Prof studies what makes successful African-American marriages work
Chalandra Bryant, a professor of human development and family science in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, studies what happens in marriage between that wedding day and when the marriage ends, no matter the cause.
Just how does someone with vision impairment read a website? Or, how does someone who can’t hear well listen to audio files on a website?
Thanks to various assistive technology tools — such as screen readers and audio captioning — users with different disabilities can have the same access to digital content as those without disabilities.
The University of Georgia and other institutions in the University System of Georgia (USG) follow Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998, which requires that web-based information and data be equally available to users with and without disabilities.
The College of Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) is joining other groups at UGA and the USG to mark Global Accessibility Awareness Day on Thursday, May 9.
Global Accessibility Awareness Day is intended to get people talking, thinking and learning about digital (web, software, mobile, etc.) accessibility and users with different disabilities.
The Web Accessibility Group (WAG) — which is a joint group of digital content providers and web designers at UGA and 22 other USG institutions — has resources available for meeting Section 508 requirements.
Is your department’s website web accessible? WAG has accessibility checkers on its website to ensure that your website is accessible to those with disabilities.
Not sure about the requirements to meet web accessibility requirements? WAG provides training resources, including information on how to make courses in eLC meet Section 508 standards.
For Global Accessibility Awareness Day, some ideas to experience digital accessibility firsthand for an hour include:
turning off your computer speakers and trying to access web-based videos
turning off your monitor and trying to access websites by hearing, instead of sight
unplugging your mouse and trying to navigate websites with only your keyboard
removing semantic structure and trying to understand website content.
WAG also maintains a listserv, which is open to anyone.
HACE Family Financial Planning & Terry Accounting Students Provide Income Tax Assistance to Athens-Clarke County
Writer: Hannah Adair
Students from the HACE Family Financial Planning Program and the Terry College of Business Accounting Program partnered with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Georgia United Credit Union to provide free tax preparation services for a record 865 individuals this tax season. The IRS trains the students and the Georgia United Credit Union provides the office space and funding. Consumers then receive tax preparation and electronic filing at no charge. This partnership provides real-life experience to students within the Family Financial Planning and Accounting majors. Students enroll in this service-learning course and participate in the VITA program to earn academic credit.
A group of nutrition professors are investigating how obesity may affect folate metabolism during pregnancy. With an increasingly obese population and folate recommendations based on studies from the 1990s, they surmise that obese mothers may need more folate during pregnancy.
For the past three years Family and Consumer Science student Ambassadors have been packaging and distributing exam survival kits filled with snacks to tide students over as they prepare for their final exams. The students package 350 kits and distribute them during morning class changes at the end of the semester. For more information, visit http://photo.alumni.uga.edu/mediapg/detail/78/examkit.
HACE Ph.D Student Kristi Warren-Scott Named Outstanding Campus Leader by UGA’s chapter of the NAACP
Writer: Hannah Adair
The department of Housing and Consumer Economics is proud to announce that our Ph.D student Kristi Warren-Scott was named the Outstanding Campus Leader by the University of Georgia's chapter of the NAACP. This recognition took place at the 4th Annual Image Awards.
UGA researchers receive $3 million NIH grant to assess alcohol education
The benefits of two rounds of family-centered prevention programs designed to deter alcohol use among rural African-American youths will be the focus of a five-year, $3 million project conducted by University of Georgia researchers.
Former HACE Ph.D. student Anne Duke wins Robert O. Herrmann Ph.D. Dissertation Award
Anne Duke won the Robert O. Herrmann Ph.D. Dissertation Award for her dissertation entitled "Motivating Personal Contribution to Health Saving Accounts." Dr. Brenda Cude was her major professor and presented her with the award at the American Council on Consumer Interests (ACCI) annual conference in Portland, Oregon. This award was established to identify and recognize outstanding graduate student research which addresses issues relevant to the well-being of consumers and meets the research guidelines of the Journal of Consumer Affairs.
HACE Department Head, Dr. Sheri Worthy, attends Financial Literacy Month Proclamation at the Capitol
Writer: Hannah Adair
HACE Department Head Dr. Sheri Worthy (picture: back row) and the constituents of the Georgia Consortium for Personal Financial Literacy were recently present at the capitol for a proclamation. The Georgia Consortium is the JumpStart affiliate for Georgia in its financial literacy efforts aimed at youth in kindergarten through college. Georgia Governor Nathan Deal proclaimed April as Financial Literacy Month, as a means to accent the wealth of resources available to assist Georgians in improving their knowledge of personal finance concepts.
Two HACE Students Inducted into the Blue Key Honor Society
Writer: Hannah Adair
Sunday, April 7, 2013 was the induction to the Blue Key Honor Society. The Department of Housing and Consumer Economics is proud to annouce that 2 of our students were inducted. Tyler Baker, BSFCS Housing/Residential Property Management, Family Financial Planning major, and Kristi-Warren Scott, and Housing and Consumer Economics PhD student. Dr. Anne Sweaney, Josiah Meigs Distinguished Professor Emerita and former HACE Department Head was the key note speaker
Dr. Debbie Phillips:Top 100 Women Changing the World of Real Estate Management
Writer: Hannah Adair
Dr. Debbie Phillips was recognized as one of the Top 100 Women Changing the World of Real Estate Management by the Institute of Real Estate Management. IREM honors 100 women for their positive impact on the real estate management profession. Recognized for innovation, mentoring, community service, leadership and other laudable initiatives, the women identified range from senior officers of global real estate firms to self-employed entrepreneurs to site managers of single properties who are prized for the great work they do. Phillips is President of The Quadrillion and IREM GA VP of Education. “In big ways and small,” said IREM® 2012 President James A. Evans, CPM®, “women are changing the face of the real estate management industry daily. This was the impetus for IREM to identify women who represent the absolute best of what our industry can accomplish.” http://www.iremga.org/irem/news/details.phx?itemid=421&navid=823
Students led by multicultural specialist Sharon Gibson, of the department of Housing and Consumer Economics, recently made their mark in the textile industry in an unexpected, but certainly not unappreciated way.
The Fashion Merchandising majors collaborated with Georgia sheep farmers to produce high-quality wool socks to donate to American soldiers fighting in Afghanistan. This coalition, coordinated by Ms. Gibson, also worked with UGA textile scientist Patti Annis and Texas State professor Gwen Hustvedt to research market trends about buying fabric and textiles locally. To that end, they bought wool from sheep farmers in Madison County. The multitude of wool left over after the study was turned in to socks, and sent to the soldiers with the help of FACS undergraduates.
“In the end,” Gibson says, “it’s not just about socks. It’s about making connections. It’s about having students who are interested in fashion understanding their dependence on agriculture, and preserving what we say we value.”
For more information on UGA’s Socks for Soldiers project, go to www.facebook.com/ifsockscouldtalk.
Original article found at:
http://news.uga.edu/releases/article/georgia-sheep-to-soldiers-feet-socks-warmly-received/
Dr. Lance Palmer Named 2013 Public Service and Outreach Engaged Scholar
Writer: Hannah Adair
Congratulations to Dr. Lance Palmer, Associate Professor of Housing and Consumer Economics. Dr. Palmer is the recipient of the 2013 Engaged Scholar Award. This award is presented each year by the Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach. Dr. Palmer was recognized for his development of the VITA program (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance). VITA is staffed by students in service learning courses and provides free tax preparation services to low and moderate income households in Athens-Clarke County.
Studies Find Strong Links Between Food Insecurity, Health Care Among Elderly
A fear of going hungry may be leading many older Georgians to skip medications and cancel doctors' appointments as they juggle limited incomes with prescription costs and out-of-pocket copayments required by Medicare, according to two new studies by University of Georgia researchers.
Maria Bermudez, an assistant professor in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, aims to help individuals and families overcome adversity and other life challenges through her research and outreach. Read More
The department of Textiles, Merchandising & Interiors has a new Furnishings and Interiors website. Slideshow displays of student work, student biographies and alumni stories are featured.
Central State Hospital - After 170 Years, the Cycle Ends.
Writer: Alan Judd, AJC
Contact: Beverly AlDeen
Asylum's dark past relived as cycle ends! After 170 years, all but one unit soon will be shut down for good. Read this compelling story written by Alan Judd, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, about the history of Georgia's first insane asylum in Milledgeville, Georgia. AJC Story
The Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors in the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences will host the second annual UGA Fashion Week February 15-22. The week brings together several student organizations in a number of fashion-related events, including several fashion shows and showcases, a presentation by entrepreneur Christy Plott-Redd, and several other activities and celebrations. The theme for 2013 is Where Fashion Students and Entrepreneurs Meet and the week honors fashion entrepreneurs including designers, buyers, bloggers, retailers, and manufacturers.
The week starts on Friday, February 15 with “Marry the Night!” a fashion showcase hosted by The Agency in collaboration with Athens retailer Private Gallery at Tapped in The Capital Room and follows with a Kick-off Dance Party and best-dressed contest hosted by UGA’s fashion magazine, Little Red Book and sponsored by Rent the Runway on Monday, February 18 at Silver Dollar Bar. Tuesday, February 19 marks the opening for “Body Damage”, an exhibit hosted by UGA’s Historic Clothing and Textiles Collection at Barrow Hall Gallery and Project Condom: Season 3, an educational fashion show presented by SHHUGA (Sexual Health Helpers at UGA) at Tate Grand Hall. On Wednesday, February 20 Christy Plott-Redd--Creative Director & Owner of American Tanning and Leather--hosts “Fashion Untamed: The Life of a Leather Curator” at Miller Learning Center. The Georgia Education Soft Goods Foundation will host a cocktail receptiononThursday, February 21 at the UGA Special Collections Library. This event will be followed by Destination Spring Break,a fashion show presented by SMA and The Agency, benefitting UGA Miracle with a pre-show from Lotusgrace. Friday, February 22 is UGA Fashion Day Out in Downtown Athens with local retail entrepreneurs offering generous discounts available to UGA students who attend Fashion Week events prior to Friday. The week closes with “A Night Amongst Stars”, a fashion show presented by FDSA (Fashion Design Student Association) at the Foundry Park Inn.
The Wall Street Journal reports on research conducted by Dr. Ian Hardin, professor emeritus of textile science. Fabrics were promoted as having the ability to deter bacterial growth, but some of those claims aren't proven.
Join us! Governor Deal as declared Tuesday February 26th "FACS Day at the Capitol". Come support your college! Travel to Atlanta to network at the General Assembly, lunch and learn with Georgia's influential leaders.
Deadline to Register is Friday February 8th, 2013. Register Here
Register now for the 36th FACS Alumni Annual Awards Luncheon to be held on Saturday, February 16th at the Georgia Center. We invite you to celebrate the accomplishments of our award recipients and recognize Dr. Anne Sweaney, this year's Honor Hall of Recognition inductee. Registration available online or by mail; deadline is Wednesday, February 6th. Questions to sbyus@uga.edu.
Expert on Ambiguous Loss to Lead Annual Marriage and Family Therapy Institute
Writer: Denise H. Horton, 706-542-8014, dhorton@uga.edu
Contact: Jerry Gale, 706-542-8435, jgale@uga.edu
Expert on Ambiguous Loss to Lead Annual Marriage and Family Therapy Institute
ATHENS, Ga. – Pauline Boss, who coined the term “ambiguous loss” and has developed guidelines for treating those who have experienced such a loss, will lead this year’s Marriage and Family Therapy Certificate Program’s 29th Annual Institute on Friday, Jan. 25. The institute is sponsored by the University of Georgia Department of Human Development and Family Science in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences; the School of Social Work; and the College of Education.
Boss, professor emerita at the University of Minnesota, began her research into ambiguous loss while a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the early 1970s. She defines the theory as “losses without finality or resolution,” such as those that occur when a family member contracts Alzheimer’s disease or when a loved one is lost during a disastrous event such as 9/11.
During the MFT Institute, Boss will discuss the impact of ambiguous loss on individual and family relationships; the myth of closure; and provide guidelines for treating and studying ambiguous loss, including helping clients find meaning, reconstructing identity in the face of loss, and normalizing ambivalence.
In addition to her research on the theory of ambiguous loss, Boss has worked with individuals and families who have experienced such a loss, including those who lost loved ones during the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City in 2001. In 2003, at the invitation of the International Committee of the Red Cross, she trained professionals and community leaders in Kosovo to work with the nearly 4,000 families with loved ones who have been missing since the late 1990s as the result of “ethnic cleansing.”
Boss’ most famous book, “Ambiguous Loss: Learning to Lie with Unresolved Grief,” has been translated into seven languages. She has received a multitude of honors, including the Ernest Burgess Award for cumulative excellence in research and theory development for strengthening families.
The MFT Institute will be held at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education. It is co-sponsored by Bernstein Funeral Home, Bridges Funeral Home, Compassionate Care Hospice, Gardenview Funeral Home, Halcyon Hospice, Home Instead, Loran Smith Center for Cancer Support, Lord and Stephens Funeral Home, Remain at Home, and Silverleaf Hospice. For additional information, email Jane Mertens at jane.mertens@georgiacenter.uga.edu.
The College of Family and Consumer Sciences and Georgia United Credit Union are pleased to partner in order to provide this service to the community. Appointment times are now available through the Georgia United Credit Union website, click here to schedule an appointment and to learn more about this partnership and service.
Writer: Denise H. Horton, 706-542-8014, dhorton@uga.edu
ATHENS, Ga. – Leann L. Birch, director of the center for childhood obesity at Penn State University, will discuss her research on the behavioral factors that influence how we eat on Wednesday, Jan.16, from 12:20-1:10 p.m. in room 104 of Conner Hall. Birch’s presentation was rescheduled from late October when weather prevented her from traveling to Athens.
Birch, who is a distinguished professor of human development in the Penn State College of Health and Human Development, has conducted research focusing on food intake beginning with infants and continuing through adolescence for more than 30 years. Some of her ongoing projects have included exploring the relationships that exist between feeding, sleeping and growth in infants during the first year of life and their subsequent influence on children’s eating habits, their growth and weight. She has also looked at the benefits of providing young children larger servings of vegetables at the beginning of meals as a way of increasing their intake of nutrient-dense low calorie foods.
A third project is a 10-year longitudinal study exploring how young girls learn to control their eating habits with a focus on the emergence of weight concerns, dieting and problems of energy balance, including childhood obesity and disordered eating. “While dieting and eating disorders have been viewed as problems that emerge during adolescence,” Birch says, “our research with 5 to 11 year olds reveals that these problems begin much earlier, prior to puberty, and that they are linked to parents’ own eating, weight issues and to parents’ child-feeding practices.”
Birch’s presentation is sponsored by the College of Family and Consumer Sciences Department of Foods and Nutrition and the University of Georgia Obesity Initiative. It is the second in a series that will continue into the spring.
“Dr. Birch’s presentation represents our ongoing efforts to identify experts in childhood obesity across the country who are conducting translational research,” according to Lynn Bailey, FDN department head. “Based on her world-renowned reputation, we’re confident Dr. Birch’s insight will help us as we continue to search for ways that involve families, schools and other care-givers in reducing the risks of childhood obesity.”
Older African Americans who are dissatisfied with their lives tend to choose diets high in fat and low in fruits and vegetables. They can improve their health and eating habits through social support, according to new research from the University of Georgia.
The Department of Human Development’s Visiting Scholar Lecture Friday, November 9, 2012, at 11 a.m. in Tate Student Center, Room 137 featured the guest speaker Mr. William Kearney, Co-owner of WBK&A, Inc. of Atlanta. He spoke on “Experience and Opportunities in the Youth Services Field: Making a Difference for Youth and their Families.”
Mr. Kearney has been in the youth development and services field for many years, and currently owns his own company near Atlanta. Prior to starting his company he was Vice-President of Boys and Girls Clubs of America. He shared his practical experiences in the child and youth field to illustrate the range of professional opportunities available. As vice president and co-owner of WBKearney and Associates, Mr. Kearney plans and manages services to youth organizations. Previously, he was Vice President and Senior Director of Teen Services and Director of Delinquency Prevention for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America; Community Center Director for the Crime Prevention Association of Philadelphia; Associate Director of Management Analysis and Associate Director of
Programs; Manager and Planning Analyst and Juvenile Justice Specialist for the National Criminal Justice Reference Service. Mr. Kearney also has worked for the New York Division for Youth as a Youth Program Specialist. He has been a youth services consultant to US Army Headquarters, Youth and School Services. He has created and markets E-QYP, a revolutionary iPhone and iPad app for child and youth professionals and volunteers.
New research published in the August issue of the Journal of Food Protection found that the social networking platform Facebook is good for more than keeping up with friends-targeted content can be used to teach college students how to safely prepare their own food.
Read More
The Department of Human Development and Family Science sponsored visiting scholar, Dr. Maurizio Ambrosini of the University of Milan, Italy, Friday, September 7, 2012. He spoke on the topics "Irregular Migration and Invisible Welfare: Italian Families and Migrant Women's Labor," 10-11 a.m. at the Georgia Center, RoomV/W and "Tolerance and Cultural Diversity in Italy," 2-3 p.m. at the Georgia Center, Room V/W.
Dr. Ambrosini is professor of Sociology and Political Science at the University of Milan. His research interests include immigration and the labor market, second generation immigrants, female migrants and care, and refugee studies. He is chairperson of the graduate program in social sciences for globalization, director of Mondi Migrant, the Italian review of migrations, and scientific director of the Center for Migration Studies Medi (migrations in the Mediterranean). His recent research has appeared in the International Journal of Social Welfare, "Surviving underground: Irregular migrants, Italian families, and invisible welfare,: and the Journal of International Migration and Integration, "Immigration in Italy: Between economic acceptance and political rejection," and in the journal of Ethnic and Racial Studies, "We are against a multi-ethnic society: Policies of exclusion at the urban level in Italy." Dr. Ambrosini has written four books and edited eight - all focused in dimensions of immigration.
Thank you for your interest in the School Nutrition Director's Certification program. Applications for this program are considered on an on-going basis. Two different application forms must be completed. Applicants must apply to both the UGA Graduate School and to the Department of Foods and Nutrition.
Application deadlines are determined by the semester you wish to begin taking classes...
To begin coursework Fall semester, your applications must be submitted by July 1
To begin coursework Spring semester, your applications must be submitted by Nov 15
To begin coursework Summer semester, your applications must be submitted by April 1
Exciting changes are underway! Although the UGA Independent and Distant Learning (IDL) route for course delivery previously used for two of the required nutrition courses is going away, the courses and program are going strong through the newly established UGA Office of Online Learning. In the future all courses will be offered on-line using the e-format. This change should make registering for classes easier. You must however register for all classes during the open registration period at the beginning of each semester (along with everyone else at UGA) and the class must be completed during the same semester you begin the course.
If you have questions about SNDCP in general or the change in delivery of the required courses, please contact us at snd@fcs.uga.edu. Information about the program in general, and information about the application process and the specific paperwork that must be submitted with the applications, is also found at: http://www.fcs.uga.edu/fdn/graduate/sndcp.html.
WORKS by Lois Curtis: A Celebration of a Life Lived Creatively
Writer: Gillian Grable
Contact: Beverly AlDeen
September 20 - December 1, 2012
This exhibition is held in celebration of the artwork of Lois Curtis whose desire to live a creative life within her community sparked Sue Jamison, Senior Attorney, Atlanta Legal Aid Disability Integration Project to file the first U.S. Supreme Court case involving the "integration mandate" of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
A brief presentation by Sue Jamison, Lead Counsel, Olmstead vs LC and EW, and a reception on Thursday, September 20, 2012, 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m
We have recently updated our Building Emergency Action Plan for Dawson Hall. Take a look and be prepared for emergency situations we could encounter. It is also available in the For: Faculty area linked from the top right of our web pages.
For three weeks, seven UGA students took to the streets of Ghana in hopes of furthering the mission of the Ghana Free Trade Program, a partnership between businesses in Athens and the women of Ghana.
Emily Blalock, lecturer at UGA in the Department of Textiles, began the Ghana Community Trade Program in 2010, with the help of $5,000 from the James Family Foundation.
The department of Human Development and Family Science has a new research page! Check out the exciting research happening at www.fcs.uga.edu/hdfs/research.
UGA Research Aims to Prevent Farm-Related Injuries in Youth
The biggest threat to the health and safety of most children and adolescents is a motor vehicle accident. But the one million American children and teens living or working on farms in the U.S. face an additional danger—the tractors in their own backyards. University of Georgia researchers seeking ways to effectively train youth on how to safely use farm equipment have identified a persuasive tool: their farmer fathers.
If you haven't visited our Research and Grants web page lately, take a look! It's been updated with research from around the college and information on grants.
You can find the Research link in the middle of the top links of any FACS page
For the new amphitheater and hill slides located at the McPhaul Child Development Lab. The ribbon cutting will be at 3:45 p.m. on Friday, June 15. Join us as we celebrate this innovative play area constructed by UGA alum and CDL dad Josh Koons.
In the past 15 years, the rate of obesity in Georgia has doubled, creating a state where one-third of adults and 14 percent of youth are considered obese. While these dismal numbers have raised warning flags, with government officials and the media heralding the crisis, for faculty members in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences the obesity problem isn’t new. For decades they have not only been studying obesity’s causes but also developing educational programs—for children and adults alike—focused on improved diets and increased levels of exercise. Unfortunately, the ready availability of inexpensive, tasty, high-calorie, low-nutrition food, combined with a steep decline in physical activity, has meant that researchers and educators have been fighting a losing battle.
Now, as part of a new effort, more than two dozen FACS faculty members
are joining with colleagues from across the University of Georgia to establish a university-wide initiative to find new ways to fight obesity. The initiative, led by Clifton Baile, a D.W. Brooks Distinguished Professor and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar who holds a joint appointment in the FACS foods and nutrition department and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is allowing researchers to develop collaborations that expand their work and take it in new directions.
Genuine motherhood issues
For example, Alex Anderson (Associate Professor, Foods and Nutrition) is collaborating with colleagues in the Colleges of Veterinary Medicine and Public Health to complement and enhance his research on maternal and infant obesity. Using technology that can safely measure the body composition of babies and children, as well as of expectant and new mothers, Anderson’s research has already demonstrated that mothers who breastfeed their babies lose more weight and body fat than moms who use baby formula. In addition, the breastfed babies have more of the metabolically active “brown fat” that is likelier to transition into lean body mass.
In his research as part of the new initiative, Anderson is looking more closely at the type of weight that expectant mothers gain, its impact on a newborn’s body composition, and how that composition changes over the course of infancy and early childhood. The work will assess, for example, “whether the nature of the mother’s weight gain—lean muscle or fat—affects the newborn’s weight or the mother’s ability to lose weight post-pregnancy,” he says. The new project will also determine the concentration of “adiposity-induced inflammation markers” found in the blood and breast milk of new and expectant mothers. “Obese individuals tend to have higher concentrations of these markers than do non-obese individuals, but we haven’t examined how the markers react to the different types of weight gained during pregnancy and to the infant’s body composition,” Anderson says.
Anderson also is beginning to reassess the body composition of children who were in his earlier studies. “Some of those babies are now 6 years old.
We want to see if we can relate infant-feeding practices to what occurs as the baby grows into a young child.”
Obesity and bone health
For more than 20 years, Rick Lewis (UGA Foundation Professor in Family and Consumer Sciences, Foods and Nutrition) has explored connections between bone health and weight, including amassing a vast collection of blood serum, bone scans and in-depth interviews with young people ranging in age from 4 to 18 about their diets and activity levels. “Historically, body fat was viewed as protective of bone health, but we see that children who are overweight have less bone strength than those who are of normal weight,” he says. Reduced bone strength not only puts the child at greater risk of fractures, it may also play a role in adult osteoporosis.
As part of the new obesity initiative, Lewis and university colleagues are exploring a relationship between obesity and bone strength that involves a common virus—adenovirus-36 (AD-36)—also known for causing upper-respiratory infections. Previous research had correlated obesity with AD-36. Now, Lewis wants to explore whether that link involves bone strength as well. In preliminary research, he found that obese university students who tested positive for AD-36 had weaker bones. However, there was no correlation between normal-weight students’ bone strength and AD-36 exposure.
Lewis and his colleagues are now planning a more extensive study using blood samples gathered from tests of more than 80 children, beginning when they were four years old and continuing at intervals of every few years until they were 18. The researchers will test the samples for AD-36 antibodies and then examine the accompanying data on the children’s height, weight and bone strength before and after exposure to the virus. “A strong correlation between AD-36 infections, obesity and bone strength could lead to the development of vaccines or other treatments” for the conditions involved, according to Lewis.
Obesity and older adults
For close to 15 years, Mary Ann Johnson (Flatt Professor of Foods and Nutrition) has received funding from the Georgia Division of Aging Services and the federal Administration on Aging to provide nutrition education and physical-activity programs to adults who attend senior centers in the 13-county Northeast Georgia region. As a result, she and a number of colleagues from across campus have gathered a wealth of information about these older adults, including data regarding obesity, chronic diseases (such as diabetes), physical disabilities and eating habits.
“A number of our studies looked at individuals who eat most of their lunches at a senior center or who receive lunches through the Meals on Wheels program and we know that these meals provide a third of the recommended daily allowance for calories and nutrition,” Johnson says. “But more than half of the people we studied are obese—not just overweight, but obese. That’s significantly higher than the national average for people who are over 60, which is around 40 percent.”
From her research, Johnson has learned that eating habits don’t necessarily improve with age; older adults frequently skip their vegetables and milk just like kids do. Efforts to provide healthy meals at the senior centers also get undermined by the sodas and snacks that are frequently available, not to mention day-old breads and pastries that are donated by local businesses. In addition, many older adults enjoy fast-food meals, despite understanding the risks such food poses to their health. Because obesity can lead to or exacerbate illnesses (including high blood pressure and diabetes), as well as limit the mobility of older adults, Johnson says it’s now seen as a major contributor to increased medical costs.
Johnson’s research on those who attend senior centers will continue and expand as a part of the obesity initiative, but she’s also developing new collaborations such as one at the Shepherd Spinal Center in Atlanta. In that study, Johnson will assess the nutrition and eating habits of those who have experienced spinal injuries. That information will be combined with data on physical activity gathered by colleagues as part of an effort to address obesity in this population. Johnson also is collaborating with colleagues on a project that focuses on exercise, nutrition and obesity in older women.
Combining research and practice
A key aspect of UGA’s new obesity initiative is developing programs that can be implemented in communities throughout the state—a goal that dovetails with the long history of FACS Cooperative Extension programs. “In the case of basic research it may be years before work moves out of the lab, but in other instances the outreach and research components are working hand in glove,” says initiative-leader Baile.
A new five-year childhood-obesity project for Colquitt County provides an example of community-based activities that the UGA obesity initiative will encourage. It was Colquitt citizens who identified childhood obesity as a problem in their county and reached out to UGA for support. The project is led by Marsha Davis (an associate professor in the College of Public Health) and Rebecca Mullis (Professor, Foods and Nutrition), who have worked together for more than 20 years on research designed to improve the diets and physical activities of lower-income urban families. Also playing key roles in the project are Gail Hanula (Coordinator, Expanded Foods and Nutrition Education Program) and Connie Crawley (Senior Public Service Associate, Cooperative Extension Health and Nutrition), who have years of experience in “training the trainers”—that is, teaching FACS Cooperative Extension agents the best ways to present information to participants.
“The goal of this [Colquitt County] project is to focus on 600 third-graders to see if we can create an obesity-reduction program that includes their families, their teachers, school administrators, the employees who work in the cafeteria, and the community at-large,” says Mullis. “Much of our success will be measured at the beginning and end of each school year, when we assess the waist circumference and body mass index of these children—to determine whether they are overweight or obese—as they progress through fourth and fifth grades.”
It’s not only the health of the children themselves that is at stake. “Our previous research has shown that we can empower children to encourage better eating habits and improve physical activity in their families,” Mullis says. “In this project, we also hope these children will become enlightened voices in their larger communities—through the encouragement of healthy options in vending machines or through the creation of walking trails in the county, for example. And if children adopt that sort of focus now it will be far more likely to continue into adulthood.” Should the Colquitt County project prove successful, the researchers hope that because it uses a delivery system that already exists throughout Georgia—Cooperative Extension county agents—it can quickly be expanded statewide.
A widening initiative
To assess their interest in a university-wide obesity initiative, Baile began interviewing department heads and faculty in June 2011. At that time, he expected that the focus would be on research projects, especially because a review of 750 grant proposals submitted in 2010 showed that 125 addressed some aspect of obesity. By December, he had held more than 130 meetings and identified some 80 faculty who were interested in joining the initiative.
“This initiative is now about four times the size of what I thought it would be,” Baile says. FACS researchers make up roughly one-fourth of the participating faculty members, each of whom has joined one of 11 interest groups that meet monthly to discuss ways to further their research on obesity. The subjects of the groups range from the new field of epigenetics, which explores how environmental factors such as diet or prenatal nutrition can turn genes on or off, to public health policies. In-between are groups that, for example, address obesity in the workplace, obesity and exercise, and even communications strategies and obesity. Participants include faculty members in journalism, education, public health, environmental design, public service and outreach, kinesiology, genetics, veterinary medicine, animal science, biochemistry, molecular biology, and psychology, in addition to the FACS-related fields of foods and nutrition, consumer economics, child development, and gerontology. At least 15 grant submissions have grown out of the groups’ work; these are in addition to obesity-related grants that individual faculty members already had in progress.
The initiative also has expanded beyond the University of Georgia, with Baile meeting with representatives of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Georgia Department of Health, and Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, among others. Moreover, Baile has found great interest among chief research officers at universities throughout the Southeastern football conference. A presentation to this group has already led to plans for a workshop this year and for obesity to be the topic of the 2014 SEC Academic Conference. Because all of the southeastern states have high rates of obesity, Baile says, expanding the initiative into a regional effort could finally turn the tide toward establishing proven ways of reducing obesity.
Education Plays Mitigating Role in Escaping Roots of Adversity
Decades of research show people born into poverty are likely to continue to live that way as adults. But one University of Georgia researcher has found a way out-education.
We are excited to bring to you an art show featuring Lois Curtis. The event will be in Athens at the Lyndon House Art Center. Opening night is June 14th from 6 – 9 p.m. The exhibit will be on-going through June 21st. Please pass this information on to anyone that you know that may like to attend. The event is co-sponsored by IHDD, People First of Athens and the Georgia Microboards Association. The Lyndon House in Athens has been wonderful and generously allowed us to use their space for the event. If you would like for us to mail a postcard to anyone, please forward their physical address to trackens@uga.edu.
LYNDON HOUSE ARTS CENTER
293 HOYT STREET
ATHENS, GA 30601
Exhibit open June 14 - 21, 2012
Tuesday and Thursday: Noon- 9 p.m.
Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
A recent University of Georgia study looked at how minimum wage increases can decrease poverty in America. It turns out that they don't, according to the report co-authored by Robert Nielsen, an assistant professor of housing and consumer economics.
As people age out of the workforce and into retirement, the consequences of obesity become more and more apparent. Obesity accelerates and exacerbates diseases of aging, such as heart disease, while at the same time robbing older adults of mobility and independence, among other costs.
For more than a decade, Mary Ann Johnson, the Bill and June Flatt Professor of Foods and Nutrition, has been exploring the factors that put older adults at risk for obesity; and as a result she has designed and tested interventions to help them lead healthier lives. Working with the Athens Community Council on Aging and senior centers across the state, she has found that it is never too late for older adults to improve their health.
One study, a four-month series of classes that included chair-based exercises and encouraged participants to record their number of daily steps with a pedometer, helped them increase their physical activity by 26 percent. As a result, the number of participants reporting good physical function increased from 17 percent to 25 percent. Another series of classes focusing on healthful eating produced a 21-percent increase in the number of participants who consumed at least seven servings of fruits and vegetables daily. "We've seen this over and over," Johnson said. "Older people are willing to change; they just need a little help, guidance, and support."
Read the full article in the Fall 2011 issue of ugaresearch .
Convenience stores are the only nearby food source for millions of Americans living in what are called food deserts. Jung Sun Lee, assistant professor in the Department of Foods and Nutrition, co-authored of a pair of studies examining the food environment on the Florida Panhandle.
I invite you to "LIKE" my Ghana Community Trade Facebook page.
You will be able to keep up with my students and me while in Ghana. We will work with entrepreneurs in the textile trade: sewers, weavers, dyers, wood carvers, basket makers, casket makers, etc. We will make daily posts about our travels in the beautiful country of Ghana along with colorful pictures and videos.
Students will design clothing and source accessories from Ghana to put in retail stores in Athens. Participating Athens Small Businesses: Avid Bookshop, AGORA, Cheeky Peach, Flirt, Frontier, Native American Gallery, and Whole. Our trip is from May 15-June 7... the official grand opening of the Ghana Community Trade Program is August 6th, so mark your calendar and get ready to shop! I call it the "Buy Local & Support Africa"
Please enjoy and share with your friends and family!
Candidates for Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Education to visit campus. Information and materials can be found here or through the Job Vacancies page, linked below.
I would like to invite you to Couture a-la-Cart's Faculty & Staff Appreciation Trunk Show on Wednesday, April 25th from 11-3. This is the last day to purchase the unique student-designed merchandise until spring 2013. Couture a-la-Cart will set up inside Student Services to provide an exclusive and quiet shopping environment. To show our appreciation, there will be free cookies, muffins and cold mint sweat tea from Marti's at Midday.
I hope you will come too Dawson room 112 to eat, shop and support our students.
Congratulations to the newest department in the college, the Department of Human Development and Family Science. We received official word from the Provost's office that effective fall semester 2012 the former Department of Child and Family Development will be HDFS.
New associate deans named at the UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences
Writer: Denise H. Horton, 706/542-8014, dhorton@uga.edu
Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences has two new associate deans: The University of Kentucky's Deborah Murray has been named associate dean for Cooperative Extension and outreach, and UGA's Silvia Giraudo has been named associate dean of academic programs.
"I look forward to both Dr. Murray and Dr. Giraudo joining our college's administrative team," said FACS Dean Linda Kirk Fox. "Their leadership and experience will provide support and guidance to our faculty, staff and students."
Deborah Murray
Murray will begin her tenure with FACS as associate dean for UGA Extension and outreach effective May 7. She currently serves as associate director of the University of Kentucky's Health Education through Extension Leadership program, funded with a $5.7 million special grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As grant administrator, Murray has spent the past eight years developing and implementing the HEEL program, which focuses on innovative and collaborative statewide programs between the UK School of Human Environmental Sciences and other colleges and departments.
Prior to her current position, Murray spent 15 years with the UK Cooperative Extension Service in positions that included supervising and directing family and consumer sciences and 4-H county agents. She holds a bachelor's degree in vocational home economics from Morehead State University in Morehead, Ky., a master's degree in home economics education from Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond and a doctorate in educational administration and leadership from UK.
"Dr. Murray brings extensive experience, the skills to develop and manage entrepreneurial projects and effectiveness in securing funding to support Extension and outreach programming," Fox said. "She has a keen sense of the purpose and mission of land-grant universities and ways in which our college can capitalize on our expertise in outreach in the broadest sense."
Silvia Giraudo
Giraudo, who is currently a FACS associate professor of foods and nutrition, has accepted the position of associate dean of academic programs effective June 15.
A native of Argentina, Giraudo earned her bachelor's degree in agriculture at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba-Argentina prior to moving to Georgia, where she earned a master's degree in animal science and a doctorate in animal nutrition from UGA.
Giraudo joined the FACS faculty in 2002. Her research has centered on brain regulation of food intake and energy metabolism as well as the use of educational materials to teach healthy eating habits to young children and prevent early obesity through education.
In addition to her teaching and research duties, Giraudo is director of the school nutrition certification program, which is regulated by the Georgia Department of Education, and has served as the program director of the FACS study abroad program in Xalapa, Mexico, for several years. She serves on the University Council at UGA and is a member of the University Executive Council and the FACS Faculty Advisory Committee. She has previously served as a member of the University Educational Affairs Committee and as an advisory board member of the UGA Learning Communities.
"During her decade as a faculty member, Dr. Giraudo has shown an eagerness to explore new ways of teaching students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels both inside the classroom and through experiential learning," Fox said. "In addition to her successes at the departmental and college levels, she also has extensive experience at the university level which is essential for the associate dean for academic programs.
We are excited that our first Spring Fling is almost upon us! It will be this Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Tate Center Plaza. I am proud to say that all departments and student organizations have committed to hosting booths at the event... over 18 tables! We hope this becomes an exciting annual event. In addition to the club and department displays, we will feature games, trivia, and have multiple giveaways as door prizes. We will also be giving away free pizza and beverages at lunch time.
This event serves several purposes for our college. First, we want to celebrate and show appreciation for our current students. Second, we would like to use this as a recruitment event for potential new students. We want everyone on campus to know who the College of Family and Consumer Sciences is and all that we have to offer. I have been told that we have the ability to reach over 15,000 students during this time!
Please help us promote this event by mentioning it to your students! Word of mouth has been shown to be our *NUMBER ONE* recruitment tool, so let's get the word out!
Call Andy Davis with any questions @ 706-542-0680.
Visiting Scholar, Dr. Avshalom Caspi presented, “Gene x Environment Interactions: What’s New? What’s Next?” Thursday, March 1, 2012 at the annual Gene Brody Colloquium. Dr. Caspi's research spans the fields of psychology, epidemiology and genetics. He has received the American Psychological Association’s Early Career Contribution Award, the John Hill Memorial Award for contributions to understanding adolescent development from the Society for Research on Adolescence, and the Mortimer D. Sackler Prize for Distinguished Achievement in Developmental Psychobiology. Dr. Caspi is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University.
Couture a-la-cart grand opening is Tuesday at 11:00 in front of Dawson Hall. Come celebrate with us: free food, drinks and music.
Couture a-la-cart is the first retail concept on campus operated by students selling student designs. We have many talented designers making one-of-a-kind jewelry, scarves, clothing and accessories. We are also featuring products from the Ghana Community Trade Program.
The cart is in conjunction with TXMI4900 Entrepreneurial Merchandising. The class targets students interested in creating and growing their own businesses. They get the chance to operate a small business concept, write business plans and learn from entrepreneurs in the Athens area.
Come and support your FACS students and make a purchase.
Regular Hours: Tuesday/Wednesday 11:00-3:00
Cash/Check only
The Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors hosted the first annual UGA Fashion Week, February 20-24th. The week showcased fashion shows, movie screenings, an intimate seminar with a professional fashion stylist, and a dance party. Through the joint efforts of 3 student organizations: Little Red Book, Fashion Design Student Association and the Student Merchandising Association; the event was a huge success! Total participation included over 650 fashion seeking individuals from campus and the Athens community. This is just one example of the talent and determination of the fashion merchandising majors at UGA. If interested in a pursuing a Fashion Merchandising Major or Minor, enroll in txmi3210 and contact Anne Allen at aallen@uga.edu.
The Department of Child and Family Development presented visiting scholar, Dr. Fred P. Piercy, Ph.D., February 17, 2012, at the Georgia Center, Room Y/Z for two presentations at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The morning lecture: "Lessons from Two Tragedies: Reflections of a Family Professional" focused on Dr. Piercy's reflections on training Indonesian mental health workers in the wake of the Asian tsunami. He also reflected, as a family scholar, on both challenges and lessons learned after the campus shootings at Virginia Tech. At 2 p.m., Dr. Piercy spoke on "Writing for Publication: Demystifying the Process." Dr. Piercy as editor of the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, spoke on the publication process and the thinking and skills necessary for participants to be successful, published authors of scholarly articles.
Athens, Georgia (February 9, 2012)--The Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences will host the first annual UGA Fashion Week from Monday, February 20th to Friday, February 24th. The week brings together several student organizations in a number of events, including two fashion shows, a panel discussion on fashion films, and a presentation by fashion entrepreneur, Erica Benoit. Promotional Poster
The events kick off on Monday, February 20th at 9:30 p.m. with a dance party at Silver Dollar Bar hosted by The Little Red Book Magazine, UGA’s student fashion magazine. Put on your dancing shoes and your most dazzling outfit to win our "best dressed contest" judged by representatives from Cheeky Peach, Show Pony, Agora, and Flirt Fashions.
A screening and panel discussion of fashion on film will be held on Tuesday, February 21st at 7:00 p.m. at the Miller Learning Center, room 171. UGA professors Ivan Ingermann (Department of Drama and Theatre), Mark Callahan (Lamar Dodd School of Art), and José Blanco (Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors) will present and discuss short films showcasing collaborations between fashion houses and movie directors. The screening is sponsored by Vince Camuto with giveaway prizes and raffle items.
The week continues with the special presentation "Styling: Inspiration to Success” with Erica Benoit on Wednesday February 22nd at 7:00 p.m. at the Miller Learning Center, room 171. Erica Benoit has over 12 years of experience in the fashion industry with her own company, BenoitEnstyle, creating editorials in Elle and Essence magazines and professionally styling Usher. The event is sponsored by Rent-the-Runway with gift card raffles and other promotions. The night includes a sneak peek of the African Night Fashion Show “Earth, Wind, and Fire” to be held on March 2nd and 3rd at 7:00 p.m. at the Oconee County Civic Center. Student stylists will showcase traditional, modern, and designer fashions from Africa.
On Thursday, February 23rd at 7:30 p.m. the Tate Student Center Grand Hall will welcome the latest Athens spring fashions during the Student Merchandising Association's 18th Annual Fashion Show, “Destination: Spring Break,” benefitting UGA HEROs. The pre-show features Alta Gracia sportswear designs, supporting living wage for the people who make the clothes. Tickets are $7 with refreshments included.
The First Annual UGA Fashion Week will conclude on Friday, February 24th with the Fashion Design Student Association’s (FDSA) fashion show "Where the Wild Things Are." Join student designers as they enter into a world of wild creations and adventures in the realm of fierce fabrics and delicate designs. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. and tickets are $7. Proceeds benefit Radio Tanzania: Reviving the Forgotten Archives, a project aiming to preserve over 100,000 hours of Tanzanian music on reel-to-reel tapes. The event also includes a pre-show, featuring the UGA Tartan and student products for TXMI & Co.
Also part of Fashion Week is an exhibition of UGA’s Historic Clothing and Textiles Collection at the Miller Learning Center first floor lobby display cases with items from the Montgomery Collection. The pieces were worn by Eleanor (Ellie) Morgan Montgomery Atuk and include designs by Yves Saint Laurent, Oscar de la Renta, and Bill Blass.
World renowned researcher, Dr. Megan Gunnar, lectured at the Tate Center, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2012. As the visiting scholar presenting for the annual Gene Brody Colloquium, she spoke on the topic, “Early Life Stress and Development: Studies of Children, Adopted Internationally from Orphanages and Other Institutions.”
Dr. Gunnar is Director of the Institute of Child Development, Department Chair, Regents Professor and Distinguished McKnight University Professor at Stanford University. Her research is focused on the effects of early deprived care on the development of self-regulatory systems, including systems involved in both stress and socio-emotional regulation. The study includes the two arms of the mammalian stress system; the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system and the sympathetic adrenomedullary (SAM) system.
A search is currently underway for the Associate Dean for Outreach and Extension position. We are excited to announce that we have three strong candidates that will make campus visits soon. For more information, please visit our Associate Dean for Extension and Outreach Resources page, also available from the Job Vacancies page.
Home Economics is “cool” again, because it historically and currently addresses issues related to family and personal well-being. New scholarship presented at this conference explores the cultural influences that shaped the field of study and the profession. Through the lens of historians, family and consumer sciences, and women’s studies scholars past challenges and future imperatives are explored. Sessions on conducting historical research are included.
When: February 27-28, 2012 Location:
The Georgia Center,
The University of Georgia’s Conference Center & Hotel
1197 South Lumpkin Street Athens, Georgia To Register: Go To www.georgiacenter.uga.edu/home-economics
Georgia United Credit Union has partnered with the College of Family & Consumer Sciences of the University of Georgia to provide FREE electronic income tax preparation and filing. Visit https://georgiaunitedcu.org/interior/membership/tax.asp to make an appointment.
Join us for the 4th Annual Chilly Dawg 5K Run/Walk on Saturday, January 28th at Sandy Creek Park. Register information available here. Pre-registration pricing until Monday, January 23. UGA Student discount available. Race begins at 9:00; check in opens at 8:00. Email sbyus@uga.edu with questions. Thanks for supporting the FACS Alumni Association!
Georgia United Credit Union has partnered with the College of Family & Consumer Sciences of the University of Georgia to provide FREE electronic income tax preparation and filing. More Information at www.fcs.uga.edu/college/docs/VITA.pdf.
After several months of poring over more than 50 designs and input from FACS students, faculty, staff and alumni, the College of Family and Consumer Sciences has officially launched its new logo. Developed by William Reeves, a graphic designer at UGA Printing, the new logo provides a consistent visual image that can be used by all FACS departments and institutes. The Visual Identity Committee included Judy Harrison, Foods and Nutrition professor; Megan Lee, Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors assistant professor; Jimmy Hanson, FACS web developer principal; and Andy Davis, Student Services degree program specialist. The committee was chaired by Denise Horton, director of communications.
Ivy & Brick is an innovative magazine focusing on sustainable living that was created by Grady College journalism students in cooperation with The University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences Cooperative Extension. The magazine provides information for environmentally conscious readers interested in food, golf, music, tiny houses, etc. Ivy & Brick offers accurate information while promoting a sustainable lifestyle. For more information about the magazine and sustainable living contact Sharon Gibson (smsgibs@uga.edu) or Pamela Turner (prturner@uga.edu).
The Department of Child and Family Development presented visiting scholar, Dr. Rand Conger, Distinguished Professor at the University of California-Davis, Dec. 12, 2011. The title of his presentation was “Socioeconomic Status and Human Development.”
Traditional approaches to understanding the relationship between socioeconomic status and human development have typically taken one of two approaches. Some investigators have advocated the social causation view and examined the degree to which SES predicts variation in human development. Other researchers have proposed that later differences income, occupation and social standing derive from earlier individual characteristics – the social selection perspective. This presentation considers evidence from a 22-year study of families and children and demonstrates that, over time, both social selection perspective. This presentation considers evidence from a 22-year study of families and children and demonstrates that, over time, both social causation and selection play a role in human development, consistent with an emerging interactionist perspective.
Atlanta ARCS Foundation awards $70,000 to UGA biomedical graduate students
Writer: Rebecca Ayer, 706/542-5922, alea@uga.edu
Contact: Harry Dailey, 706/542-5922, hdailey@uga.edu
Athens, Ga. — The Atlanta chapter of the ARCS® Foundation, Inc. recently awarded $70,000 to nine outstanding doctoral students in biomedical and health sciences at the University of Georgia, one of whom received a special $10,000 grant for global health research abroad. The presentations were made at an awards ceremony held in Atlanta.
The gala event featured keynote speaker Berrien Moore, professor of meteorology, vice president of Weather and Climate Programs, and dean of the College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences at Oklahoma University. Moore also serves as director of the National Weather Center.
The ARCS, or Achievement Rewards for College Students, Foundation was founded in Los Angeles in 1958 and is dedicated to helping meet the country’s needs for scientists and engineers by providing scholarships to academically outstanding university students. UGA recipients of the award are selected through the UGA Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute. This year’s ARCS Scholars represent five UGA schools and colleges—the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Pharmacy, the Institute of Bioinformatics in the College of Public Health, the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Odum School of Ecology.
The following students are UGA ARCS Foundation Scholars for 2011- 2012:
· Phillip Callihan of Atlanta is a Ph.D. candidate in pharmaceutical and biomedical science. His research focuses on the lipid signaling pathways that regulate growth and cell fate in early neural development and cancer. Currently, he is investigating how Fumonisin B1, a food-borne fungal toxin widely found in developing countries, affects lipid signaling and leads to birth defects of the brain and spinal cord.
· Jason Mock of Dalton is pursuing his Ph.D. in pharmaceutical and biomedical science. His research focuses on nanoparticulate drug delivery. Specifically, he is using differences in enzyme expression between cancer cells and healthy tissues as a means of targeting lipid-based delivery vectors in a prostate cancer model.
· Jenna Oberstaller of Spartanburg, S.C. is a Ph.D. candidate in genetics. Her research in parasitology is focused on addressing global health crises. She is using genomics to develop more sensitive malaria diagnostics, as well as to study the evolution of gene regulatory networks in the apicomplexan parasites responsible for the disease.
· Kathryn Porter of Stockbridge is pursuing her doctorate in foods and nutrition. An advocate for healthy aging and improving the quality of life of older adults, her research area of focus is obesity and its relationship to mental health, eating behaviors, dietary patterns and food insecurity in low income and minority older adults.
· Bonney Reed-Knight is from Habersham County and is pursuing her Ph.D. in psychology. Her doctoral work focuses on pediatric health, with a particular interest in applying psychological research to improving disease outcomes and quality of life in youth with gastrointestinal disorders and solid organ transplants.
· Julie Rushmore of Alpharetta is a DVM/Ph.D. candidate who is receiving training in veterinary medicine and ecology. Her research examines the behavioral and ecological factors that affect disease transmission in African great apes. A former Fulbright Scholar, Rushmore spent a year in western Uganda studying the health and behavior of wild chimpanzees.
· Alecia Septer of Gahanna, Ohio, is a pursuing a Ph.D. in microbiology. For her dissertation work, she is studying the symbiosis between the bioluminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri and the squid Euprymna scolopes in order to better understand how environmental cues regulate bacterial communication as they colonize their host.
· Timothy Shaw of Johns Creek is a Ph.D. candidate in bioinformatics. He is investigating genetic patterns that facilitate efficient HIV transmission and disease progression and is developing methods to model worldwide HIV diversity, which is critical to vaccine development. Because of his work using multidisciplinary technologies to address global infectious disease, he was selected to receive this year’s $10,000 ARCS Global Impact Grant.
· Katherine Verbist of Clarksville, Tenn. is a doctoral candidate in cellular biology. Her research examines the cellular basis for immunity to mucosal infections, such as influenza. Her current work is studying how cytokines influence the influenza-specific CD8 T cells in the lung airway that confer protection against the disease.
The Atlanta chapter of the ARCS Foundation has awarded more than $2.3 million in scholarships to students at UGA, Emory University, Georgia Institute of Technology and Morehouse College. For more information on the foundation, see www.arcsfoundation.org.
Fashioning Soft Goods – The Georgia Soft Goods Education Foundation, Incorporated hosted a reception at the Georgia Center on the campus of the University of Georgia on Tuesday, November 15, 2011. Industry professional with ties to the textile/apparel industry in the state of Georgia, students, staff, and faculty from the Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors attended. The reception showcased the GSGEF and the great education things being accomplished in TMI at UGA in support of the soft goods industry. The GSGEF, Inc. has provide funding for professorships, scholarships, study abroad and other academic programs related to the soft goods industry. Buhler Yarns and Lectra sponsored the event.
The reception included tours of Dawson (couture a-al-cart, a historic dress exhibit, tours of the textile testing and CAD labs), a TXMI & Co. fashion show, and research presentation. The evening ended in Barrow Hall with tours of the furnishings and interiors studios and the Gold Crush exhibit in the Barrow Gallery.
Dr. Glen Elder, Howard W. Odum Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, gave two presentations November 4, 2011 “Scientific Biographies and Developmental Science: A Life-Course Journey” and “Youth in the Great Recession: A Three Country Project” as a Visiting Scholar sponsored by the Department of Child and Family Development.
Dr. Elder manages a research program on life course studies. He serves on the faculties of the University of California- Berkeley and Cornell University. A member of the Amercian Academy of Arts and Sciences, he has served as vice-president of the American Sociological Association, president of the Sociological Research Association and the Society for Research on Child Development. His books include: Children of the Great Depression; Life Course Dynamics; Children in Time and Place; Families in Troubled Times; Examining Lives in Context; Developmental Science; Methods of Life Course Research; Children of the Land; Adversity and Success in Rural America (2000: William J. Goode Award).
Athens, Ga. - Before starting a business, entrepreneurs need to have their personal finances in order, says University of Georgia's Michael Rupured. The consumer economics specialist is using his financial expertise to give them a head start.
Rupured, along with UGA Cooperative Extension agents, will hold financial workshops throughout Georgia over the next several months. The first session will be on Sept. 21 in Tifton followed by workshops on Oct. 27 in Cumming and Moultrie, Nov. 9 in DeKalb County and Ellijay and Nov. 29 in Brunswick and Perry.
Additional workshops will be held from January to June 2012.
The sessions are intended for those who realize that starting a new business is a tremendous undertaking, Rupured said, and who understand the importance of having their personal finances in order before taking on the additional risks of business loans.
During the four-hour workshops, participants will learn to set and achieve financial goals, plan their personal spending, work effectively with banks and other financial institutions, manage their credit, prepare for the unexpected and protect their personal assets.
"You may have the greatest idea in the world for a business, but if your personal finances are in disarray or if your credit scores are too low, it's almost impossible to get funding from banks or other lending agencies," said Rupured, who works for the College of Family and Consumer Sciences and UGA Cooperative Extension. "In addition, there's the reality that it can easily take six months to a year before a new business has any income. You have to be certain that you can continue to pay your home mortgage and buy groceries during that time."
Join FACS & CAES alumni and friends for the 17th annual South Campus Tailgate. Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to attend this family friendly tailgate on Legion Field. Interactive departmental exhibits, an outstanding magician, and a boucing house are among the activites. BBQ tickets and t-shirts are available online at http://www.fcs.uga.edu/alumni/tailgate/. Tailgate time is 10:00 - 12:30. Come network and socialize before cheering on the Dawgs! Contact Susan Byus with questions.
UGA to host Financial Therapy Association conference
Writer: Denise Horton (dhorton@uga.edu)
Contact: Joseph Goetz (goetz@uga.edu) , Jerry Gale (jgale@fcs.uga.edu)
Athens, Ga. - Practitioners and academics representing the fields of financial planning and mental health providers, including certified financial planners, family therapists, psychologists, counselors and social workers, will gather for the second annual conference of the Financial Therapy Association, Sept. 11-13 at the Hotel Indigo and Classic Center in Athens.
FTA was formed two years ago after 30 individuals met in California and agreed there was a need for a group focused on the confluence of issues that arise around finances and relationships, according to Jerry Gale, associate professor of child and family development at the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences. Gale and Joseph Goetz, FACS assistant professor of housing and consumer economics, are co-chairs of this year's conference.
"The formation of the Financial Therapy Association was a loud acknowledgement that finances are intertwined in the health of relationships and physical health as well," according to Goetz. "This is a holistic perception of financial wellness, in which it's not just about the dollars, but about the other areas of clients' lives."
The conference will include more than 40 sessions and contain a mix of research presentations by faculty and graduate students, as well as treatment-based sessions by psychologists and financial planners who have years of practice working with clients.
"There have been individuals who have worked in this area for years, such as our opening speaker, Olivia Mellan, who has used what she calls ‘money harmony work' with her clients," said Gale. "Our goal is to identify these practitioners and learn from them; to identify both current and future research topics in the area of financial therapy; and to consider what it would mean to establish financial therapy as an academic discipline."
Gale noted that with ongoing economic issues, including layoffs and increased housing foreclosures, there clearly is a need for professionals with the skills to help clients with relationship and financial issues. However, before a discipline such as financial therapy can be established, those interested in the field have to explore a variety of issues.
"We have to look at our priorities," Goetz said. "For example, what is a good outcome for someone who has been a financial therapy client? In financial planning, you would generally think that a better financial portfolio would signal success, but what if that enhanced portfolio was accompanied by a couple divorcing?"
Goetz and Gale agreed that they would like to see a future where students pursuing degrees in financial planning take courses in relationship and family therapy. Likewise, they agree that students interested in counseling careers should have a base understanding of financial planning.
For more information on the Financial Therapy Association seehttp://www.financialtherapyassociation.org/.
For more than 30 years the College of Family and Consumer has sponsored an ice cream social to thank University of Georgia Physical Plant employees for their hard work. This year's event was held on July 13 and attended by more than 200 Physical Plant employees. Those attending consumed 35 gallons of ice cream; three flats of strawberries; six bunches of bananas; seven jars of chopped nuts; and eight containers of whipped cream during the event.
New UGA technology makes textiles permanently germ-free; targets healthcare-associated infections
Writer: Terry Marie Hastings, 706/542-5941, thasting@uga.edu
Contact: Jason Locklin, 706/542-2359, jlocklin@chem.uga.edu; Gennaro Gama, 706/583-8088, GJG@uga.edu
Athens, Ga. – A University of Georgia researcher has invented a new technology that can inexpensively render medical linens and clothing, face masks, paper towels—and yes, even diapers, intimate apparel and athletic wear, including smelly socks—permanently germ-free.
The simple and inexpensive anti-microbial technology works on natural and synthetic materials. The technology can be applied during the manufacturing process or at home, and it doesn’t come out in the wash. Unlike other anti-microbial technologies, repeated applications are unnecessary to maintain effectiveness.
“The spread of pathogens on textiles and plastics is a growing concern, especially in healthcare facilities and hotels, which are ideal environments for the proliferation and spread of very harmful microorganisms, but also in the home,” said Jason Locklin, the inventor, who is an assistant professor of chemistry in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and on the Faculty of Engineering.
The anti-microbial treatment invented by Locklin, which is available for licensing from the University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc., effectively kills a wide spectrum of bacteria, yeasts and molds that can cause disease, break down fabrics, create stains and produce odors.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately one of every 20 hospitalized patients will contract a healthcare-associated infection. Lab coats, scrub suits, uniforms, gowns, gloves and linens are known to harbor the microbes that cause patient infections.
Consumers’ concern about harmful microbes has spurred the market for clothing, undergarments, footwear and home textiles with antimicrobial products. But to be practical, both commercial and consumer anti-microbial products must be inexpensive and lasting.
“Similar technologies are limited by cost of materials, use of noxious chemicals in the application or loss of effectiveness after a few washings,” said Gennaro Gama, UGARF senior technology manager. “Locklin’s technology uses ingeniously simple, inexpensive and scalable chemistry.”
Gama said the technology is simple to apply in the manufacturing of fibers, fabrics, filters and plastics. It also can bestow antimicrobial properties on finished products, such as athletic wear and shoes, and textiles for the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.
“The advantage of UGARF’s technology over competing methods,” said Gama, “is that the permanent antimicrobial can be applied to a product at any point of the manufacture-sale-use continuum. In contrast, competing technologies require blending of the antimicrobial in the manufacturing process.”
“In addition,” said Gama, “If for some reason the antimicrobial layer is removed from an article—through abrasion, for example—it can be reapplied by simple spraying.”
Other markets for the anti-microbial technology include military apparel and gear, food packaging, plastic furniture, pool toys, medical and dental instrumentation, bandages and plastic items.
Locklin said the antimicrobial was tested against many of the pathogens common in healthcare settings, including staph, strep, E. coli, pseudomonas and acetinobacter. After just a single application, no bacterial growth was observed on the textile samples added to the culture—even after 24 hours at 37 degrees Celsius.
Moreover, in testing, the treatment remained fully active after multiple hot water laundry cycles, demonstrating the antibacterial does not leach out from the textiles even under harsh conditions. “Leaching could hinder the applicability of this technology in certain industrial segments, such as food packaging, toys, IV bags and tubing, for example,” said Gama.
Thin films of the new technology also can be used to change other surface properties of both cellulose- and polymer-based materials. “It can change a material’s optical properties—color, reflectance, absorbance and iridescence—and make it repel liquids, all without changing other properties of the material,” said Gama.
A paper on the new technology was published by Locklin and colleagues online June 21 in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society.
The University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. performs the technology transfer function for UGA, taking assignment of patents and licensing such patents to the private sector in return for royalty income to support the research mission of the university. To learn more about technology commercialization at UGA, see http://www.ovpr.uga.edu/tco/industry/
The screens that display announcements around Dawson Hall are available to view on the web at visix.fcs.uga.edu/public/playlistview.aspx. This page uses software currently only supported by Microsoft Internet Explorer. Visix, the developers of the screen software, are currently in development of additional browser support.
The University of Georgia is discontinuing use of the F-Secure software in place of Trend Micro Antivirus. To upgrade to this new software, please visit spock.fcs.uga.edu/cs/helpdesk_login.php.
UGA researchers find youth-mentor relationships particularly helpful for those experiencing hardship
Writer: Kirk McAlpin, 706/542-8078, kmm3@uga.edu
Contact: Steve Kogan, 706/542-2929, smkogan@uga.edu
Athens, Ga. – In a time of transition for rural African-American young adults, natural mentors in the community help them stay focused on their goals and avoid potential difficulties associated with emerging adulthood, according to findings from an ongoing University of Georgia study.
The study, published in the early online edition of American Journal of Community Psychology, is part of a broader research program called the Adults in the Making project, which is aimed at helping rural African Americans transition to adulthood. The researchers found that behaviors such as anger, breaking the law, and substance abuse were reduced when informal mentors provided support and helped them learn to deal with adult problems. These relationships were even more powerful for young adults experiencing hardship.
“If the youths had some bad things going on in their life, including being treated badly through discrimination or different family stressors, it was particularly helpful for them to have a good relationship with a mentor,” said Steve Kogan, assistant professor of child and family development in the UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences.
Kogan and his colleagues studied 345 African Americans starting when they were aged 17 to 18 and measured how they progressed over the following year and a half by interviewing the youths, their mentors and their parents.
The eight Georgia counties in which the young adults in the mentoring program lived—Baldwin, Butts, Elbert, Hancock, Morgan, Putnam, Twiggs and Wilkes—are among the highest in the nation in poverty rates, and unemployment rates there are above the national average, said Kogan. “If you have someone special outside of your family that helps you set goals and maintain self-control, you can compensate for difficulties in your own life,” he said.
The youths were not assigned mentors, but were allowed to choose a mentor from the community. The mentor could not be an immediate family member or live in the youth’s home and had to be at least five years older. In many mentoring programs, the mentors come from outside sources. “One of things that we thought about was that we ought to really look at people in the community who already know this young person and have an investment in them,” said Kogan. “A mentor doesn’t have to be a stranger.”
The study sought to better understand why some young adults succeed despite tough circumstances after high school, said Kogan.“The better the youth-mentor relationship was, the less likely the young adults were to be acting out, breaking rules or being aggressive when they were 19 or 20,” said Kogan.
The study was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the W.T. Grant Foundation.
Folate researcher named to head UGA foods and nutrition department
Writer: Denise H. Horton, 706/542-8014, dhorton@uga.edu
Athens, Ga. – Lynn B. Bailey, whose research and public health policy work has been instrumental in establishing the requirements for folate and reducing birth defects like spina bifida, has been named head of the Department of Foods and Nutrition in the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences. She will begin her tenure in August.
“It is an honor and a privilege for me to accept the position of head of the Department of Foods and Nutrition in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences,” Bailey said. “I welcome the opportunity to work with such a talented and dynamic group of faculty, students and administrators in the department and college.”
Bailey, a faculty member in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Florida since 1977, succeeds Rebecca Mullis, who has served as department chair since 1999 and will return to a faculty position. Bailey earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from Winthrop University in South Carolina, her master’s in nutrition from Clemson University and her doctorate in nutrition from Purdue University.
“Lynn Bailey brings a wealth of experience in the areas of research, teaching and outreach,” said Anne Sweaney, FACS interim dean. “We look forward to her joining our team.”
Bailey’s folate research included human metabolic and population intervention studies to establish human requirements and quantities needed to reduce birth defect risk in national fortification programs. Findings by her team of researchers helped establish the current Institute of Medicine’s folate intake recommendations, including those for pregnant women and older individuals. In the early 1990s, Bailey was named to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration committee whose recommendations were adopted as law in 1996, mandating that all enriched foods in the United States be fortified with folic acid.
“Along with Dr. Bailey’s national and international recognition, she is well known for her collaborative research and mentoring skills,” said Mary Ann Johnson, the Bill and June Flatt Professor of Nutrition. “Many of her former graduate students are now scientists and faculty at federal agencies and universities across the nation. Dr. Bailey’s research expertise, grantsmanship and mentoring skills will serve our department well as we seek to increase our research collaborations and funding to improve human health across the lifespan.”
For more information on the Department of Foods and Nutrition, see http://www.fcs.uga.edu/fdn/
Writer: Denise H. Horton, 706/542-8014, dhorton@uga.edu
Contact: Benjamin E. Byrd, 770/229-3322, bebyrd@uga.edu
Benjamin E. Byrd, a 2010 graduate of the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences, has been named adviser and recruiter for the FACS Department of Housing and Consumer Economics’ Griffin campus.
In his new position, Byrd will be responsible for meeting with Griffin-area residents who are interested in completing undergraduate degrees they may have begun at other institutions or obtaining a second bachelor degree. FACS offers majors and minors in consumer economics and the emphasis in family financial planning.
The consumer economics major prepares graduates to work in fields such as consumer credit, consumer relations and in government agencies. The FFP emphasis provides additional preparation for graduates who are interested in becoming a Certified Financial Planner and sitting for the CFP Exam.
The College of Family and Consumer Sciences began offering courses on the Griffin campus in fall 2006. Since then, 18 students have earned their degrees in consumer economics. Students pursuing degrees at the Griffin campus must have completed 60 hours of undergraduate study.
Individuals interested in meeting with Byrd can contact him by phone at 770/229-3322 or by email at hace@uga.edu.
For more information on the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, see http://www.fcs.uga.edu/.
For more information on the Griffin Campus, see http://www.uga.edu/griffin/.
The Department of Child and Family Development sponsored visiting scholar, Dr. Linda Burton of Duke University, Thursday, April 21, 2011. She spoke on “The Place of Race, Ethnicity and Colorism in Contemporary Family Research.” Dr. Burton is the James B. Duke Professor of Sociology and Director of the Sociology Department's Undergraduate Honors Program at Duke University. Her research integrates ethnographic and demographic approaches and examines the roles that poverty and intergenerational family dynamics play in the intimate unions of low-income mothers and the life course transitions of children and adults in urban and rural families.
The Department of Child and Family Development sponsored visiting scholar, Dr. Keith Whitfield of Duke University, whose presentation “Cognitive Aging among African Americans: An Individual Differences Perspective,” was delivered Thursday, April 21, 2011 at the Georgia Center. Dr. Whitfield is a Professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience and a Research Professor in the Department of Geriatric Medicine at Duke University Medical Center. He is the Director of the Developmental Psychology Program and the Center on Biobehavioral and Social Aspects of Health Disparities.
Please save the date: Friday, April 29 at 3:30, Room 116 of Dawson Hall
Join us as we congratulate the recipients of
Advisor of the Year
Teacher of the Year
Nettie Marie Nickols Outstanding Staff Award
Thomas F. Rodgers Outreach Agent Award
Outreach Paraprofessional Award
Outreach Faculty Award
Endsley-Peifer Student Research Award
A new University of Georgia Cooperative Extension program launched this year challenges Georgians to save 40 gallons of water per day. The 40-Gallon Challenge allows Georgians to compete against other Americans who are taking the challenge in their states.
The Department of Human Development and Family Science's Visiting Scholar Lecture April 11, 2011, at 10 a.m. in Room 142 of the Tate Center featured guest speaker, Dr. Lilly Shanahan. She spoke on "Family Risk Factors and Mental Health in Development. Dr. Shanahan is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a faculty member at the Carolina Consortium for Human Development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Research Scientist at the Center for Developmental Epidemiology at Duke University School of Medicine. She received her B.S. in Psychology at the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Jena, Germany, and her M.S. (in 2002) and Ph.D. (in 2004) in Human Development and Family Studies with a Minor in Statistics from the Pennsylvania State University. She also studied at Université Paul Valéry, Montpellier, France. From 2004-2007, she was an NICHD Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Carolina Consortium on Human Development and Duke University Medical Center.
One line of her work on risk and protective factors focuses on within-family factors, including parenting, parental differential treatment of siblings, and sibling relationships. For example, in two papers that appeared as back-to-back articles in Developmental Psychology (2007), Dr. Shanahan and colleagues charted the course of parent-child warmth and conflict in first- and second-borns from ages 7 to 19. Another line of work focuses on child-level risk factors, including early self-regulation, puberty, and psychopathology. For example, in recent papers in The American Journal of Psychiatry and Archives of General Psychiatry (2010, 2009), Dr. Shanahan and colleagues examined the role of childhood and adolescent disorders and early puberty in predicting psychopathology in young adulthood. Most recently, Dr. Shanahan has become interested in examining how physiological stress (including vagal regulation of cardiac activity and immune function) mediates or moderates links between psychosocial adversity and psychopathology. Dr. Shanahan is currently a Co-Investigator on an NIMH-funded study on biosocial pathways to psychopathology in adolescence, and has two grants under review that propose to explore these themes (at NIMH and NIAAA).
Research shows benefits of poverty simulation for university students
Writer: Denise H. Horton, 706/542-8014, dhorton@uga.edu
Contact: Sharon Y. Nickols, 706/542-4849, snickols@fcs.uga.edu; Robb Nielsen, 706/542-8885, rnielsen@uga.edu
Athens, Ga. – An article by two University of Georgia researchers in the latest issue of the Journal of Poverty demonstrates that students participating in a simulation “soften their attitudes” regarding those who live in poverty.
Sharon Y. Nickols, the Janette McGarity Barber Distinguished Professor in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, and Robb Nielsen, an assistant professor in the college, conducted both a qualitative and quantitative study to determine whether students developed “social empathy” after participating in a two-and-a-half hour simulation titled, “Welcome to the State of Poverty.”
During the simulation, students in Nickols’ course on managing family resources are clustered into various family groups—two parents and two children; an older woman living alone; a single mother with two children; and a cohabiting couple, for example. Faculty members and other volunteers play the roles of community members, such as the town banker, pawn shop owner and a social services employee. During the course of the simulation, the participants must accomplish a variety of tasks, including buying groceries, paying their bills and caring for both toddlers and aging parents while subsisting on low wages and other issues, such as being unable to speak English. During the course of each 15-minute “month,” new situations are randomly interjected. In some cases, these are helpful events, such as an unemployed parent receiving a job. In other cases, the events add to the families’ difficulties, such as a family without health insurance facing illness.
The simulation, which is led by Cooperative Extension Multicultural Specialist Sharon Gibson, has been used for many years with a variety of community leaders to help them realize the complexities of poverty, but the study by Nickols and Nielsen is apparently the first to measure its impact on college students.
In conducting their study, Nickols and Nielson used two ways of measuring students’ attitudes—a pre- and post-test and a reflective paper that was written after the simulation. What they found, according to Nielsen, was that the students were better able to identify with the experiences and reactions of those in adverse or difficult situations.
“It wasn’t a dramatic change, but we didn’t expect a dramatic change,” he said. “These students started relatively empathetic and became more empathetic.”
Among the changes, participants in the simulation shifted their opinions about whether people who are poor attempt to get out of poverty; whether they attempt to save money; and whether they’d rather work than be on welfare. In addition, their views on whether the poor have equal access to health care and whether the government does enough to help those who are poor, also shifted. They gained a better understanding of the fact that there are more children than adults living in poverty.
In looking at the reflective papers the students wrote a week after the simulation, the researchers found that 65 of the 75 students who wrote papers described themselves as having gained greater insights into the lives of the poor as a result of the simulation. Among the remaining students, seven reported no change in their opinions (in some cases, they stated they already were empathetic to the poor) and the responses of three students were ambiguous.
“I began to understand and realize that it’s not always a person’s fault for being in a poverty-stricken lifestyle,” wrote one student. “Just sitting in an environment of failure makes your own drive to succeed that much harder.”
Another student was surprised by the difficulty of assessing social services: “I knew very little about TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families). I cannot imagine that everyone that is in need of help knows all about the programs available to them.”
One finding the authors hadn’t anticipated, based on previous studies that examined empathy, was the stress the participants felt as they inhabited the roles of those living in poverty.
“The stress…was brought on entirely by my family’s financial insecurity,” a student said. “I had little time to do anything other than go to work, run errands and pay the bills; I barely saw my children or husband and never had the chance to relax.”
“Getting groceries, applying for TANF and food stamps and going to the QuickCash all took so long to get accomplished,” wrote another. “I think that many people in poverty would feel like they were on a treadmill, not really getting anywhere.”
“Much of what students learn in the family resources class emphasizes the breadth of resources that are available, including time, space, and family and community support, in addition to the monetary and material goods we frequently think of,” Nickols said. “Part of what this simulation demonstrates is what happens when you’re missing a number of those resources.”
Contact: Ian Hardin, 706/542-0357, ihardin@fcs.uga.edu
Athens, Ga. – Ian Russell Hardin, Georgia Power Professor of Textile Science in the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences, has been awarded the Olney Medal by the American Association of Textiles and Color Chemists for outstanding achievements in the field of textile chemistry. The award was presented at the annual AATCC meeting on March 24 in Charleston, S.C.
Hardin’s research has focused on developing environmentally friendly alternatives like enzymes to replace conventional chemicals used in textile processing. In addition to improving the cleanup of textile effluents and improving water quality, the results of Hardin’s research may save energy and reduce costs for textile manufacturers.
In addition, Hardin's research has provided an international impetus in this field, affecting the textile industry’s environmental profile around the world. Hardin’s laboratory was the first to publicly report evidence that pectinase enzymes could effectively substitute for the conventional alkaline scouring of fabrics. Hardin researched white rot fungi to decolorize textile wastewater. Hardin has also collaborated with scientists involved in assessing chronic toxicity of textile effluents. Their work has shown the need for revision of standard effluent toxicity protocols.
Established in 1944 in honor of Louis Atwell Olney, the founder and first president of AATCC, the Olney Medal recognizes outstanding achievement in textile or polymer chemistry or other fields of chemistry of major importance to textile science. The award consists of a gold medal, a scroll, and an honorarium.
AATCC is the world's leading not-for-profit association serving textile professionals and provides test method development, quality control materials, and professional networking for members in about 60 countries around the world.
Athens, Ga. – Linda Kirk Fox, associate dean and professor of the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences at Washington State University, and associate director of Washington State University Extension, has been named the new dean of the College of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Georgia following a national search. As dean, she also will serve as associate director of Georgia Cooperative Extension and associate director of the Georgia Agricultural Experiment Stations.
"Dr. Fox will bring to this campus what all new leaders bring—a set of fresh ideas, some new ways of carrying out our mission and an energy that will benefit the entire campus," said UGA President Michael F. Adams. "I am confident she will lead the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, already one of our fastest-growing academic units, to even greater success. I look forward to working with her."
The appointment was announced today by Jere Morehead, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, and becomes effective in early July.
"The FACS search committee and the university’s Executive Search group provided three outstanding finalists," Morehead said. "I am delighted that Dr. Fox will become the next dean of this great college. She has the background and vision to provide excellent leadership."
Fox has been at Washington State since 2002 and before that was a faculty member and extension specialist at the University of Idaho, where she also served as director of the School of Family and Consumer Sciences from 1999-2002. She holds three degrees from Oregon State University, including a doctorate in family resource management.
"I’m honored and excited to join the faculty and administration of the University of Georgia,” Fox said. “It is the reputation for excellence across the departments of the College of Family and Consumer Sciences that attracted me to apply and accept this opportunity to lead the college."
The new dean succeeds Laura Jolly, who was named vice president for instruction at UGA last September. Anne Sweaney, a department head and longtime faculty member in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, has served as interim dean since September 2010.
“Anne Sweaney has provided exemplary service as the interim dean,” Morehead said. “She is one of the most talented and dedicated faculty members I know at UGA.”
Sweaney said she was pleased with the choice of Fox as the college's seventh dean. "She has the skills and energy to lead our college to the next level of success," Sweaney said.
The UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences includes more than 60 faculty members in four academic departments: child and family development, foods and nutrition, housing and consumer economics, and textiles, merchandising and interiors.
More than 1,500 students are enrolled in the college and have access to numerous resources to enhance their educational experience, including leadership development programs and opportunities
There will be a College Assembly on Monday, March 21, 2011 from 12:20 to 1:20 pm in Room 116 of Dawson Hall. Provost Morehead will address the faculty and staff. Tim Foutz will be there as well to talk about the First Year Odyssey Seminars and answer questions you may have.
Congratulations to Connie Crawley, MS, RD, LD on receiving the 2011 Georgia Nutrition Council Award of Excellence.
The Georgia Nutrition Council (GNC) held their annual conference, Bridging Research and Practice, Feb. 24-25, 2011 in Athens.
It was an excellent program, chaired by Judy Hibbs, and Connie was presented this award at the closing luncheon and business meeting.
Connie was cited for her outstanding state and national work in diabetes education and other programming for chronic disease prevention and management, as well as being an outstanding dietitian and representative of the nutrition education community.
Athens, Ga. – PREPARE, a pre-marital preparation and relationship enhancement program provided by the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension and College of Family and Consumer Sciences, will offer a day-long workshop designed for engaged couples of all ages on April 9, at Sandy Creek Nature Center.
“Participants in PREPARE demonstrate significant improvements in how they interact with each other and feel about their relationship,” according to Ted Futris, who heads the program and is an assistant professor of child and family development in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. “In particular, couples who have been identified as being at high risk for marital instability seem to benefit the most.” Findings of the research will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy.
PREPARE is open to couples in Clarke and surrounding counties. Registration is $60, but couples who complete the program will qualify for a $35 discount on their marriage license.
For more information, see www.gamarriages.com or contact Ted Futris at 706/542-7566 or tfutris@uga.edu
Dr. Gary L. Bowen served as guest speaker for the Department of Child and Family Development’s Visiting Scholar Seminar, Feb. 24, 2011 at the Georgia Center. His presentation was titled “Story Lines of Research.”
Dr. Bowen is a Kenan Distinguished Professor in the School of Social Work at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). He serves as Chief Scientist in the Jordan Institute for Military Members, Veterans, and their Families. He also co-directs the School Success Profile (SSP) project in the School of Social Work at UNC-CH with Dr. Natasha Bowen and Dr. Jack Richman. Dr. Bowen received his MSW in 1976 from UNC-CH and his Ph.D. in Family Studies in 1981 from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Dr. Bowen is President of the National Council on Family Relations.
Dr. Bowen’s scholarship addresses ways in which elements of social structure frame and influence individual and collective orientations and behavioral choices. This scholarly theme is reflected in his studies of the intersection of communities and families in the US Military, and in his efforts to evaluate the impact of Family Support 360 Models on the coping efforts of military families with children with special needs. He currently teaches the theory course in the Ph.D. program at the School of Social Work at UNC-CH, “Conceptualizing Social Problems to Inform Interventions.”
Monday, February 28, 2011 Your Voice Counts! Students and faculty are invited to participate in a day trip to the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta to represent UGA's College of Family and Consumer Sciences.
The UGA Alumni Association proudly announces the launch its 40 under 40 program. Click on the link below to nominate FACS alumni who lead in their communities and careers.
Visiting Scholar Dr. Kenneth Dodge presented, “Framing, Development, Prevention and Policy in Youth Violence,” Feb. 15, 2011 the annual Gene Brody Prevention Science Colloquium at the Tate Center Reception Hall. Kenneth Dodge is the William McDougall Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Psychology - Social and Health Sciences and the first director of the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University. As director, he leads an effort to bridge basic scientific research in children’s development with public policy affecting children and families.
Dodge’s scholarship addresses the development and prevention of chronic violence in children and adolescents. His research explores how chronic aggressive behavior develops across the life span. His work has identified factors such as early family experience, peer relations and social-cognitive patterns which serve as catalysts for aggressive behavioral development.
Dr. Hargrove to speak at Frontiers in Obesity Research, Washington, DC
Writer: James Hargrove
Contact: jhargrov@gmail.com
Dr. James Hargrove will explain his group's research concerning weight plateaus after bariatricsurgery at Experimental Biology 2011 in Washington, DC. The oral presentation is, "The plateau principle, a model of approach to steady state for weight and metabolic functions after bariatric surgery." He will also present a poster in mathematical modeling entitled, "Derivation of equations for the plateau principle and their application to changes in body mass index and insulin sensitivity after bariatric surgery." The work is being conducted with Dr. Grete Heinz of Carmel, California, and Dr. Wei-Jei Lee, a surgeon at National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan.
Congratulations to Emily Blalock! She has been selected Advisor of the Year for the University of Georgia. Emily received this honor at the department and college level as well. Emily is a Lecturer in the Fashion Merchandising program, she teaches 7 (3 hour credit) courses per year, is an academic advisor for the FM major, is faculty advisor for FDSA (Fashion Design Student Association), and Internship Coordinator for the FM major. Emily is shown in this photograph with Dr. Michael T. Fralix, President and CEO of [TC]2.
In conjunction with UGA's 50th Anniversary of Desegregation "Celebrating Courage", the Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors is hosting a photograph exhibit: Headties to Hip Hop: A Photographic Celebration of African American Dress. The flyer is attached.
The exhibit opens at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 8, in the Barrow Hall Gallery with talks given by Dr. Patricia Hunt-Hurst and Dr. Katalin Medvedev. The exhibit will be up: February 8- March 1, 2011. Barrow Hall Gallery is open from 9:00 - 5:00 MWF. This exhibit was created and installed by Dr. José Blanco and his team of student volunteers and graduate assistant.
We hope you will make a trip to Barrow to see the exhibit.
Radon is the second leading cause of Lung Cancer in the USA, after tobacco smoke. It kills nearly 22,000 people each year, more than 800 of them in Georgia. Radon is an odorless, invisible and tasteless gas released by the natural decay of uranium in our soils and rocks that easily enters our homes through the foundations and well water.
Test your home today!You can prevent and reduce entry of Radon into your home. For more information, please contact your local extension radon agent by referring tothis chart(PDF).
Spring 2011, all Family and Consumer Sciences students with a matriculation term of Fall 2007 or later will be migrated to a new degree audit system called DegreeWorks.
DegreeWorks is a web-based tool to help you and your advisor monitor your progress toward degree completion. DegreeWorks combines the University of Georgia’s degree requirements and the coursework you have completed into an easy-to-read worksheet.
What you need to know:
Beginning Spring Semester 2011 you will no longer be able to access DARS in Oasis for degree programs in Family and Consumer Sciences. You will instead be redirected to log into
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., USA, Wednesday, December 15, 2010--AATCC will honor University of Georgia professor Ian Russell Hardin with the Olney Medal for outstanding achievements in the field of textile chemistry.
Hardin's research has focused on developing environmentally-friendly alternatives like enzymes to replace conventional chemicals used in textile processing. In addition to improving the cleanup of textile effluents and improving water quality, the results of Hardin's research should save energy and reduce costs for textile manufacturers.
In addition, Hardin's research has provided international impetus in this field, affecting the textile industry's environmental profile around the world. Hardin's laboratory was the first to publicly report evidence that pectinase enzymes could effectively substitute for the conventional alkaline scouring of fabrics. Hardin researched white rot fungi to decolorize textile waste water. Hardin has also collaborated with scientists involved in assessing chronic toxicity of textile effluents. Their work has shown the need for revision of standard effluent toxicity protocols.
Presentation of the Olney Medal is a highlight of AATCC's International Conference. Hardin will receive the Olney Medal at an Awards Luncheon at noon on Thursday, March 24, at the Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston, S. C., USA. Hardin will deliver the traditional Olney Medal Address, "The Organic Ties Between Biology and Textile Chemistry: Fungi, Enzymes, and Green Chemistry," on Thursday morning, March 24, at 8:15 a.m., during the Association's 2011 International Conference.
Established in 1944 in honor of Louis Atwell Olney, the founder and first president of AATCC, the Olney Medal recognizes outstanding achievement in textile or polymer chemistry or other fields of chemistry of major importance to textile science. The award consists of a gold medal, a scroll, and an honorarium.
AATCC's 2011 International Conference will be held March 22-24 at the Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston, S. C., USA.
ABOUT AATCC: AATCC is the world’s leading not-for-profit association serving textile professionals since 1921. AATCC, headquartered in Research Triangle Park, N.C., USA, provides test method development, quality control materials, and professional networking for members in about 60 countries throughout the world.
Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2010 was a captivating evening in the Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors. The Georgia Soft Goods Education Foundation in partnership with TMI held a reception in recognition of TMI’s undergraduate and graduate programs. The evening began at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education attended by members of the Soft Goods Foundation board, industry professionals from around the state of Georgia, TMI faculty and students. Lectra (the world leader in technology for soft goods design, development and production) and Riverside (producer of high quality uniforms) sponsored the event while industry representatives from Buhler Yarns, Erin London, Flirt Fashions, Island Apparel, Marena Group, Patriotic Flag Company, Precious Image Creations, and Sewn Product Equipment Co. and others were in attendance. Following the reception, participants strolled to Dawson Hall for tours of textile testing and research labs, couture a la cart, the CAD lab, a historic clothing exhibit and a chance to view Furnishings and Interiors and Fashion Merchandising student display boards, creativity hats, and other projects, as well as faculty and graduate student publications. In addition, students modeled TXMI and Co., products such as the magic dress, the little gray dress, the vintage T, and other products. Students and faculty provided information and answered questions at each tour site.
Wash Your Paws, Georgia! Handwashing Education Campaign
Writer: Judy A. Harrison 706-542-3773 judyh@uga.edu
Family and Consumer Sciences Extension and Georgia 4-H teach youth the importance of handwashing and how to properly wash hands to reduce their risk of foodborne illnesses and infectious diseases.
Students often miss school because of gastrointestinal and respiratory illnesses. Absences from school often result in lost time from work for parents and in substantial costs for physician visits and antibiotic treatment. Absences from school can have an adverse effect on a child’s grades and a school’s ability to make adequate yearly progress. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), handwashing is one of the best ways to avoid getting sick and spreading germs, and to prevent both infectious diseases and foodborne illnesses. The Georgia Dept. of Community Health has stated that prevention of disease transmission through good handwashing policies for both students and staff should be constantly reinforced. School officials have turned to Cooperative Extension to fulfill this need in communities.
Family and Consumer Sciences Extension (FACS) created the Handwashing Education Initiative. Educational materials were developed for use in classroom situations, as well as, for display in public areas as a reminder of the importance of proper handwashing and how to properly wash hands using the six steps identified by the CDC. FACS Agents and Georgia 4-H Agents have implemented the curriculum in classrooms and club meetings and have included it in other projects such as the Childhood Overweight Prevention Project throughout the state. More than 10,000 posters have been distributed throughout the state as reminders to Wash Your Paws, Georgia!
More than 5,200 youth were reached in classrooms and club meetings in the initial pilot project during the 2009-2010 school year. Data from pre- and post-tests from a sample of 2,984 of these youth in 4th, 5th, 6th, 7thand 9thgrades indicated that almost 50% improved their knowledge of proper handwashing technique significantly as a result of the program. Data collected through the Childhood Overweight Prevention Project indicates that 31% of 9,852 youth who completed a post-retrospective pre-test indicated they wash their hands more often before eating since participating in the Wash Your Paws, Georgia! program.
Fashion Design Student Association (FDSA) fashion show on Friday, Nov. 12, 2010 at Georgia Square Mall, show starts at 9:30, tickets are $6.00. For more information contact, fdsa.uga@gmail.com
A new clinic at UGA, one of the first of its kind in the U.S., will provide residents of Athens-Clarke County and surrounding areas counseling services on a variety of topics, including individual and relationship issues, finances, housing and nutrition.
The clinic, known by the acronym ASPIRE, which stands for Acquiring Strategies for Personal Improvement and Relationship Enhancement, is the creation of faculty in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. It opened on a limited basis in January providing services on individual and relationship issues and financial issues, according to Lee Johnson, associate professor of child and family development and director of the FACS marriage and family therapy program.
“We want to meet clients where they are,” Johnson said. “What we have already found is that our clients liked having both services available. We think we’ll have even more people who want to access these additional services.”
There are no requirements or limits on whom a client meets with. For example, someone interested in nutrition counseling isn’t required to also meet with a financial planning counselor. However, Johnson and his colleagues agree that it can be helpful to have access to experts in other fields.
“Our financial planning counselors have said they appreciated knowing they had a resource to turn to if a client seemed depressed or if a family’s financial issues seemed tied to relationship issues,” said Joseph Goetz, assistant professor of family financial planning and another founder of ASPIRE. “As we’ve talked to our colleagues in other departments, we’ve realized how interconnected so many aspects of people’s lives are.”
Megan Lee, assistant professor of furnishings and interiors, said the home environment plays a role in a variety of other issues.
“For a family that’s facing financial issues and also dealing with physical infirmities, we can help identify relatively inexpensive solutions that will make a house more accessible and safer,” she said. “For another family facing issues regarding how its children perform in school, we might look at the space the children have for homework and identify ways to make that space more appropriate.”
In addition, Lee said, clients who want to remodel their kitchen can work with furnishings and interiors students who will draw up plans and work with them in picking out materials and getting them installed.
Rebecca Mullis, head of the FACS foods and nutrition department, sees the ASPIRE clinic as a place where foods and nutrition students, under the direction of a registered dietitian, could work with individuals, families or small groups on a variety of nutrition issues.
“Right now, we know that the University Health Center has a high demand for nutrition counseling and classes,” she said. “ASPIRE could provide a place for both students and community members to discuss issues like weight control or vegetarian eating.
Mullis emphasized that the counselors will focus on nutrition education, not clinical issues such as eating disorders. However, she said, there is a range of topics that could be pursued, including issues that also might include counselors in the other areas.
“For example, food costs are one of the most elastic areas in anyone’s budget,” she said. “In these economic times, I could foresee our counselors working with those in financial planning to reduce food costs on things like eating out and, instead, teach families ways to provide nutritious meals on a budget.”
Likewise, Mullis said individuals who wanted to lose weight might find it helpful to include a relationship counselor to ensure family support for the effort.
Writer: Susan Byus, sbyus@fcs.uga.edu, 706.542.3386
South Campus Tailgate 2010 is just around the corner. This year's tailgate is November 6th before our Dawgs take on Idaho State (hence Mr. Potato Head on the brochure). Join alumni, students and friends of FACS and CAES for another fun pre-game event. We'll get started three hours before kick-off. BBQ tickets and long sleeve T's available at www.fcs.uga.edu/alumni/tailgate/index.html Hope to see you there!
The University of Georgia, College of Family and Consumer Sciences is seeking applications for the Department Head for the Department of Foods and Nutrition from leaders with a record that qualifies for appointment as a full professor.
Foods and Nutrition Department Head Search Committee – 2010 Jan Hathcote, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Research – Chair Mary Ann Johnson, Ph.D., Bill and June Flatt Professor Elizabeth Andress , Ph.D., Interim Director for FACS Extension Joan Fischer, Ph.D., RD, Associate Professor Jung Sun Lee, Ph.D., RD, Assistant Professor Tonya Dalton – Staff Lauren Badger, BS – Graduate Students Angie Ruhlen, MS, RD Kevin McCully, PhD, Professor of Kinesiology (Exercise Science), College of Education
Writer: Susan Byus, sbyus@fcs.uga.edu, 706.542.3386
South Campus Tailgate 2010 is just around the corner.This year's tailgate is November 6th before our Dawgs take on Idaho State (hence Mr. Potato Head on the brochure). Join alumni, students and friends of FACS and CAES for another fun pre-game event. Kick-off is scheduled for 12:30, so we'll get things started 3 hours prior. Bar-b-que tickets and long sleeve tailgate t-shirts can be purchased online at www.fcs.uga.edu/alumni/tailgate/index.html. Hope to see you there!
The homecoming queen crowned this past Saturday was our very own Madison Asef. She was co-sponsored by the Student Association of Family and Consumer Sciences. Madison is a FACS Ambassador and works hard for our college whenever she is asked. She is a Sr. majoring in Nutrition Science (with plans to go to med school) from Alpharetta, GA. Congratulations Madison! We couldn't be prouder!
This exhibition of historic dress includes a selection of items from the Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors' Historic Clothing and Textiles Collection. The exhibition is on display now until November 3, 2010 in the Barrow Hall Gallery (2nd floor). The gallery is open from 9 - 5 each Monday - Friday. More information.
Congratulations to Dr. Sharon Nickols, Interim Department Head of Housing and Consumer Economics who has been selected as the 2010 recipient of the Board on Human Sciences Lifetime Achievement Award. The Lifetime Achievement Award honors exceptional contributions to advancing the human sciences in higher education.
The ceremony will take place in the Dallas Hyatt Regency Hotel, and is scheduled on Monday, November 15, 2010 during the annual conference of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU).
When a member of our team succeeds we all benefit! Congratulations Dr. Nickols!
Maternal diet high in trans fats doubles risk of excess body fat in breastfed babies, study finds
Writer: Kirk McAlpin, 706/542-8078, kmm3@uga.edu
Contact: Alex Anderson, 706/542-7614, anderson@fcs.uga.edu
Athens, Ga. – A new University of Georgia study suggests that mothers who consume a diet high in trans fats double the likelihood that their infants will have high levels of body fat.
Researchers, whose results appear in the early online edition of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that infants whose mothers consumed more than 4.5 grams of trans fats per day while breastfeeding were twice as likely to have high percentages of body fat, or adiposity, than infants whose mothers consumed less than 4.5 grams per day of trans fats.
The researchers investigated different fatty acids, but determined trans fats to be the most important contributor to excess body fat. “Trans fats stuck out as a predictor to increased adiposity in both mothers and their babies,” said study co-author Alex Anderson, assistant professor in the UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences.
Anderson explained that although breast milk is optimal for the health of infants, it could also contain high levels of trans fats, depending on the mother’s diet. A better understanding of how a mother’s consumption of trans fats may impact the health of her baby would aid nutritionists in making more accurate dietary recommendations to prevent chronic disease later in life by encouraging mothers to select a diet low in trans fats, he said.
To determine the effect of the intake of trans fats by the child through breast milk, the researchers studied three different groups; mothers who only breast fed their infants, those that only used formula and those that used a combination of breast milk and formula.
It is important to measure body fat in addition to weight, said Anderson, since being overweight does not always mean having a high percent of body fat and vice versa. “It’s not just the weight, but the amount of body fat in the person that affects their health,” Anderson said. “That is why adiposity is such an important measure of cardiovascular risk.”
The researchers also found that mothers who consumed more than 4.5 grams of trans fats per day increased their own risk of excessive fat accumulation, independent of pre-pregnancy weight, by almost six times. This data suggests that trans fats intake could have a more significant weight-gain effect on breastfeeding mothers than it does at other times in their lives, Anderson said.
The researchers studied 96 women, many of whom were highly educated non-Hispanic white women, and note that the study should be replicated in a larger, more diverse group to strengthen information about the health dangers of eating trans fats. “It would help to be able to follow the child from when the mother was pregnant, through birth, and then adolescence, so that we can confirm what the type of infant feeding and maternal diet during breastfeeding have to do with the recent epidemic of childhood obesity,” said Anderson.
Participants are being sought for a grape juice and exercise study. You may be eligible if you are 18 to 35 years old and not regularly (2 or more times per week) doing high intensity aerobic exercise with the legs (e.g., cycling, running, basketball) or consuming grapes, raisins, red wine or tea more than once a week. Participants will drink grape juice or a placebo juice every day for 46 straight days. Exercise tests will be performed at the beginning and the end of the experiment. The total time required is 8 hours. Participants can earn up to $50 for their time. If you are interested contact Ms. Amanda Caravalho (acaraval@uga.edu).
Internship Applications are now being accepted to become a Legislative Aide. Please consider applying for this important and unique internship. To learn more about this opportunity, contact Jan Hathcote (jhathcote@fcs.uga.edu) or M.J. Kabaci (mjktex@uga.edu) by October 1.
Study Finds That Sorghum Bran Has More Antioxidants Than Blueberries, Pomegranates
A new University of Georgia study has found that select varieties of sorghum bran have greater antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties than well-known foods such as blueberries and pomegranates.
Writer: Denise H. Horton, 706-542-8014, dhorton@uga.edu
FACS Ambassadors and presidents and vice presidents of FACS student clubs joined administrators, faculty and alumni for the annual Leadership FACS overnight retreat at Camp Kiwanis in Madison County in late August. During their stay, the student leaders learned more about the college and took part in activities designed to enhance their leadership, teamwork and communication skills. A highlight of each year's Leadership FACS are the skits performed to educate fellow students about each department. At this year's retreat, Debra Lassiter, owner of Perfectly Polished in Athens, provided basic etiquette tips for those attending. Other speakers included Kristy Greer, FACS alumni board president; Jill Bateman, FACS alumna and associate director of annual and special giving for UGA; Connie Rash, associate director for the FACS student services office; Laura Jolly, UGA vice president for instruction and former FACS dean; and Susan Byus, FACS director of alumni relations and student leadership.
TMI students will be selling their products in front of Dawson from 9:00 till 11:00 Saturday prior to the Arkansas game. They will be featuring the newer products like the racer back vest, Athens "T", circle scarf, and the old standby letterman sweater. Everyone should stop by and take a look.
College students will generally agree, when asked, that peers are a powerful inspiration in buying clothing, but that response applies only to other students. An individual will usually deny such influence on his or her own purchases.
That is the major finding of a survey conducted by Mallory Roman, a UGA senior with a joint major in fashion merchandising and psychology, who recruited her 100-plus participants, UGA students all, through the social networking site Facebook as well as through online undergraduate discussion forums.
When participants were asked to respond to the proposition that they purchase brand-name apparel products solely because they are popular among their peers, only 22.8 percent strongly or somewhat agreed while a notable 66.6 percent strongly or somewhat disagreed.
But when it came to assessing peers, the respondents were more likely to rate them as being influenced by other students to a much greater degree than they rated themselves. For example, regarding a statement that their peers buy brand-name apparel products specifically to “fit in,” 74.3 percent agreed with the statement while only 13.7 percent disagreed—a distinct contrast to how they viewed their own decisions.
“The participants readily said that other peers around the campus were conforming to what they saw around them,” said Roman, “but felt that they were different and special from everyone else.” Further, first-year students were more likely to deny social influence in their apparel-purchasing behavior than any other class.
When participants were asked where they did receive their fashion ideas, the majority said they were primarily influenced by the media. But Roman’s design of her survey allowed her to conclude that participants were largely deluding themselves in this regard.
For her study, she chose 14 popular clothing items with strong brand identity that are staples on campus—Ugg boots, Costa Del Mar sunglasses and Ralph Lauren polo shirts, for example. Eight-five percent of the participants said they owned one or more of the objects depicted. Further, they said that they had been influenced after seeing them in national advertisements. But the catch was that none of the items had been heavily advertised in national media in the Athens area—via their peers was the main way the students could have seen the items.
Still, they tended to deny such conformity. “I was surprised with how defensive people got in the comments section” of the survey questionnaire, said Roman. “They probably felt judged by the survey and felt the need to defend themselves.” For example, some participants asserted for example: “I owned [particular items] before I came to UGA,” or, “Even if they weren’t popular, I would still use them.”
Roman credits her instructor Katalin Medvedev, assistant professor of textiles, merchandising, and interiors, with the support to conduct an extensive undergraduate research project. It began when Medvedev approached her in class about applying for the College of Family and Consumer Sciences’ Undergraduate Research Grant.
The research was presented at the Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities (CURO) Symposium in March and is currently being submitted to national journals for publication.
The goals of this program, which is sponsored by the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension and its partners, are to help you:
Develop regular physical activity habits
Get healthier and more physically fit
Have fun!
How does Walk Georgia work?
As you log your minutes of physical activity each week, you will virtually travel across the state of Georgia discovering interesting facts about each county you “visit” and learning new ways to improve your health. We hope you will be inspired to join us and others in your county as we get more active and become healthier! You may register as an individual, or as a team of 4. Teams can receive comparisons and rankings with other teams throughout the state; the College could have teams competing against each other.
Please visit www.walkgeorgia.org to learn more and get registered by September 8. You will track your activity from Sept. 5 through Oct. 30.
Writer: Denise H. Horton, 706-542-8014, dhorton@uga.edu
Interim FACS Dean Anne Sweaney announced today that Sharon Y. Nickols, the Janette McGarity Barber Distinguished Professor in the Department of Housing and Consumer Economics has agreed to serve as the HACE interim department head for the remainder of the time Dr. Sweaney is interim dean.
Dr. Nickols served as dean of the college for 15 years -- from 1990-2005 -- prior to returning to a full-time faculty position. She will continue to teach HACE 3000 and will split her time between the HACE departmental office in Dawson Hall and her office in House B.
Computer Services has various construction projects underway. Thanks to Mark Ellenberg, IT Director, for ensuring that the Dawson 264 Computer Classroom was completed by the start of the semester.
Dawson 202 and 204: Carpeting and painting have been completed, furniture delivered. Networking and electrical systems are expected to be finished by September 10th. Audio/Video, instructor's workstation, and desktop computers are expected to be setup and ready for classes by October 1st.
“I am very grateful to Dr. Sweaney for agreeing to serve as interim dean as we begin a national search for the next dean of the College of Family and Consumer Sciences,” said Jere Morehead, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost.“I am confident she will do an excellent job in this role and will be aided by her outstanding colleagues in the college.”
Sweaney, who is head of the department of housing and consumer economics, has won many teaching and advising awards at UGA including the Josiah Meigs Award for teaching excellence in 1999, and also won a national award for Excellence in College and University Teaching from the United States Department of Agriculture.She is a member of UGA’s TeachingAcademy and serves on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Athletic Association.
Her research interests include the effect of public policy on housing for families and consumers, housing needs of older adults, and the role of technology in adapting housing for the life span. She has served as president of the Housing Education and Research Association and currently serves on the Board of the System Built Research Alliance.
She has served as the coordinator of the Legislative Aide Program for the College of Family and Consumer Sciences for 10 years and developed the college’s first study abroad program in London, England.
Sweaney, who will not be a candidate to serve as permanent dean, plans to return to her role as department head when the search process is completed.Morehead said that the members of the search committee will be appointed in late September.The search committee will be assisted by UGA’s Executive and Faculty Search Group.
The Student Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, advised by
Connie Rash, received the 2010 American Association of Family and
Consumer Sciences Student Progress Award. The award honors a collegiate
organization that has at least 15% growth in membership and active
involvement in the national organization. SAFCS has been on UGA's campus
for 83 years and this is the first time in UGA history to have an
undergraduate student chair at the national level.
Clothes call: FACS faculty member studies textiles from past, present
Writer: Denise H. Horton dhorton@uga.edu
José Blanco, an assistant professor, studies male fashion from the 1960s to the present, including how local male band members decide what to wear. (Photo by Andrew Davis Tucker)
To those who question the validity of fashion research, José Blanco asks for just five minutes.
“Everyone interacts with clothing every day,” said the assistant professor of textiles, merchandising and interiors in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. “Whether we spend a lot of time thinking about what we wear or don’t think about it at all; either way it says something about who we are.”
Blanco, who is in charge of the FACS historic costume collection, teaches courses on the history of fashion, clothing and textiles, as well as courses on fashion-centered museum exhibitions. He also worked closely with the family of the late Billy Carter, former President Jimmy Carter’s brother.
“Billy Carter used clothing as a way to create characters,” Blanco said. “What I learned from interviewing his wife and children was that he was a very thoughtful person and his private self wasn’t at all like the image portrayed in the media. But he liked to say things to make people uncomfortable and he knew how to play that role.”
Blanco’s interest in clothing dates back to his childhood and helping his Aunt Teresa organize her workshop.
“She was the best seamstress in town, but her workshop was a mess,” said Blanco, who recalls spending hours organizing rickrack, ribbons and other items. “I was fascinated by what she was doing, but I never learned to sew.”
Blanco’s first choice of majors was history, but he faced resistance from his family who said “I’d be poor my whole life.”
As a compromise, he double-majored in agriculture and theater until scheduling conflicts arose during his final semesters when he was required to be in both the field for his agriculture classes and on the stage for his theater requirements and theater won out.
His focus on historic fashion began while finishing his Ph.D. at Florida State University. A colleague mentioned to him that the textiles department needed someone to teach a course in the history of fashion design. That soon turned into two courses and then Blanco learned that FSU had a historic costume collection that had been in storage for a decade.
When he arrived at UGA in 2006 Blanco found the FACS costume collection in much better shape. He also found a group of students eager to learn about historic clothing and how to develop museum-quality exhibitions.
“I really enjoy teaching,” Blanco said. “And, these students are so dedicated. The rule is that they care. They just do everything and they do it well.”
As a researcher, Blanco focuses on men’s fashion from the 1960s until the present. Currently, he’s studying how male musicians in Athens decide what they’re going to wear for their performances.
“When they’re performing, the band members in R.E.M. dress very much like they do every day, but the band members in Kiss have very distinct costumes,” he said. “I’m interested in finding out how band members decide what to wear. Do they make conscious decisions about it; are they trying to dress similarly to their audience or very differently, and what motivates them to wear particular outfits?”
The results will contribute to a developing area of literature focused on the role of dress and appearance in creating both personal and collective identity. Blanco hopes to continue to add to the historic costume collection and record the stories behind the donations.
“We have items from famous people like Mary Creswell, the college’s first dean, and a dress that was made for Rosalynn Carter, Jimmy Carter’s wife,” he said. “But we’re missing pieces from many famous male Georgians. I would like to build that part of our collection.”
Athens, Ga. – Laura Jolly, who has served as interim vice president for instruction at the University of Georgia since January 2010, has been named to fill the position on a permanent basis, effective Sept. 1.
The announcement was made today by Jere Morehead, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “Both President Adams and I are very pleased that Dr. Jolly has agreed to take on this important role at the University of Georgia,” Morehead said.
Jolly came to UGA in 2007 as dean of the College of Family and Consumer Sciences and took on the interim vice president position as an additional assignment while continuing her duties as dean. With the permanent appointment, she will step down as dean. Plans for choosing her successor will be announced at a later date, Morehead said.
“As a successful dean and interim vice president, Laura Jolly has demonstrated that she has the vision and leadership skills to advance the university’s instructional mission,” said UGA President Michael F. Adams.
The vice president for instruction is responsible for continued improvements to teaching, advising and student learning on campus and oversees a number of related academic and administrative departments including, among others, Undergraduate Admissions, the Division of Academic Enhancement, Office of Curriculum Systems, Office of the Registrar, Office of Student Financial Aid, the Center for Teaching and Learning, and the Washington Semester Program.
In addition, Jolly will be responsible for stewarding several critical institutional projects.These include implementation of the Quality Enhancement Plan that is a key part of the process for UGA’s reaffirmation of accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, redevelopment and expansion of UGA’s satellite campuses, and the advancement of key recommendations made by the Task Force on Distance Education.
“While I believe that a search process is generally the right thing to do before making appointments at this level, I’m convinced that this appointment is in the best interests of the University of Georgia,” Morehead said. “Dr. Jolly’s exemplary performance as interim vice president and her commitment to the quality of the student experience makes her the ideal choice for this position.Having the right person already in place avoids a costly national search and allows those funds to be directed to other needs.”
As dean of the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, Jolly worked to make the college one of the most student centered on campus by improving access to student services and increasing support for student leadership and engagement.
Under her leadership, the college increased graduate enrollment by 20 percent, expanded service-learning opportunities and study-abroad programs, created a student services suite to enhance support for students, and completed a highly successful planned giving campaign with more than $4 million committed for student scholarships, academic programs, student leadership and improving the student learning environment.
“While serving as interim vice president, I’ve gotten a good sense of the opportunities and challenges of this position and look forward to working with the senior administration, faculty, staff and students to advance the instructional mission at UGA,” Jolly said.
She previously held faculty and administrative positions at three other land-grant universities: the University of Tennessee, University of Kentucky and Oklahoma State University.
PREDICTABILITY AND AUTHENTICITY ESSENTIAL TO HELPING ADOLESCENTS COPE WITH PARENTS’ MILITARY DEPLOYMENT
Writer: Denise H. Horton, 706-542-8014, dhorton@uga.edu
Contact: Jay A. Mancini, 706-542-4844, mancini@fcs.uga.edu Angela J. Huebner, 703-538-8491, ahuebner@vt.edu
ATHENS, Ga. – When a parent who is in the military is deployed adolescents need to know who they can count on, according to findings by researchers at the University of Georgia and Virginia Tech.
“Families that have a parent deploying are undergoing an enormous amount of change,” according to Jay A. Mancini, a UGA child and family development researcher, who conducted the research along with Angela Huebner of Virginia Tech. “There are the changes that are occurring for both the person in Afghanistan and the family members at home, but there are also the dramatic changes that normally occur in adolescents over the course of 12 or more months.”
The military and other organizations have developed a variety of programs to help family members cope with deployment, unfortunately, relatively few of them work with families as a whole, Mancini said.
“Frequently, programs designed to help youth are only targeted to the youth,” Mancini said. “What our research confirmed was the pivotal role of parents in helping their children cope. Consequently programs targeted at youth need to also account for their family relationships.”
The study, conducted in 2008, includes interviews with 85 adolescents ranging in age from 11 to 18, many of whom were attending Operation Military Kids camps in Florida, Maine, North Carolina and Ohio. The camps, a partnership between the U.S. Army and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service, are designed for youth with military parents. Participants met with an interviewer in groups of eight to 10 and were asked an array of questions regarding their parent’s deployment and its impact, both on them individually and on other family members. Among the youth who participated, 20 had experienced a parent deploying multiple times while 38 had experienced one deployment. The remaining participants hadn’t experienced a parent deploying to another country, but had experienced separation due to a parent’s temporary duty assignments or training demands.
After transcribing all of the interviews, Mancini and Huebner looked closely at how the participants described their experiences when their parents were deployed. How the participants learned of the pending deployment, their interactions with their parents prior to, during and following deployment, the support of extended family members, and how family roles evolved were all discussed by the participants.
Adolescents who seemed to have coped best with deployment tended to be those who had intentional interactions with their parents and others, Mancini said. In those cases, the parents arranged family meetings prior to deployment, and ongoing discussions occurred regarding how the adolescent was coping both during and after deployment. In the worst-case scenarios, the parents avoided discussing deployment (including one instance where an adolescent learned of his father’s pending deployment from a neighbor). In some families, the parent-child relationship nearly reversed with the adolescent feeling responsible for the remaining parent’s well being or for always putting on a “happy face” for the deployed parent.
Huebner noted that a number of the participants continued to expect their parent to be redeployed, even if the parent had retired from the military. “There’s such a sense of hypervigilance,” she said. “They’re constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
A parent’s return from active duty also meant, in at least some cases, dealing with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, Huebner said.
“I think what’s important to consider is that the whole family system has to allow for movement,” she said. “You can’t expect a parent who has symptoms of PTSD to just set that aside and be the person he was before deployment—and if they understand what’s going on, adolescents can adapt to those changes.”
Both Huebner and Mancini said the issues facing adolescents of deploying parents are exacerbated if those parents are in the National Guard or Army Reserve due to how dispersed those families are, a situation that has become increasingly common with 45 percent of the U.S. military’s deployed force currently being made up of service members in the National Guard and Reserve.
“Very few Guard or Reserve families live near military installations,” Mancini said. “While the members of the units know each other, in many cases the families have never met so there aren’t the informal support networks that tend to exist among families of active duty soldiers.”
The study, which was funded by Headquarters Army Child, Youth and School Services and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, concludes with many suggestions for how family support program professionals can assist parents and adolescents. Programs for parents need to emphasize the importance of family meetings, including having age-appropriate discussions on upcoming deployments and the changes in roles and responsibilities that will result. In addition, parents need to understand how their anxieties and emotions can affect their children’s well being, the report says. Of particular significance, according to Mancini, is the importance of providing supports to youth and families during the return and reintegration phase of deployment because it is then that families are again intact and challenged with recalibrating their interactions and ways of being a family.
Programs for youth need to include information on “normal and expected” responses to a parent’s deployment, including worry and poor concentration, and the likelihood that conflicts may arise as a result of a parent’s absence, the report says. Perhaps most important, adolescents need to learn “strategies for communicating complex feelings, and realize the importance of sharing feelings with parents,” the report says. Finally, the report suggests that adolescents be encouraged to create an “advice blog” or keep an advice diary. While their writing may help other youth in similar situations, an advice blog can help them document their own successes at coping, the report says.
“As I read the data, I was taken with how much uncertainty is in the lives of these youth,” Mancini said. “We need prevention and intervention programs that intentionally focus on that. We need to identify what certainties there are in the lives of youth in military families that can be reinforced.”
Service-learning study abroad trips are typically thought of as ways for University students to teach others — but for two graduate students, their trip became not only a teaching tool, but a life lesson for themselves.
Rachel Hagues, a Ph.D. student in child and family development, was one of these students. After traveling to Tanzania in May, she can certainly validate the notion that study abroad is a passport to developing an appreciation for other cultures and viewpoints.
African girls are led in a game of Simon Says during the Girl Talk program in Tanzania.
“Every year I am blown away by what I have learned, and how welcoming the people are makes it truly worthwhile,” Hagues said.
Hagues has been travelling to Tanzania since 2008 and plans to return next year to continue community service and to complete her dissertation.
In 2009, Hagues returned to Tanzania with partner Hunter Parker, a University graduate student studying theatre and film studies.
Hagues and Parker stayed in a small town in Ukerewe, the largest island on Lake Victoria in Tanzania.
The island of approximately 150,000 is still an underdeveloped area, having only had electricity since 2005. The island’s primary language is Swahili.
The pair’s journey was a continuation of previous trips spawned by a partnership with Gertrude Mongella, the first president of the Pan-African Parliament.
Mongella won the University’s Delta Prize for Global Understanding in 2005.
“Mongella didn’t want to keep the award money for herself, but instead used it to establish a program that would encourage students from UGA to partner with her rural village in her hometown of Tanzania,” Hagues said.
Hagues and Parker said they hope to have several students who have an interest in service-learning join them next year.
One of the initiatives they are working on is referred to as “Girl’s Talk.”
“The idea is that what we are doing is for the girls and women leaders,” Parker said.
“And while we are, we are not avoiding the boys because, in essence, we have to educate the society.”
“Girl’s Talk” allows Tanzanians who seem to have a natural talent in performing arts to express themselves through skits.
It is meant to empower the girls — who range between the ages of 9 to 18 — and also encourage them to continue with their education.
Hagues said Tanzanian women are treated as subordinates in their country. She said they are often oppressed and sexually harassed by older men, including some who carry HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
“[We are] teaching the girls that they have options and that they don’t have to accept the abuse or the harassment,” Parker said.
Tanzanian women don’t have much of a voice in their communities, which is something Parker and Hagues are trying to help them to gain.
“We aren’t going in there saying we have all the answers because the solutions need to come from members within their community,” Parker said.
She said many of the Tanzanian women usually get pregnant early and are forced to marry and quit school.
“The families there want the same things that we want for our children,” Parker said. “That is to grow up happy and healthy and to live a decent life.”
While AIDS and malaria are the major health concerns, Tanzanians have healthy diets consisting of fish, fruits and vegetables.
They are helping Tanzanians to become more communal through service learning and are hoping for more students and faculty to join them next summer.
“It is a life-changing experience,” Parker said. “You go over there with the idea that you want to help them learn, but, in return, you learn. The experience is hard to describe in words. They appear different, but really at the heart of it, we are all the same.”
HACE is excited to announce the addition of Dr. Sophia Anong who has accepted the position of Assistant Professor at the Griffin Campus beginning August 1, 2010. Dr. Anong comes to UGA from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Her research interests and experience include asset ownership, consumer credit, financial literacy and access to services like mobile banking in Africa, health insurance, impact of work-related factors on family economic well-being, self-employment and entrepreneurship, welfare participation, savings behavior, and retirement planning and behavior.
Lance Palmer has received the Richard B. Russell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. The full story is available in the March 30, 2009 issue of Columns.
Brenda Cude has received two significant recognitions for teaching at the University of Georgia. She is a 2008-09 University of Georgia Senior Teaching Fellow and, in November 2008, she was inducted into the UGA Teaching Academy.
HACE is excited to announce the addition of Dr. Vibha Bhargava who has accepted the position of Assistant Professor on the HACE faculty beginning in January, 2009. Dr. Bhargava comes to UGA from The Ohio State University, Department of Consumer Sciences where she has had a post doctoral researcher position for the last year. Her areas of expertise are consumer economics and health care.
The Master of Science non-thesis option for Family Financial Planning students has been approved. For additional information, visit our Graduate Program website.
Faculty, Staff, and Student Awards and Achievements
Renuka Dhandapani, TMI doctoral student, was selected to participate in the Graduate School's Emerging Leaders Program for 2009-1010.
Furnishing and Interiors students and faculty (Jaya Rose) designed the craft room for the Greenhaven Decorator Show House in Marietta, GA. Greenhave showcases the latest eco-friendly products in design and construction features.
Several TMI graduate and undergraduate students were awarded scholarships from the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. M.S. students Jing Cao received the Kilgore Award and Joo Ran Kim received the Emily Quinn Pou and Joe Pou Scholarship. Elizabeth Patterson, FM undergraduate received the Leonora Anderson scholarship, Camille Blair, a FI/FACSED undergraduate received the George Griffeth and Leolene Chapman Montgomery Scholarship and FI major Savannah Smith received the Opal Ward Jones Scholarship, 2009-2010.
Mrs. Anne Allen, TMI Advisor of the Year, 2008
Dr. Jose Blanco, College of Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher of the Year, 2009; Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors Teacher of the Year, 2008
Miss Xinying Cheng, M.S. student won third place in the Herman and Myrtle Goldstein Student Research Paper Competition at the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists International Conference, 2008
FI undergraduate student, Gloria Valencia-Martin received the National Kitchen and Bath Association's Outstanding Student Achievement Award, sponsored by TOTO, for 2008-2009.
FI undergraduate students, Heather Pyne, Elizabeth Sims, and RAchel Vaccaro were G.E. Charette Award winners, 2008-2009.
Fashion Merchandising undergraduate students, Jill Kornau and Abigail Wilson had abstracts accepted for presentation at the 2009 CURO (Center for Undergraduate Research Opportunities) Symposium. Jill's paper was titled:"Manicures: Not just paying for Pretty Nails. Abigail's paper entitled "Bolivian Wrestlers in Skirts" won Best Paper in the Social Science Division. Jill and Abie developed their papers in Dr. Katalin Medvedev's class, TXMI 4230 Dress, Society and Culture, 2009
Seven FI undergraduate students received recognition from the FI program for their project excellence in the NKBA 2008 Student Design Competition. The students included for Bath design: Rosemary Heath and for Kitchen Design: Caroline Irvin, Rachel Lwarence, Dannon Marshall, Sarah M. McCullough, Heather Pyne and Elizabeth Sims.
Dr. Patricia Hunt-Hurst, Inducted into UGA's Teaching Academy, 2008
Mrs. Diane Kesler, TMI's nominee for the Nettie Marie Nickols Award, 2008.
Dr. Megan Lee was selected as a 2009-2010 Service Learning Fellow, University of Georgia.
Ms. Jaya Rose and the FI program received an Excellence in Education Award from the National Kitchen and Bath Association, for 2008-2009
Prior to 2008
Mrs. Anne Allen, TMI Advisor of the Year, 2007
Dr. Patti Annis - Gamma Sigma Delta's Distinguished Senior Teaching Award, 2007
Mrs. Emily Blalock - TMI Teacher of the Year, 2007
Dr. José Blanco - Nominated for Gamma Sigma Delta's Junior Distinguished Teaching Award, 2007, 2008
Dr. Helen Epps inducted into the Teaching Academy, 2006; was selected a Senior Teaching Fellow for UGA, 2006
Dr. Patricia Hunt-Hurst - UGA Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award, 2006
Dr. Soyoung Kim received funding from the International Academic Development Fund (UGA Office of International Programs) to visit Japan to develop a study abroad program for 2007.
Mrs. Dawn Schueneman - TMI Teacher of the Year, 2007; College of Family and Consumer Sciences; TMI Advisor of the Year, 2006
Dr. Charles Yang received the Creative Research Medal, the University of Georgia, 1998. Senior Faculty Award, Gamma Sigma Delta (the Honor Society of Agriculture) University of Georgia Chapter, 2004.
Students
Ms. Xialing Wu (advisor - Dr. Charles Yang), won second place at the Student Paper Competition at the International Conference and Exhibition of the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists held this week. Her paper was "Flame Retardant Finishing of Cotton Fleece Using Maleic Acid/Sodium Hypophosphite". The award carried with it a $500 cash award, 2007. This is the third time over the last four years that a TMI Graduate student has won either first or second place in the competition. Wang Lu and Yiping Lu won first in 2004 and 2005.
Two Furnishings and Interiors majors placed in the National Kitchen and Bath Competition: Alan Gilman - Honorable Mention and Michelle Wilcher 2nd place, 2006
Genevieve Trousdale, FI undergraduate student, was Honorable Mention in The National Kitchen and Bath Design Competition, 2006
TMI won first place at South Campus Tailgate, 2006 & 2007.
Hui Yang received the Endsley-Peifer Student Research Award, 2006
Hui Yang also received travel award from INDA for a student paper competition, 2006
Nicki Sauls was one of three students from the College of Family and Consumers Sciences that was selected to participate in the Tunisia Service Learning project for two weeks in Tunisia this summer, 2006.
Nicki Sauls awarded American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, Graduate Student Fellowship for Research, 2006
Hang Liu and Hong Yu (doctoral students) were 2nd place winners for their project, "Design of Multilayer Disposable Surgical Gown," in the Materials Interest Group Engineering Design Competition, AATCC, 2006
Xueheng Zhao, Wang Lu, and Yiping Lu (doctoral students) won third place in the poster section at UGA's Faculty of Engineering conference, 2004. Their poster "Analysis of the Decolorization of Dyes by the White Rot Fungus Pleurotus Ostreatus" competed againg 29 posters from a variety of departments on campus.
The Department of Child and Family Development co-sponsored with the Center for Family Research, the Department of Sociology, the School of Social Work, the Department of Psychology and with Counseling and Human Development the Visiting Scholar, Dr. Gary Evans of Cornell University. As guest speaker, he delivered a presentation titled, “The Environment of Childhood Poverty,” Thursday, March 25, 2010 at the Tate Center.
The keynote address for the Gene Brody Colloquium, Feb. 25, 2010, was given by visiting scholar, Dr. Jay Belsky, professor in the School of Psychology at the University of London. He is an internationally recognized expert in Child Development and Family Studies. His areas of expertise include parent-child relations during infancy and early childhood, transition to parenthood, etiology of child maltreatment, and evolutionary basis of parent and child functioning. He is the founding investigator of the NICHD Study of Child Care and Youth Development (US) and the National Evaluation of Sure Start (UK).
