, as part of a “civic action” assignment in a history course, managed a trash pick-up on April 18 in Suches, Ga. She and a youth group from her church covered at least seven miles of road on Highway 180, collecting a trailer full of trash. “That stretch of highway was looking terrible,” she says. “We wanted to make the community look better for the Tour de Georgia that came through town.” The high-profile bicycle race came through Suches on April 25, ending at the entrance to NGCSU in Dahlonega on the same day. Jason Dyer, a 32-year-old double major in English and music, juggles school with a job at Genesis Alternative Inc., a new sorghum-ethanol manufacturing company based in Blairsville. “When I was in the 4th grade, I read an article in the Weekly Reader about oil running out, and I’ve been worried ever since,” jokes Dyer. He used the April 15 Honors Day at the university as his platform to talk about a sustainable and renewable energy resource growing right here in Georgia. Sweet Sorghum grass, the basis for the company’s ethanol production, is widely available in nature, can be cultivated in various climates and provides a higher ethanol yield per acre than corn. Advocacy through the arts was professor Michael Marling DeCuellar’s solution to creating environmental awareness. He is one of 13 artists in Georgia Green: Eco-Art from the Peach State, an exhibit at GCSU in Milledgeville through June 8. In the classroom, adjunct business instructor Eugene Elander distributed to his finance class a story from the April 14 Newsweek about the Aptera Car, which he says gets 300 miles per gallon and goes on sale in California next year. “The story is intended to not only focus on ‘thinking outside the box’ but also to show that sometimes change comes incrementally.” Bringing this incremental change to the university and creating an environmentally conscious campus community is taking place primarily through the individual efforts of students, faculty members and others. A major grant to augment some of these efforts will come in the form of approximately 40 recycling bins to be placed on campus this summer. The National Recycling Coalition and the Coca-Cola Company awarded the university the 23-gallon bins, which can be designated for glass, plastic and aluminum. To find out what major projects other American colleges and universities are undertaking to help bring about environmental sustainability, go to Higher Education Goes Green, a campaign of Solutions for Our Future, a national project to build awareness of higher education’s service to the public. |
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Online learning transforms the classroom DAHLONEGA (April 24, 2008) – An increasing number of opportunities for students to learn in an online environment are expanding the boundaries of the traditional classroom at North Georgia College & State University through the use of GeorgiaVIEW Vista.
Vista, formally known as WebCT, is an online courseware system used to develop and administer Web-based classes. Faculty may choose to use it to deliver fully online courses or as a technology-enriched supplement for their face-to-face instruction by posting course materials, tracking student progress using assessment tools and adding multimedia content. Four Vista servers for all campuses across the state are maintained and supported by Advanced Learning Technologies, a unit within the University System of Georgia's Office of Information and Instructional Technology. Each institution pays a yearly fee fbolp students. "Many corporate job responsibilities involve the use of intranets, online database systems, and online training environments," said Judy McHan, NGCSU Vista institutional administrator. "When our faculty incorporate the use of online learning environments, we are helping our students become better prepared for a technology-rich career." Instructors can design courses or give selected assignments that allow students to complete them at their own pace without the rigid time and location constraints of regular class meetings. To deter students from cheating, tool settings in Vista may be enabled by the instructor to track student data for login and task completion times and to generate random-ordered tests and quizzes. Students can use communication tools like discussion boards, e-mail and chat in Vista to collaborate on group projects with their peers and to share feedback about topics related to their course work. Senior nursing major Carrie Snead considers the online option a blessing for helping her to juggle work as a full-time nurse in Roswell and family responsibilities while attending college. "By taking online classes, I am able to take a full course load and work full time – something I would have never been able to do if I had to attend face-to-face classes," said Snead. So far she has completed five fully online courses in her major, with some requiring a significant number of clinical hours at a specified healthcare facility.
"All of the courses I have taken required us to post feedback and questions several times per week. By 'chatting' online, we were able to share ideas and add to the information that we were learning," said Snead. "You are able to hear comments from people who would normally not speak up in class." Web-based learning environments were first used at North Georgia in 1998 when the university purchased a 500-user license for WebCT and a handful of faculty members embarked on using it as a resource to complement their teaching. The system was upgraded to WebCT Vista in Fall 2002 and completely transitioned to Vista by Fall 2004. Usage of the online tool at North Georgia has more than doubled since two years ago, with an estimated total of 355 class sections and more than 3,600 student users this spring semester. The majority of these sections are taught by instructors who are using Vista as supplemental material for their traditional face-to-face classes. Approximately 150 instructors are using Vista in some form this semester. However, the number of fully online and hybrid courses – a blend of online and face-to-face instruction with at least one class period delivered strictly online – are gradually increasing as faculty members become more accustomed to using the technology and the benefits it has to offer, said McHan. Vista is currently being used by NGCSU faculty in a wide range of disciplines, with the highest number of total class sections reported in the areas of psychology, nursing, history and computer science. The challenge of switching an elective course to a required one with almost 1,000 students last fall was met with the use of Vista. Michele Hill, assistant professor of leadership and psychology, helped build the fully online course "PSYC 1001: Foundations of Leadership," a new requirement for all incoming freshmen, in Vista to handle the pacing and organization of 35 to 40 class sections. Forty-eight students, who receive credit by taking upper level leadership courses, help Hill to supervise the sections and become “developing leaders” in the process. "I'm learning how to enhance my teaching through this tool as I move from one term to the next," said Hill, who plans to incorporate video and other multimedia in the future. "I know that this course introduces all new students to Vista, which is then used by other instructors later, so I'm assisting them in getting comfortable with it from the very beginning."
Russell Teasley, assistant professor of business management, has integrated Vista into his Strategic Management and International Business classes during the past four years with his usage running the gamut from course supplements to hybrid classes to teaching completely online, depending on the course. “I think students learn more online because they are more accountable and it forces discipline on the students,” said Teasley. “Most students are more responsive in Vista – some because they have to, others because they want to. The asynchronous and the convenience aspects are wonderful for me and for the students. The interaction is more thoughtful.” Amy Willard, a senior psychology major who is enrolled in Chuck Robertson's "Psychology of Aging" class, felt that the Vista component allowed her to concentrate better when in the actual classroom. "Having a quiz every week on Vista kept me on track by making sure I read the assigned material. I think this improved my course grade because I wasn't trying to read everything and cram the night before a big test," said Willard. "Vista does make it easier for me to pay attention in class, because I can print off PowerPoint slides and actually listen to the professor instead of just making sure I write down everything." A major upgrade to Vista 8 is scheduled by the USG from Fall 2008 to Fall 2009 to add features to help faculty design courses easier. A new "Goals" feature will help outline specific goals for student learning and match them with components in Vista. A roster tool will allow students to add a picture to their profile. Judy McHan and Michele Barton, Information and Instructional Technology, provide initial technical training and support for faculty. Irene Kokkala, director of the Center of Teaching and Learning Excellence, then works with instructors on a one-on-one basis or in small groups to help them design their courses. Jeanette Mann provides support for nursing faculty and students. |
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Students make their mark during Honors Day
DAHLONEGA (April 24, 2008) – McAuliffe found the source of the gunshots on the drill field, a Living Military History reenactment, and she spent the next hour learning about U.S. military weaponry, history, survival gear and communications devices.
History alumnus Eric Tedder, NG '06, had been shooting blanks – with a replica of a Revolutionary War musket – along with World War II and Civil War reenactors, attracting the attention of McAuliffe and others around campus. The half-day reenactment, part of the university's annual Honors Day, included students and volunteers dressed as soldiers from different U.S. wars demonstrating how soldiers fought and lived. Honors Day, which took place on April 15, was as diverse in
its delivery of subject matter as it was in the content itself. The event, in
its 13th year, was originally designed to showcase student achievement in
various academic disciplines throughout the schools. It has morphed into much
more, giving students opportunities to learn about disciplines outside their own
majors; engage in dialogue and debate on social and political issues; advocate
literary, environmental and artistic interests; and for some seniors, to receive
a final prep for the workforce. Fighting for a better future 11:55 a.m. The last English presentation from the Modern Languages, English and Fine Arts panel in Gloria Shott Performance Hall wasn't the typical book reading or deconstruction of a famous literary work. Jason Dyer, a 32-year-old double major in English and music, instead shared his Advanced Composition writing, which centers on his pursuit of developing alternative-fuel sources.
"When I was in the 4th grade, I read an article in the Weekly Reader about oil running out, and I've been worried ever since," he says. The comment drew laughter from his audience, but the message is a serious one, and Dyer is actively working to ensure that such an energy forecast won't spell disaster for the world's populace. He is involved in a new local venture to produce sorghum ethanol, made from Sweet Sorghum grass. Born in Blairsville – the self-proclaimed sorghum capital of the world and home to Georgia's official Sorghum Festival – Dyer says that his life came full circle when he became a partner last year in a new sorghum-ethanol manufacturing company, Genesis Alternative Inc., based in his hometown. "We have become dependent upon petroleum to produce the energy necessary to grow our food," he writes. "As the population increases, the demand for oil will increase and with no new oil being made we face the possibility of widespread famine and resource wars. Join us in our quest to avert these tragedies – our solution is the production of sorghum ethanol." Sweet Sorghum has many benefits, according to Dyer, including its widespread availability in nature, its ability to be cultivated in various climates and the fact it provides a higher ethanol yield per acre than corn. He says sorghum ethanol is a "zero energy" concept because there is an excess of energy created in the process, and it can be easily integrated into current energy infrastructures. "I want to be able to survive and live in southern Appalachia without this constant dependence," he says. "Every afternoon we experience it at the gas pump or when we go to the store and milk is a dollar more. It's time we do something."
12:20 p.m. June Koehler, an Army brat, has lived in 29 homes in her 21 years of life, averaging less than a year at each location. She'll make the move again for graduate school to the University of Granada in Spain in 2009, but this time it will be with a greater sense of self. Koehler's exploration of family history infused her art this year and defined her journey to find peace in a nomadic life.
Following are excerpts from her presentation, revealing the inspiration of her senior art show, which helped Koehler find meaning in "home" and a deeper sense of identity: "For years, I didn't know exactly how to respond when asked where I was from. I felt very little connection to any one place in particular. More than anything else, I thought of myself as a person intimately acquainted with the language of goodbyes. "Since my move out of my parents' house and into a dorm room at the age of seventeen, I had uncovered many of the misconceptions I had held about the word 'home' and all that it had implied to me previously. I realized that it was less about geographic proximity or even familial obligation, and more about sharing time with the people I love in the places that I love.
"I knew that I wanted to explore the idea of home, in particular how it informed the individual and provided a sense of identity. I thought it would be presumptuous of me to create images that weren't specific to my own life journey or that of other members of my family, but I wanted the works to be ambiguous enough that viewers would be able to relate their own experiences with my imagery. "My chief concern was to showcase human commonalities rather than differences." June Koehler's mixed-media art collection, "When the Veil is Lifted," is on display in the Nix Center through April 28. Her full presentation explaining the different pieces in the art collection is available here: "When the Veil is Lifted." [PDF]
Making a difference 1:15 p.m. Brittany Peck was giving a biology presentation in the Health & Natural Sciences Building on the effects of human recreation in the Chattahoochee River at the same time as other science students were scouring the campus to mitigate the effects of another type of manmade pollutant.
"We're supposed to have gloves for this," says special education sophomore Laura Pitts. She and her environmental science classmates used Honors Day to fulfill a community-service project by picking up trash on the main campus. With their schedules cleared for the day, the students split into several small groups and covered the whole campus in a six-hour period. Discarded socks, construction debris, used Q-tips, empty cans and curbs lined with cigarette butts were the scenery for the day. "We saw the human impact on the world and it's nice to reverse a little bit of the negative part," says Student Activities Board president Martin Erbele. Erbele was responsible for his group's bag of recyclables. By the end of the day, it was filled with aluminum, glass and other salvageable content that he and his group intended to separate and send to a recycling facility. Even after the long day of trash collection, the group made the decision on its own to take the extra step to recycle. "Right at the very beginning, we found a lot of beer cans and bottles on campus, probably more than anything else, so we decided why not recycle them," says Shelley Backstrom, a Spanish major. "We didn't think the campus was going to be that bad or
that it would take that long to clean up," she says. "You don't see the litter
unless you look for it, and it's there – it's like a disease." Anatomy of a crime scene
1:30 p.m. Young Hall's second-floor corridor was nearly impassable with students crowded in the hallway like tourists waiting to see a major attraction. Awaiting them at the end of the hall was a popular crime scene demonstration – complete with fake blood, body and bullet casings. Ten spectators at a time had the chance to critique the investigators' work and ask questions. Criminal justice students talked to audience members about the process of documenting and securing a crime scene and the evidence collection process. "As an investigator, it's important that you know what you're doing and can explain the process," says senior Jessica Oakes, president of the Criminal Justice Association, which organized the presentation. Investigators may be witnesses in a criminal case and must document a crime scene correctly and explain how they did it to a jury to maintain credibility, she says. Assistant professor Joe Morgan says that the crime scene showed students outside of the criminal justice program that North Georgia's curriculum is continuing to evolve and move forward. "I think it also announces the presence of these students
who have an interest in forensics and shows their desire to be on the cutting
edge and learn these processes in the forensics field."
A career primer for business students
2:15 p.m. Will Dunson has less than five months before he graduates. He's looking for a career straight out of college, so the business school's Honors Day sessions – focusing on domestic and international business careers, interviewing and job-hunting tips, business ethics, personal finance and other related topics – were the perfect motivation for the management senior to step up his efforts. A leadership course for business students that Dunson was enrolled in this semester planned the entire Mike Cottrell School of Business's Honors Day agenda. In years past, Dunson says that student speakers may have benefited from presenting, but there was little incentive for other business students to attend. Dunson and his classmates invited business people from around the region to speak on relevant topics, promoted the event and helped coordinate all the logistical support for the event planning.
The business sessions attracted more than 150 participants to 17 distinct forums. Students took advantage of the experience of senior-level business professionals, including the school's major benefactor, Mike Cottrell, who was interviewed by dean Max Burns. The two carried on a discussion that explored topics ranging from Cottrell's business to the development of the Center for the Future of North Georgia at the university. "With the economy getting as rough as it is, the more knowledge we get, the better off we'll be," says Dunson. He says the day was beneficial for him and he hopes it was for others as well. Nikki Harben, a senior in management who graduates in mere
weeks, says that "this was good for me, because it's all related to real life. I
got tips from people who actually know what they're talking about."
Tackling real-world problems
3:05 p.m. Dunlap Hall's education classrooms were jam-packed during a three-hour afternoon session on April 15. Seniors majoring in early childhood and special education shared their student-teaching experiences and challenges through a series of presentations with juniors and other seniors. Caycee Nash openly admits the presentations mean more to the seniors, because they essentially work full time in school systems during part of their final year in the teacher education program and can identify more readily with the experiences. "As a senior, when you're in the schools all day long, you get a lot more involved," Nash says. "When Honors Day comes around, you compare the experiences of other student teachers with your own and that helps you to understand what's waiting for you out in the teaching workforce."
Nash's group focused on problems plaguing the after-school program at her particular school. "The program wasn't quite as structured as teachers thought it should be," she says. "The YMCA took it over from the school system and it didn't provide the community involvement and academic-enrichment activities that it should have." Nash says the overall goal of this year's Honors Day presentations was to demonstrate to the students in the education program that they can find areas in schools to improve and then advocate their own solutions. "If you listen to the presentations, you can tie them all back to how the students perform academically and how we can help them improve their learning." That sentiment too can be applied to Honors Day as its role in the undergraduate student experience grows. The annual event has shown that it continues to reinvent itself and to provide an expanding number of opportunities for students to excel and reach their potential. |
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Spring break becomes profound experience
for international students
DAHLONEGA (April 21, 2008) – Shahin Uddin's last spring break as a college student could have been spent on the beach or on a getaway with friends or just relaxing. Instead, Uddin, a 24-year-old criminal justice senior at North Georgia College & State University, decided to give more than a dozen international students a rare experience in the nation's capital. He spent much of his spring break shopping for groceries, leading students around Washington D.C. and looking after the general welfare of his guests. Uddin's parents volunteered their Warrenton, Va., home for the week of March 17-21, letting 19 North Georgia students take up residence there. Uddin's mother cooked Bangladesh-style entrees every night for the 13 international students and six American students along on the trip. After breakfast every morning at the Uddins, the students piled into two rental vans with packed lunches, drove 45 minutes to the Washington Metrorail and enjoyed the rest of the ride into the city on the public transit. "I wanted the international students to get out of Dahlonega and to see more of America and to do it at very little cost to them," says Uddin. He says not many of the students have transportation of their own as foreigners and he wanted their impression of America to be more than just Lumpkin County. "I wanted them to get a grasp of America's history, government system and really the heart of the country," he says. "What better place to go than Washington? Not every American can say they've even had that experience." Yun Chur, 31, from Seoul, South Korea, had a very unique experience that very few Americans have ever had. The U.S. Supreme Court heard a case on the Second Amendment, which guarantees the "right of the people to keep and bear arms," on March 18, and Chur was witness to part of the proceedings held by the Supreme Court, which last ruled on a Second Amendment case in 1939. "We waited five hours to see five minutes of the court hearing," says Chur, a nursing major. People were in line at the federal building as early as that Sunday and only the first 50 or so were accommodated for the full court session. Chur says that when his group rotated inside, the chief justices were asking pointed questions of the lawyers and sometimes did not let the counsel finish their statements. It was not what I expected, but it was very interesting," he says. Chur was accompanied by a few of his fellow international students who committed to the 4:30 a.m. trip into the city, and while they waited, national news media outlets swarming the area interviewed two of his friends. Chur was glad for the company. He says there were a lot of protesters and police and people were arguing all around him, but it was an experience he says he wouldn't have passed up. Nako Furukawa, 23, from Nagoya, Japan graduates on May 2, and for her, commencement will be bitter sweet. Furukawa has spent more than four years at NGCSU working toward an accounting degree. She will miss her friends in the International Students Association and the D.C. trip only punctuated the feeling. "I got to know my friends on a much more personal level," she says. The 14 girls on the trip slept on the Uddins' living room floor together and shared two bathrooms for a week. One night, everyone ended up watching the popular Indian film "Kal Ho Naa Ho," ("If Tomorrow Never Comes") that had the girls crying by the end and the boys laughing at the girls, Furukawa says.
"It was one of the biggest events in the house." Furukawa says "visiting the famous places" in D.C. was fun, but the trip was made memorable because of the time that she shared with her friends from countries such as Zambia, Sweden, Malaysia and South Korea. "We were such the tourists, I'm sure people could tell," she says laughing. "I was always telling people to quiet down. I'm from the Japanese culture and we're not loud in public." Furukawa, the designated photographer and videographer of the group, was usually too embarrassed to take part in any public antics. But she was sure to film her friends acting up. Whenever crossing streets in D.C., the students, usually led by Uddin, would skip along or walk sideways like crabs or something else silly, Furukawa says. "I've never been on a trip with this many people who were such close friends," she says. "I'm going to miss them. It was memorable, but at the same time [the trip] made me sad." Binal Naik, a 25-year-old from Zambia, in south Africa, followed her sister Dharmisha, now a graduate student, to NGCSU. She will graduate with a bachelor's in accounting. Her trip to the nation's capital left her awestruck. Naik says that if she was forced to choose her favorite place, it would be the U.S. Capitol. The tour guide explained the history and the customs of the Capitol and its ornaments, which made the experience fascinating to Naik. The Holocaust Museum left an indelible impression on the young woman. She says it was a sad place to go. She walked past a room filled with shoes, representing the victims of the Holocaust and the magnitude of the atrocity. "I've read about it, but actually seeing it put perspective to the Holocaust," Naik says. "I wish people would see that this is happening in other places now and find ways to stop it." Naik was also moved by her visit to Arlington National Cemetery and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Being there made her realize the sacrifices of American soldiers to protect their country. "We do not have anything like this in our country to remember those who have made such sacrifices," she says. Uddin knew the trip was well worth the effort during the course of the week. "The international students learned about each other, learned about all the nations represented and about America." Uddin's intentions were to touch the lives of his fellow students in some small way, and as future leaders of their countries, he believes even this one trip will have some significance in creating a common ground among them. Best of all, Uddin stayed out of trouble during his last spring break in college and was at home where his parents could make sure of it. But he didn't stay completely on the right side of the law – on the road trip north, he parked the vans on the edge of the interstate and everyone jumped out to pose in front of the signs at the state lines. "It was totally illegal, but everyone begged me to do it," he says. "What can I say, they wanted to experience everything." |
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Young
soldier tells future officers of war's reality
DAHLONEGA (March 27, 2008) – Two days before students
carried their resumes into Memorial Hall Gym at North Georgia College &
State University for the annual career fair,
cadets sat in silence in the open arena on March 10 receiving a different
kind of career counseling from a young lieutenant who almost died in Iraq
saving the lives of fellow soldiers. "When you're in combat, it's really hard to make sense
of everything, because everything is so chaotic," said 1st Lt. Walter B.
Jackson, a West Point graduate and field artillery officer. "There are a lot
of things you really can't prepare for – it's a lot of on-the-job training." Jackson, visiting campus as a guest speaker for the corps, told the future Army leaders that their actions in combat would be instinctive because of the character growth they experience through their military instruction at North Georgia. During the insurgent attack that left him hospitalized for a year at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Jackson's company commander and first sergeant – the key leaders in his unit – were the first casualties wounded by machine-gun fire. Two machine-gun positions pinned down the U.S. soldiers who were investigating a suspected insurgent location. Lt. Jackson, the unit's fire support officer, was with the commander when they were ambushed. While Jackson treated his first sergeant's injuries, the lieutenant was
shot in the hand and leg and lost consciousness briefly. When he came to, he
switched between administering first aid to his fellow soldier and returning
gun fire on the enemy. Cadet Col. Dan King, the top cadet at the university, said it was good to
see a young officer only a little older than himself who had a positive
attitude "Expect to be shocked when you're deployed," Jackson, now 25, told his
audience. "You never really get used to being in combat, always on edge, not
knowing what to expect." |
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Student artwork gets the skateboard treatment
DAHLONEGA (March 27, 2008) – Michael Marling de Cuellar had the perfect community project where art students at North Georgia College & State University could volunteer their time and talent, so he began stopping people in the hallway in the Nix Center to solicit their interest. The associate professor of fine arts recruited 20 art majors to paint more than 30 skateboards, formally known as skatedecks, for the Appalachian Skate Klub's Paint a Deck project. Marling, a former skateboarder himself, identified with the group, which is raising $250,000 to build a safe, low-maintenance skating park in the community. The hand-painted skatedecks were donated by the art students to the non-profit, known as ASK, and went on sale at Dahlonega's first Celtic Music Festival, March 8-9. The non-profit isn't of the typical variety – members of the board of directors (ages 6 to 21) favor knee pads and helmets to suits and ties and the only experience needed is to know how to handle a skateboard on a 90-degree incline.
Their work is serious business though. They have cleaned over 3,000 feet of grout at the chamber of commerce, painted the chamber building, helped remodel the new Rick's Restaurant, collected money for a mother who lost her child in an accident and cleaned up trash at an illegal dumping site at the old Burrito Express across from NGCSU's main entrance. Marling said that he wanted art students to volunteer for the Paint a Deck project so they would get into the habit of using their art to contribute to the community and not just make money. "My whole idea is that we have children in this community who don't have places to do things," said Marling. "ASK is trying to change that in a very positive aspect and I thought we could help them reach that goal." ASK has raised a little over $12,000 since it was formed at the start of 2008. Dahlonega resident and studio art major Brad Gailey had seen the ASK kids around town and wanted to help in their cause. His skatedeck art, a tribute to Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, was a painting of a rat in skater gear drawn in the same style as the 1960s artist. "I wanted to recreate some of the imagery of my youth on the skatedeck that people might identity with Ed Roth's work." The close-knit nature of the university's art community also prompted Gailey to help in the project. "I'm over 50 years old but the kids in the art department welcomed me like I'm one of them. I think art students are ready to volunteer their talents because they love any chance to use them." Jared Bertram volunteered during a hectic year preparing for his senior art show because he has always been involved with youth. He has grown up in the Boy Scouts of America and is an assistant scout leader in the organization. "The idea of kids skateboarding and being involved in something they love, keeping them active and out of trouble – it's something that can benefit us all." |
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Beetle lab advances university’s applied research
DAHLONEGA (Feb. 26, 2008) – On Feb. 23, the Environmental Leadership Center at North Georgia College & State University hosted a grand opening for its new Predator Beetle Lab, designed for researchers to raise beetles to help preserve the hemlock tree population of north Georgia. The predator beetles eat tiny invasive insects from Asia, called hemlock wooly adelgids, or HWAs, which are killing the hemlock population. “Hemlock trees are vital members of our mountain ecosystems,” says Robert Fuller, the founder of NGCSU’s Predator Beetle Lab, only the third such lab in the state. “Hemlocks are most commonly found in moist environments near rivers and streams, where they provide shade for the streams and help stabilize the riparian soil along the stream banks. The trees provide food and habitat for hundreds of species in their ecosystem.” Young Harris College and the University of Georgia
house the state’s other two beetle labs. They are also studying The decimation of other Hemlock tree populations in the United States has left soil exposed to erosion and once cool trout streams exposed and warmed by the summer sun. “HWAs are here, and experience has shown that it can kill our hemlocks in as little as three years,” Fuller says.
In November, he discovered HWAs for the first time along the Etowah River just north of the Ranger Camp, and one of his students discovered them along the Chestatee River just upstream of Highway 52 East. Sara Osicka, the new lab coordinator, says the predator beetles will be raised in the lab and then released by the Georgia Forest Service. She would like to monitor the beetles’ progress in the local ecosystem and involve undergraduate students with the lab’s work. The first beetle eggs were laid the week of Jan. 21, and Fuller hopes to have mature beetles ready for release to the forest in March. “While there are a few native predators that will eat HWAs, none attack it rapidly enough to significantly slow its advance,” says Fuller. “The only known long-term protection is to introduce predator beetles from Asia that keep HWAs in check there.” The NGCSU applied research facility, located on Sunset Drive, was funded through the Georgia General Assembly. |
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North Georgia dean sets sights on developing premier business
school
DAHLONEGA (Feb. 22, 2008) – Max Burns, dean of the Mike Cottrell School of Business at North Georgia College & State University, began his new role in higher education and having served a congressional term of office in the U.S. House of Representatives. The former Senior Fulbright Scholar is taking charge of the newly reorganized business school at a pivotal time for the school and university. Burns has been charged with developing the first comprehensive, accreditable graduate business degree program in the region. North Georgia’s new Master of Business Administration degree program will enroll its first class in August at Cumming City Hall in Forsyth County. “My primary responsibility is to advance the Mike Cottrell School of Business and make it the best business school in the nation for a school of its size and mission,” Burns says. “I’m going to do that internally within the university and the University System of Georgia and also externally with local businesses and industry.
“Right now, we are strategically positioning the business school to serve the region at a much greater level and the MBA program is a major component of our plan,” says Burns. “We want this degree to offer business professionals a quality graduate education close to home.” Burns has considerable experience in the public and private sectors. He was a senior policy advisor in Washington after his elected term as a U.S. representative for Georgia’s 12th Congressional District. His engineering background formally began with an undergraduate degree from Georgia Tech and eventually led him to a career in academia as a professor of information systems at Georgia Southern University. He received his master’s in business information systems and a doctorate in business administration from Georgia State University. His information technology background is benefitting North Georgia’s MBA program through the development of new classrooms designed specifically to support an enhanced technology environment for learning. Burns is also focusing on other ways to develop regional engagement with communities and businesses. “We’re continuing to support and enhance our strong undergraduate programs. Beyond that we’re looking at expanding our role in serving the region from the standpoint of economic growth and development and quality of life development. “We’re working with multiple communities and counties on technology initiatives, which I think is critical to the growth of the university and the region,” Burns says. North Georgia has plans for a major new center that will facilitate the study and advancement of the region’s economy. The Center for the Future of North Georgia will be part of the Mike Cottrell School of Business and a key part of the university’s strategy for regional engagement with a focus on economic development and growth within the region. For more information about North Georgia’s business programs and initiatives, go online to www.ngcsu.edu. More information on the new MBA program is located at www.northgeorgiamba.com. |
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North Georgia picks location for new Master of Business
Administration degree program
DAHLONEGA (Feb. 20, 2008) – North Georgia College & State University and City of Cumming officials announced the inaugural location of the university’s new Master of Business Administration degree program during the Feb. 19 Cumming City Council meeting. The university’s first MBA classes will begin in August on the fourth floor of Cumming City Hall, located right off Georgia Highway 400 in downtown Cumming. The business program was approved last spring by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents based on a growing need in the region for a graduate-level business program. North Georgia President David Potter addressed Cumming Mayor Ford Gravitt, council members and local citizens at the Feb. 19 city council meeting, expressing pride in the partnership between the university and the community, which he said will benefit the citizens throughout the Georgia 400 corridor.
“We are pleased to offer this program and look forward to providing
additional programs in the future that benefit the workforce of our
northeast Georgia region,” NGCSU President David Potter said. “We are
grateful for the support of our Cumming partners in this new venture.”
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New emergency information system being implemented DAHLONEGA (Feb. 15, 2008) – Once again, we are reminded of the tragedies that can occur on our nation’s college and university campuses. In just the last few days, we have seen tornadoes destroy much of the campus of Union University in Tennessee and the tragic deaths of students at Louisiana Technological College and Northern Illinois University. Immediate communications are critical to assuring maximum safety for students, faculty and staff when life-threatening and emergency events occur. North Georgia is implementing an immediate emergency communication system called the Connect-ED service. It enables campus leaders to send emergency information to the personal electronic devices of students and other members of the campus community. Connect-ED sends messages via four different modes of communication:
The university purchased Connect-ED in January and full rollout is expected by March 15. “Notifying all students immediately is crucial in emergency situations, such as a severe storm or campus closure,” NGCSU President David Potter said. “It is essential for students to enter all of their contact information into the Connect-ED database. The more ways we have to contact individuals, the better our odds are of spreading timely information and updates and keeping everyone safe.” “This network will only be used in real emergencies,” said Mike Stapleton, director of Public Safety. “Simultaneous contact to all registered devices can be made within moments of emergency events. This communication is proven to save lives, reduce fear and help people make informed decisions.” “The real challenge of any emergency communication system is convincing people to enter their contact information. We will begin a campaign immediately to make students, faculty and staff aware of this system and to prepare them to register their contact numbers in March,” said John Clower, vice president for Student Affairs. Through Connect-Ed, individuals may enter six contact numbers including their home and cell phone numbers, e-mail address, parents and family contact numbers, or numbers from text-based devices. |
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DAHLONEGA (Aug. 17, 2007) – For the past four years, North Georgia College & State University has consistently been included among the top Public Universities in the South among those institutions providing undergraduate and master’s programs in U.S.News & World Report’s annual edition of “America’s Best Colleges.” Among public institutions, North Georgia is listed at number 20 in the South, and among both private and public universities, NGCSU is number 50 in the 2008 edition of the publication.
“The U.S.News & World Report college rankings do serve to give the public an indication of the quality of the education and experiences our students receive,” said Terry McLeod, NGCSU associate vice president of Academic Affairs. “But what we are proudest of and what we put our efforts into sustaining is the quality of our academic programs and the leadership experiences that our students are afforded.” NGCSU, founded in 1873, is the second oldest public university in the state, and has been designated by the Board of Regents and the General Assembly as the Military College of Georgia as well as a Leadership Institution in the state. |
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This page last modified on: Wednesday, 07 May 2008 16:42:03 -0400 by University Relations |
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(Above)
Charlie Company cadets Duane Kelley, Narayan Hearn and
Justin Herring (pictured) along with Daniel Smith, Jeffrey
Herron and Ashley Crunkleton went through 13 bags and more than
100 lbs. of trash to pull out recyclables. Twenty percent of the
total weight was recyclable, with a total of 65 percent that
would have been recyclable if some of the content were not
contaminated.
(Left)
DUMPSTER DIVING: Undergraduate Ashley Crunkleton volunteered
her time to dig through other students' trash. She spent an hour
separating recyclables from the garbage. 
"When I was in the 4th grade, I read an article in the Weekly Reader about oil running out, and I've been worried ever since."
"For
years, I didn't know exactly how to respond when asked where
I was from. More than anything else, I thought of myself as
a person intimately acquainted with the language of
goodbyes." – June Koehler,
on her inspiration for her senior art show
