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(04/25/13 5:36pm)
On April 12, The National Trust for Scotland Foundation, USA and the Knight Fund for Macon of the Community Foundation of Central Georgia hosted the First Annual Scottish Heritage Festival at the Hay House, located on Georgia Avenue.
This event was also held with aid from the Freeman’s Auctioneers and Appraisers.
The Hay House has a Scottish heritage, as the Johnston family who built the house and the Hay family who gave the house to the Georgia Trust both had Scottish ancestry.
The Hay House is one of Macon’s historic houses.
The house was built in 1855-1859 by the Johnston family.
It was donated to the Georgia Trust by the Hay family in 1977.
The Hay House is one many historical places for students to visit if they are interested in touring Macon.
Complete with bagpipes, the First Annual Scottish Heritage Festival began with Senior Curator of the National Trust for Scotland Ian Gow speaking on the Brodick House.
The Brodick House rests on Isle of Arran and belonged to the Dukes of Hamilton for 400 years.
It passed into the ownership of the Scotland Trust after the passing of owner Duchess of Montrose in 1957.
The castle is now in need of help, like many other institutions, because of tightness in the economy.
Gow came to Macon from Edinburgh as a graduate of Trinity College Cambridge.
He became Curator of the National Trust for Scotland in 1998.
He manages a collection of over 50,000 works of art in 26 locations, including palaces and castles like Brodick.
“It was an invitation I could not refuse,” Gow said, regarding his invitation to speak at Macon’s First Scottish Heritage Festival.
“Macon is a very beautiful city, especially when it is spring and flowering. There is a richness of architecture as well.”
The speech was followed by a reception containing Scottish fare.
“Any Mercer student interested in architecture or history would be enlightened by a speaker of this caliber,”
Hay House Director Jonathan Poston stated. Poston was essential for planning the event, which was primarily created for the Macon community.
“The goal of this event is to celebrate the story of this house and to celebrate Scottish heritage,” Poston continued.
The National Trust for Scotland was founded in 1931.
The USA group of the National Trust for Scotland has donated $6.7 million in the 2000s.
Americans have helped to steward 129 properties. Both of these groups aim to support education about history and to support conservation of historical properties.
It is hoped that this event will be the first of many other events celebrating Scottish Heritage at the Hay House with other speakers and events.
The Scottish Heritage Festival hopes to encourage and grow in the Macon cultural community.
In addition to Scottish Heritage events, the Hay House is the home to many interesting events in Macon.
On April 28, the students of the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings will perform a Chamber Ensemble Concert including works by Mozart, Ginastera, Beethoven and more.
(04/25/13 5:17pm)
On April 11, students presented unique works from the year at the Breakthrough Engaging the Arts and Research event, known as BEAR Day.
BEAR Day allows students to present research in the sciences and humanities through posters, presentations and an art show.
BEAR Day ran in parallel with an Engineering Expo in the Engineering School.
Classes in the College of Liberal Arts were canceled for the day so students could watch the research put forth by other students or present their own research.
This year marks the third year BEAR Day has been an event at Mercer
In the morning, students presented posters made in various fields of research. Groups of students worked together under the guidance of faculty mentors. This research led to posters and presentations on topics in science, psychology and more.
Roughly 60 posters were made for the event.
Right at 11:00 the keynote speaker began her talk on Mars and its possible habitability. Provost Professor and Chair of the Department of Geological Sciences at Indiana University Lisa Pratt spoke about the importance of research and what research has meant for our understanding of Mars. Pratt has published over 100 journal papers and chairs the Mars Program Analysis Group for NASA. Pratt fi elded many questions from students and faculty who attended the event, including a professor who asked what it would mean for us if there was or was not life on Mars. Lunch was served from 11:00 to 2:00, with music provided by Megan Delong from the Admissions department. In the afternoon, students’ presentations began. Students presented research and papers from the past year. Junior Connor Cosenza presented his econometric paper on the effect of No Child Left Behind on the percentage of students enrolled on Individual Educational Programs. “I enjoyed the experience. It was interesting to field questions on the subject,” Cosenza stated. He wrote the paper as an assignment for his econometrics class last semester. Cosenza presented the paper in lieu of a final exam for the class, with the stipulation he would also present at BEAR Day. Cosenza’s paper was one of roughly 65 papers presented at BEAR Day.
As the first BEAR Day grew out of other programs and events. Three years ago, it was decided that classes would be canceled so students could present and attend the talks. “The goal of BEAR Day is to encourage students to be involved in research production of creative materials,” Chair of Engaged Learning Committee Paul A. Lewis said. “BEAR Day gives a chance to showcase students’ work.” Lewis has been involved with BEAR Day for all three years on some capacity. This year, he chaired the Engaged Learning Committee, the committee responsible for BEAR Day. Lewis confessed that his role was very dependent on his committee, which he admitted was very helpful in implementing BEAR Day. The committee members of the Engaged Learning Committee are Paul A. Lewis, Amy M. Wiles, Tom Scott, Craig Coleman, Eric Spears, Kevin M. Bucholtz and Melina R. McSwiggen.
(04/10/13 2:18pm)
April 17 will mark the opening of Mercer Medicine’s and Piedmont Healthcare’s collaborative organ transplant satellite clinic.
The clinic will provide crucial preoperative and post-operative transplant services to those in Central Georgia needing kidney transplants.
Of the 3,200 Georgia patients waiting for kidney transplant, close to 200 die each year. Though the satellite clinic will not perform transplants of any kind, Central Georgia kidney patients will have the ability to have transplant evaluations done locally through the new clinic.
The clinic will be located at 707 Pine St. in the building of the Mercer Medicine Internal Medicine Clinic. It will be open quarterly with the possibility of increasing hours if demand requires it.
The clinic will provide evaluations for pre-dialysis and dialysis patients. Trips to Atlanta for these evaluations and treatment can be expensive and time-consuming.
Many of these patients do not have the money or time to afford making the trip to Atlanta for these important appointments and having a clinic in Macon will afford them the opportunity to seek preoperative evaluation and post-operative care locally.
Piedmont Healthcare has a strong record when it comes to transplant success. They have the best transplant survival rate in Georgia and one of the highest transplant survival rates in the country. The transplant clinic will be staffed by employees of Piedmont but Mercer Medicine will be responsible for oversight.
Piedmont Healthcare is a not-for-profit company responsible for many hospitals around Georgia, including the 529 acute tertiary care facility in Buckhead and the 215-bed acute care facility of Piedmont Henry Hospital in Stockbridge, Georgia.
The Buckhead Piedmont Hospital has been ranked by U.S. News and World Report as the best acute-care, non-academic hospital in metro Atlanta. Piedmont Healthcare also formed the Piedmont Heart Institute, the Piedmont Physicians Group, the Piedmont Clinic and the Piedmont Healthcare Foundation.
Bringing this expertise to Macon will be a great advantage for those who need treatment for kidney transplant as well as for the medical community.
“Transplants are a wave of the future. We are bringing state-of-the-art medicine to Macon,” Mercer Medicine chief of nephrology Ajay Srivastava stated.
In addition to being crucial for kidney patients in Central Georgia, the satellite clinic will be beneficial to the medical community of Macon and Mercer. There will be an increase in fellowships stemming from the new clinic.
Fellowships, the process of the medical training coming after residency, are for doctors who are specializing in specific fields. The new clinic will offer fellowships in specializations such as nephrology and infectious diseases.
“Mercer will be able to create training fellowships so that doctors can be specialized,” Srivastava said.
The clinic is set to open on April 17 and will have a ribbon cutting and reception on April 16.
Mercer Medicine is responsible for providing the space and oversight to the Piedmont Healthcare team.
Multiple-specialty physicians compose this physician practice and clinical component of Mercer University School of Medicine. Mercer Medicine employs over 80 staff including doctors, nurse clinicians and more.
The new transplant clinic will bring a great amount of medical knowledge and expertise to Macon and will be very beneficial for kidney transplant patients.
(04/10/13 2:15pm)
Macon is a city full of history and culture. There are many unique places to visit all over town. One of the oldest places to visit is the Ocmulgee National Monument. With evidence of human life dating back 17,000 years, the Ocmulgee National Monument is a great place for anyone interested in science, culture, history or nature.
The most obvious feature of the Ocmulgee National Monument would be the earthen mounds built by the South Appalachian Mississippian culture over a thousand years ago. These mounds include a Great Temple and burial mounds. Besides the mounds, there are 702 acres of land and a visitors center containing an archeology museum.
As a place rich in history, human life can be traced back to the ice age through a spear found on the Macon Plateau. Many groups of Native Americans have found their home on the Macon Plateau, including the Mississippian culture responsible for the famous mounds. The Spanish arrived in this area in 1540, bringing disease and ravaging the land for resources. In 1690, the British established a trading post on the Ocmulgee River on land now protected by the Ocmulgee National Monument. Groups of Muscogee Native Americans settled around the post and the British called them the “Creek Indians.” Interaction with European groups changed the culture of the Native Americans.
In 1843, the Central Railroad constructed a railroad through what is now the Ocmulgee National Monument, destroying part of the Lesser Temple and the prehistoric town. Another part of the park was destroyed in 1874 when a second part of the railroad was built. This cut destroyed the funeral mound and it is rumored that relics and human remains were removed during the process. That railroad is still in use. Finally, the park became a national monument in 1939 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt after several archeological finds were unearthed, protecting the park from further destruction.
For those more interested in the sciences, the Ocmulgee National Monument is a great place to visit in order to learn about nature. The park is located along the Ocmulgee River and is a great representation of the “fall line” environment, an environment created by ocean waves thousands of years ago. Now, the area is home to rich river, field and forest environments full of all sorts of species of flora and fauna.
The monument is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and is only closed on New Year’s and Christmas. It can be found at 1207 Emery Highway, just across the Ocmulgee River. It is a great place for a run or for exploring your intellectual side in the museum. You can also ride your bike or go for a guided tour around the monument. In addition to regular year-round visits, during the third week of September the monument hosts the Ocmulgee Indian Celebration. This special event celebrates Native American culture. In March, the monument hosts lantern lit tours. No matter what time of year, the Ocmulgee National Monument is the perfect place to visit for science, history and fun.
(03/27/13 2:11pm)
Everyone at Mercer is aware of the strong push on campus for service and work in the community through programs like LEAP and Mercer on Mission. Because of these efforts, Mercer University has been honored as one of 113 schools recognized on President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction for 2013.
Schools applied for the list with a rigorous application and the selection was made by the Corporation for National and Community Service.
“We are thrilled to have been named to the President’s Honor Roll with Distinction this year. This was an enormous effort and a credit to the incredible heart that I think makes Mercer so distinctive. It just goes to show that every little bit counts and every little bit matters,” Coordinator of Community Engagement Chelsea Flieger stated.
In addition to a general focus on service learning, volunteerism and community engagement throughout the University, Mercer was selected for three features/ projects as presented on Mercer’s application. The three features Mercer presented for review from the past year were LEAP, Mercer on Mission and Law and Public Service initiatives.
There were many other programs at Mercer that were considered, but the applying committee decided these three where the best examples of Mercer’s efforts in service and the community.
Hours and percentage of students involved were also important in determining campus involvement for this award.
For the 2011-2012 school year, it has been reported that over 224,572 hours have been logged by over half the student population in service-learning and volunteer activities. Mercer has many programs in every aspect of the school that focuses on service and the community.
“The President’s Honor Roll is an important initiative not just for encouraging volunteerism and service-learning among college students but for giving students practice in civic engagement--practice that we hope they will take with them past graduation throughout their lives,” stated senior vice-provost for service-learning Mary Alice Morgan said in a press release about the award. She feels very strongly about the importance of service and how it impacts college students.
Mercer and Emory University were the only institutions chosen from Georgia for this honor. Mercer is very excited about this national recognition from among peer institutions and how it reflects positively on all of Mercer.
“This is external affirmation of the way service and service learning infuse every corner of Mercer. It’s part of Mercer’s identity really,” Morgan claimed.
Out of 690 named institutions, 113 were chosen with distinction. Mercer has been mentioned in the past but this time is the first where Mercer has been mentioned with distinction.
“However, the reward is not this nomination but the results that come out of the work our students are doing in our community.” Flieger stated.
Mercer will continue to improve and grow in whatever areas students want to pioneer growth and achievement, especially in the realm of service in Macon and around the world.
“The future is only limited by the imagination and community engagement of the professors” Morgan said.
(03/27/13 2:06pm)
Before Spring Break, Mercer’s debate team competed in the Florida-held Delta Sigma Rho-Tau Kappa Alpha National Championship Tournament. The team overall received third place, with sophomore Caleb Maier placing as the best overall speaker for the entire tournament. In addition, Gabriel Ramirez took fourth place and Hunter Pilkinton took fifth, meaning Mercer had three speakers place in the competition.
In a round of a parliamentary debate competition, pairs of students from the same university face off with a pair of students from another university. A topic is presented that is identified as the “gov” or government side of the argument. One team will be given that side of the debate while the other team is given the position of opposition, which is meant to attack the topic. The government team is then charged with defining all of the terms of the topic and defending the topic.
“It gets complicated” stated Maier.
An example topic could be “The government should raise taxes.” The government team would define all of the terms in that statement and present arguments for the claim. They team has to be careful with their definitions, however, because if the opposition team feels they set the definitions so no fair debate can be had, then the opposition can challenge on the basis of unfairness and win the debate.
The opposition to the topic then has several options. One such option is that the opposition can reject the government position and to present arguments for why it should be rejected. They could also propose an alternative plan. Another option is to offer a critique of the topic, meaning finding a flaw in the wording of the question.
The debate continues in this fashion until the closing segment, where each side makes their final remarks. In the final remarks, each team brings up previous arguments made and explains why they feel that they should win the debate. Individuals, pairs and entire schools are awarded points based on their actions within multiple debates within a tournament and winners are chosen in this fashion.
At this tournament, Maier received first place over all of the speakers at the event.
“The whole team was both surprised and very, very proud. While the other three members of the team that we were able to take to Nationals had high school debate experience, Caleb was a walk-on to the team last year, in his first year here at Mercer,” team coach James Stanescu stated. Though Maier is new to debating, Stanescu knows that he has devoted time and energy to understanding the format and style of debate.
Next year has a great deal in store for the debate team. In addition to continuing to compete in parliamentary debate, the team hopes to expand their horizons in terms of competition and in service.
“Mercer Debate has always felt we have two missions, one is competitive success, and the other is to help spread and promote the educational and democratic value of debate to people who might not be able to experience it,” Stanescu claimed.
The debate team has hosted a mock Congress for high school students on Mercer’s campus, as well as individuals from the team have worked with youth in the community and through schools to promote the morals and intellectual importance of debate. They also travel around Georgia to serve as judges for high school debate competitions.
(03/06/13 5:14pm)
Last Thursday, the African Student Association (ASA) held African Takeover Day. Students who are members of the organization, have African heritage or ties to the continent dressed in traditional garb to celebrate African heritage and cultural diversity. They planned the event for the final day of Black History Month in order to recognize the culture of the month.
This event has its roots at Howard University. The first African Takeover Day happened in 2012 at Howard. Mercer decided to participate in African Takeover Day after finding out via social media about the event.
“I just heard of it over twitter on Christmas break,” stated freshman and treasurer of ASA Jacqueline Zvandasara. The event was planned in association with the twitter page AfricanDad (@AfricanDad,) a page followed by Zvandasara. Zvandasara then helped lead the group in planning the event, working with the rest of the executive board and Campus Life. The event was planned entirely this semester by ASA.
Students from all different countries dressed up in traditional African clothing and took pictures together in their attire. ASA booked a table in Connell Lobby to play popular African music and to advertise for an upcoming event. They also performed traditional African dances in Connell. More social media came into play for the event as students who wore cultural attire took pictures and shared them via social media using the hashtag #AfricanTakeOverDay. The event aimed to celebrate and raise awareness of African culture and heritage and to spread diversity on Mercer’s campus.
African Takeover Day’s purpose was two-fold; in addition to celebrate Black history and African culture, ASA used the event as a means to promote their upcoming fashion show.
On April 19th, ASA hopes to have a culture night and fashion show. At this event, cultures from around the world will be showcased with a focus on African heritage.
There will be stage performances and a fashion show. This event started in 2011 and has been an annual event since that date. This year’s theme is “Coming to America,” and will be celebrating how African culture came to America via the African Diaspora. This date is tentative for the event, but ASA hopes that the event will take place on April 19th from 7:00-9:00.
ASA is a diverse group on campus who welcomes anyone with interest in or ties to Africa. Their goals for the future include growing as a group and becoming an improved organization overall. In addition, they hope to break stereotypes about Africa and share information about the continent through events like the African Takeover Day and forums.
Vice President Paul Mould stated “ASA hopes to bring unity to African students on campus.”
The organization is open to students who come from Africa, who share ties to Africa or who have an interest in learning about Africa. Specifically, the organization hopes to help homesick African students preserve their home culture and transition well into a new culture.
The president of this club is Edmund Cooper, and the adviser is Chester Fontenot.
(03/06/13 5:05pm)
Mercer students who participate in Mercer on Missions feel a strong connection to the place and the people they visit. One such group has taken it a step further and has started collecting for those with whom they worked while traveling.
All last week, students who participated in the most recent Mercer on Mission to South Africa sat in Connell Lobby to collect money, old prescription glasses, old sunglasses, scientific calculators and old phones in order to send to the school they worked with in South Africa. “We noticed the students at our school didn’t have glasses” event coordinator Chase Williams stated. “There are a lot of general things we take for granted that these kids would really appreciate.”
The students in this group made a Facebook event to attract students to donate. Donations started off slowly at the beginning of the week, but the collectors hoped it would pick up as students found out about the cause and remembered to collect old items from their rooms on their way to the cafeteria.
Hector Peterson High School, the high school which will be receiving the supplies, is in one of the poorest areas of Cape Town. While the Mercer on Mission group was in South Africa, they worked with the drama department of the school to teach them how to write and put on a play. This effort went as an attempt to keep the kids off the street and engage with the community.
“Our group worked specifically with the school’s drama group teaching them how to write and put on plays as an attempt to keep them off the streets and out of gangs and to engage with their community through dramatic arts and free expression,” Junior Hannah Hyde wrote.
Students went with Dr. Eimad Houry and Dr. Mary Alice Morgan to Cape Town, South Africa. They felt a strong connection to the kids at Hector Peterson as they saw the daily struggles these kids face as demonstrated by the subject matter of the play they wrote during Mercer’s stay.
The students who participated in the Mercer on Mission noticed the needs that were unfulfilled while they were in Cape Town and came up with this list of needed items. One student pointed out how close some of the students had to put a piece a paper to their face in order to read it, so old prescription glasses made it onto the list.
These items would help the children in Hector Peterson be able to function more efficiently in school. In addition to creating a Facebook event, Dr. Houry sent out a plea to the faculty listserv, hoping that professors would be more likely to have old cellphones and old pairs of glasses available and at easy access. All donations will be sent to Hector Peterson in hopes to help the kids do better in school and function in the community.
(02/20/13 3:23pm)
Assistant Professor of Chemistry Dr. Jennifer Look and a collection of students will be studying the chemical make-up of neighborhoods around Mercer. Look received a grant from the Special Grant Program in the Chemical Sciences by the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation of $500, which was then matched by Mercer University, to study the chemicals in various aspects of the environment around Mercer. The aim of the grant program is to educate people about the sciences.
Along with the students, Look will gather information about the level of chemicals in substances, such as the air, soil, water and buildings, to see what beneficial and harmful chemicals are in the area. They will then present their findings to non-scientist members of the community.
“We are not hoping to find anything. We are hoping to come to a deeper understanding of the area,” Look said. She and the students in her research have done some preliminary tests, and the results show a very low level of pollution. The research area will be the areas around Mercer, including the Ocmulgee River, Central City Park and the Georgia state fairgrounds.
Look found out about this program two years ago and started applying for the grant. She found out last November that she had received it. It was a multistage application.
“The Dreyfus foundation strongly encourages matching funds to show that there is viability in the project” stated Look. Mercer’s willingness to match the grant shows Mercer’s faith in the project and the importance the University places on the community.
The funding from the grant and from Mercer’s match will pay for funds to purchase the equipment and pay for students to do the research.
“A lot of my friends are doing organic synthesis... and it didn’t seem that interesting for me because I didn’t see the practicality. I like the practicality that the information we are getting will benefit Macon,” stated junior Lisa Bianco, in regards to the project. Bianco is one of the student researchers for the project. She and other Mercer students will gain marketable job skills from the research.
After gathering the research, the students will present their findings to people who are in the area and are affected by the chemicals here. There will be church events, park events and other experiences to share the information gathered by the research. They want to educate the people of Macon about what chemicals make up their lives and what effect those chemicals will have on them.
It will also be a goal of the program to get young Macon residents to be involved in the sciences. According to Look, there are a lot of job opportunities in these fields that are simply not being filled because people do not have the required education.
“There is a lot more to science than being a doctor” said Look. She hopes to encourage young individuals in Macon to consider education and careers in the STEM subjects.
(02/20/13 3:20pm)
Living off campus is a prize upperclassmen earn after surviving two years of noisy neighbors and strict RAs. It is much cheaper and has much more freedom than on-campus options. However, it requires a good bit of effort and energy to make it work. If you can manage, you can have a cool off-campus crib that all your friends will want to visit.
Searching Process: As with most tasks these days, the search for your future home probably will begin online. However, a quick Google search will not immediately solve your quandaries. You will most likely to have to make phone calls. You might have to call owners of houses for more information. There are also many agencies in Macon that can help you find a place to rent.
Another option is to talk to friends who live off-campus. Many professors rent houses to students and having them as a contact is a great idea. They work with students on a daily basis and have a keen understanding about the lives of the students who rent from them.
Students who live off-campus tend to live in houses close to campus. If you are willing to travel a little farther however, there are nice apartment options around Macon. Apartments are typically easier to rent, as there are more likely to be multiple availabilities. They also have more safety features than old houses, and landlords are more used to renters because they have multiple leases at once. However, apartments often lack the character and convenience of houses close to campus and they often have more strict rules about what you can and cannot do there. Plus neighbors can be noisy in apartments.
Roommates and Landlords: These two groups of people have a lot of influence in your life if you live off campus. They can make your experiences wonderful or miserable, depending on with whom you choose to live and the person from who you choose to rent. Make sure you and your roommates are compatible before you move in to your new house. On campus, you have the possibility to change roommates if things get really bad, but out in the real world there is no quick fix if your roommate smokes, steals your stuff or does crazy things late at night.
In the same vein, landlords can be fickle or friend, depending on the person. Try to get to know about your landlord before you make a decision to rent from them. If you are asking around for professors to rent to you, ask other students who have rented from them to see what they think of them as a landlord.
Pros and Cons of living off-campus: No room-checks or quiet hours make life off campus a lot more relaxed. Plus, you can have pets! It can be cheaper to live off-campus than it is to live on-campus, and you can control what space you do or do not have to share. On the other hand, you are living in the “real world,” meaning the consequences you face may be more severe. If you make a lot of noise in the middle of the night, it is the police who come tell you to be quiet instead of a friendly RA. Also, you cannot change rooms if your roommate ends up being crazy or terrifying. At the end of the day, it is your decision if you want to do the extra work to live off campus instead of living on campus. Happy hunting!
(02/06/13 3:32pm)
Bibb County’s new District Attorney David Cook hired attorney Deshala Dixon to serve as an Assistant D.A. in the major crimes division.
One of the goals of her hire is to enforce certain ordinances that will aim to shut down local massage parlors working for sex trafficking.
Dixon will specialize in serious violent crimes, like child abuse, child molestation and murder.
She will also serve as a point person for sex trafficking in Macon.
Sex trafficking is one of the major social and political issues in Macon today.
Macon does not have the typical street market of sex work of major cities like Atlanta, but Macon does have a problem with the commercial sex parlors.
Under the guise of massages, victims of sex trafficking sell sex in massage parlors in Macon.
Most of these victims are adults, but some underage girls are also victims of this form of sex trafficking.
Macon also has pimps, opportunistic traffickers who find ways to exploit vulnerable girls, some of whom are runaways.
These pimps are not professionals, but they know enough about the sex trade to find and lure in girls.
It is difficult to combat sex trafficking in Macon because victims of sex trafficking do not usually identify as victims.
The new ordinances will allow the D.A. to fight sex trafficking without the need for victims to come forward.
Prosecuting massagers without licenses will help in resisting the first kind of sex offenders prominent in Macon.
Cook says the D.A. should partner with local law enforcement so they can prosecute more sex traffickers.
Dixon’s purpose will be twofold.
She will prosecute as a city attorney for criminal trafficking, as well as enforcing city ordinances against non-licensed therapists.
“[Dixon] is known as one of the most talented and hardworking prosecutors of crimes against children in Georgia. She is a great worker,” said Cook.
Dixon attended Hampton University for undergraduate studies, then attended Harvard and Boston College to advance her degree.
She worked in Boston and has a passion and zeal for Special Victims Unit cases.
Dixon will be the point person for sex trafficking cases, which is a major need in Macon.
She will help the large issue of sex trafficking in Macon by fighting the sex parlor version of sex trafficking.
“The two things about Ms. Dixon that make her good for this job are her ability and experience in prosecuting and, second of all, her passion,” said Cook.
Like many of Cook’s other new hires, Dixon worked in Houston country prior to coming to Macon.
Cook himself worked in Houston County before winning the election that made him D.A. of Bibb County.
Three other prosecutors are hires from Houston County, but Cook says that he did not hire them because of their familiarity but because of their experience and skills.
(02/06/13 3:14pm)
On Jan. 24, Georgia Power President and CEO Paul Bowers visited both the Atlanta and Macon campuses of Mercer University to give a presentation to the Mercer Executive Forum.
Funded in large part by BB&T, the Executive Forum of Mercer University aims to be an outreach program of the business school and to provide a resource for Macon and Atlanta business leaders.
The Forum has existed for 33 years and is designed to bridge the local business communities to Mercer.
“It is a business enrichment program in a way that goes beyond day to day,” Director of Development for Stetson’s School of Business and Economics Paul Snyder stated.
Snyder and others are responsible for organizing each of the four speakers for the Executive Forum events every year.
Though a lot of planning goes into each event, Snyder said that the great amount of support from Mercer as a whole helped to make the event planning easier.
He often serves as a liaison for the guest speakers when they come to town.
Previous year’s speakers have included Lou Dobbs, Nancy Grace, Saxby Chambliss, William S. Cohen and Newt Gingrich.
Last semester, John Goodman and Stephen Hayes both spoke.
Bowers’ talk was titled “The State of Energy in Georgia” and dealt with energy in Georgia and the United States as a whole.
He spoke for about 30 minutes then opened the floor for questions from the audience.
He stated that it was an honor to speak on behalf of all of Georgia Power, a company that has been nationally recognized for its service.
“It’s about the team, not about me,” Bowers explained.
He also took a stance on power that examines and utilizes many different sources of energy, including coal and nuclear power.
Bowers showed slides of the planning of a nuclear power plant construction site called Vogtle 3&4.
“These events are really a great opportunity to interact and gain professional development skills,” Mercer Ambassador and junior Allison Harrison said.
Harrison works with alumni services and has attended the event in the past.
BB&T is a major sponsor of the Executive Forum. BB&T aims to bring people to market from whom students and members of the community would benefit.
“BB&T has made a commitment to this school of business to sponsor this event and it helps make the community a better place to live,” BB&T City President Scott Seigal said..
The Executive Forum of Mercer has several missions to achieve through its meetings.
The Forum aims to present excellent speakers on current events, promote the university within the Forum, and provide networking opportunities to members of the Forum.
Bowers’ talk was the fourth of this year’s speakers for the Executive Forum of Mercer.
The next speaker will be Towers Watson Managing Director Julie Gebauer.
On March 19, Gebauer will speak about the engagement gap.
The event is by invitation-only. These invitations will go out a month before the event to business leaders and other strong members of the community.
(02/06/13 3:04pm)
Around 20 Mercer seniors are considering beginning their life after college by spending nine months in a land nicknamed the “The Country of Smiles”.
With the Teach Thailand Corps, part of American-Thai Foundation, they will teach conversational English to children grades k-12 in Thailand.
English skills are imperative for world business and higher education and serve as invaluable resources for students in Thailand on a global sphere.
“One of the biggest needs of the world today is to teach English,” stated director of the Institute of Life Purpose Scott Walker.
“As the world is becoming one culture, English is becoming the operational language.”
Walker directs the Institute of Life Purpose, a program of Mercer University devoted to helping students discover goals for life after college.
Service First is a program put forth by the Institute for Life Purpose that aims to give students opportunities for the year after college and before graduate school or a career.
It is Service First’s aim to connect Mercer students to International Programs for service.
Service First partners with Teach Thailand to send students from Mercer and 12 other colleges to go to Thailand. Sixty Mercer students have participated in Service First over the past four years, with 22 going to Thailand.
According to Walker, Service First has three functions.
First, it strives to get students involved in helping Thai students learn a language that is important for their future.
Second, it gives students an opportunity to take a year off before grad school, which is something that graduate schools look for when viewing applications.
Finally, working with Service First is a chance for students to really consider and shape what they want to do with their lives after college.
Teach Thailand Corps was established in conjunction with the Yonok Foundation.
Dr. Nirund Jivasantikarn started Yonok Foundation after attending Baylor University and gaining confidence in the importance of the English language.
Students applying for the program interview with Jivasantikarn via skype before they can be accepted into the program.
For the alumni who have participated in the program, it has been a life-altering experience. They get to spend nine months in another country and have the opportunity for very cheap travel while they are there.
Plus, they get to travel to a foreign country and not incur debt, as the Teach Thailand Trip is funded so that students receive housing and a stipend while they teach.
Mercer has had many alumni participate in Service First or Teach Thailand Corps.
Ryan Schomburg, after participant in Service First, decided to go to Yonsei University in South Korea to receive his master’s in international business. He was inspired by his travel to continue to see the world.
Senior Brittani Howell received her acceptance to the program about two weeks ago.
“I applied for the Teach Thailand Corps because I wanted a gap year before I hit the real world or reconsidered grad school,” said Howell. “I wanted some time to think and to take things slowly, but I also wanted to make sure that I used that time to do something good for other people.”
There will be one more open session for Juniors and Seniors interested in Service First. Please contact Scott Walker at Walker_rs@mercer.edu if you are considering Service First.
(01/23/13 4:27pm)
Mercer University is hosting its fifth annual First Pitch Classic on Feb. 13.
The First Pitch Classic is an event held by Mercer as a kick-off for the baseball team’s season. The event will be held in the University Center.
Coach Craig Gibson has announced that the featured speaker for this year’s event will be Dale Murphy. Murphy is a former outfielder for the Atlanta Braves. He is the fourth player from the Atlanta Braves to speak at the Classic. Murphy played 18 Years in the Major Leagues. Murphy’s number was retired in 1994; he is one of nine Braves players to receive this honor.
Gibson hopes that the Classic will bring awareness to the spring season, especially the spring sports. He also hopes that the event will show Mercer University in a positive light.
“I hope that people visit and see what Mercer is about.” Gibson said.
In addition to guests from outside Mercer, Gibson wants to see a strong Mercer support for the event.
He hopes Mercer professors and students will come out to support the Classic.
The First Pitch Classic will include a dinner at 7:00 PM on the arena floor. At the dinner, senior baseball players will be introduced. After brief introductions, featured speaker Murphy will discuss his journey to baseball. After his talk, the floor will be opened to those attending the dinner to ask Murphy questions.
Before the dinner, there will be an autograph session in the Presidents Dining Room. The autograph session will begin at 6:00. Participants can bring memorabilia to have autographed and have their picture taken with Murphy.
Murphy is not the first featured speaker at The First Pitch Classic, and he joins three other Atlanta Braves players to serve as guest speakers. Previous Braves First Pitch Classic speakers include Chipper Jones, John Smoltz and Jeff Francoeur.
“These are some really Hall of Fame league guys,” Gibson said.
The dinner and autograph session will be treated as two separate events and tickets will be sold separately. Tickets to the dinner cost $75 and tickets to the autograph session cost $50.
Gibson has even offered a reduced price for students, if need be. Only 100 participants will be able to attend the autograph session.
Proceeds from both events will benefit the Baseball Team. Mercer Occupational Medicine is the sponsor of the banquet.
Gibson hopes there will be a great turnout for this event with lots of students, staff, and community members. If interested in attending the First Pitch Classic, please contact Mercer Baseball Volunteer Assistant Coach Ben Gillespie, at (478) 301-2738 or at firstpitchclassic@mercer.edu.
(01/23/13 3:41pm)
Mercer University’s School of Medicine will be cooking up success as they raise money during their chili cook-off.
The Medical School Chili Cook-off will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 23.
The event will raise funds for the much anticipated match day at the medical school as well as the Crescent House.
The cook-off is an annual event held by medical students. This year, the class of 2016 will be selling chili to raise money for match day.
Match day is an important day for medical school students, as it is the day that the matches between students and hospitals for residency are announced.
The time leading up to match day, students interview with various hospitals and rank them in order of preference. The hospitals also rank the students.
On match day, the pairings of students to hospitals are announced. The anticipation and knowledge of discovering where the students will be placed is something that is held to a high importance.
“Match day determines where you will live for the next few years and possibly the rest of your life.” said Medical School Class of 2016 Vice President Mudit Chowdhary. “It’s a big deal.”
The money raised by the chili cook-off will help make match day a special event for all who attend the event.
Medical students await their match in the presence of their professors, peers and families as all are invited to the event. The Medical School Chili Cook-off will be held on Wednesday January 23, 2013. The event will raise funds for the Match Day at the medical school as well as the Crescent House.
It is an annual event held by students at the Medical school. This year, the class of 2016 will be selling chili to raise money for match day. Match day is the day that the matches between students and hospitals for residency are announced.
Previous to Match Day, students interview with various hospitals and rank them in order of preference. The hospitals also rank the students. On Match
Day, the pairings of students to hospitals are announced. Match Day is a very big deal for the students. “Match day determines where you will live for the next few years and possibly the rest of your life,” said Medical School Class of 2016 Vice President Mudit Chowdhary. “It is a big deal.”
The money raised by the Chili Cook-off will help make Match Day a special event for everyone involved in the lives of the medical school students. Parents and faculty all come for the event.“It’s nice for us to have our faculty and family involved in the day” stated Chowdhary.
In addition to raising funds for Match Day, the Chili Cook-off will support The Crescent House, a local charity devoted to helping children who have been victims of sexual abuse. The Crescent House is part of the Children’s Hospital at the Medical Center of Central Georgia. The House focuses on the child and provides advocacy and support to children who have been sexually abused.
There have been a couple changes in the event since previous years. Though the class of 2016 wanted to uphold the Mercer tradition of hosting the Chili Cook-off, they did not want to follow the exact same model of previous years.
This year, there was no entry fee for those who wanted to provide chili. This plan is different than the one where entrants would pay a small fee in addition to making chili for the event.
Everyone will receive a small cup of chili from each station to sample the different flavors. By eliminating the cost for the contributors, they got more people to participate by bringing chili. So far, there are around nine student teams, a team from the Crescent House, a few faculty teams, and one premed entrant. Total there are around 13 participants bringing chili to the event.
Also, in the past money from the event has gone to the Ronald McDonald house.
“With the recent violent events in India, we figured this would be a good charity to support” said Chowdhary, explaining the reasons for changing the charity receiving the money. In addition to the donation, the event will provide publicity for the Crescent House.
(11/28/12 11:00pm)
On Nov. 10, three local churches hosted a joint fair trade festival called Bless These Hands Fair Trade Festival.
This festival was done to support women nationally and globally through purchases of fair trade and locally made items.
First Baptist Church of Christ, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and High Street Unitarian Church are all located on the same street and all worked together for this event and other missions.
Women from each of these churches came together to form a group called Bless These Hands to explore ways to cooperate across different faith traditions.
Bless These Hands Fair Trade Festival has been a tradition at these three churches for the past three years.
St. Joseph’s Catholic Church initially had contact with Serrv, a fair trade organization that sells items in the Catholic church’s bookstore.
In addition to Serrv, the Bless These Hands group also contacted vendors from Beads for Life, Cafe Campesino and Thistle Farms.
These three different fair trade organizations have different goals and products.
Beads for Life works out of Africa, giving fair pay to Ugandan women selling beads and jewelry as a way to eradicate poverty.
Cafe Campesino sells organic, fair trade coffee.
Thistle Farms, an organization out of Madeline Community, sells bath and body products.
It benefits impoverished and sex-trafficked women in the United States by providing fair work, job training and fair wages.
The Circle of Hope women of First Baptist Church of Christ also sold crafts and food that they made themselves.
This year, the Bless These Hands group had new vendors including Rahab’s Rope, which is a vendor that works with victims of sex trafficking and Better Way Imports.
In addition to selling these good to support women, the Bless These Hands group hopes to educate people about what fair trade is and what purpose it serves globally.
“We want to teach more people what fair trade is all about and why it is important to shop fair trade whenever possible,” said Bless These Hands member, Sharon Bailey. “To me, fair trade means doing trade in a way that is more respectful and fair to the producers.”
Much of the fair trade food products, like coffee and chocolate, are produced by cooperatives.
For products like jewelry, the producer sets a fair price for the product instead of producing on a large-scale and cheaply by a corporation that does not fairly pay workers a decent wage.
This negotiation means that the person creating the product gets paid a fair price.
Fair trade is supposed to create a sense of pride in the individuals work, build and strengthen communities and provide a way to allow others to enter the market.
Fair trade enhances the lives people lead in villages around the world and helps those disadvantaged locally, like victims of sex trafficking.
“I feel like I am really making a difference, not just making some corporation rich,” said Bailey.
The festival was fairly successful and was a global addition to each of these churches’ missions.
(11/28/12 11:00pm)
Alumnus A. V. Elliott donated $1 million to Mercer University in order to create an endowment for the A. V. Elliott Conference on Great Books and Ideas.
He feels very strongly about the education he received at Mercer University and credits the lessons learned here for behooving him greatly in the path of his business.
Elliott claims that Mercer’s humanities program gave him the skills needed to think critically when it really mattered and these skills made his business, a local 100-person shop called Elliott Machine Shop, a success. He has a deep love for humanities, and Elliott expressed this love with a donation to the Great Books program.
“It’s a testament to the education that Mr. Elliott got in the ’50s and a testament to the way the university is right now that we received this endowment,” said co-director of the Center for the Teaching of America’s Western Foundations and Mercer Great Books and philosophy professor, Dr. Charlotte Thomas.
Mercer’s Great Books program provides the opportunity for students to read classic works of the past and to study the primary texts of literature, science, history and more.
These courses offer an alternative track for general education. Classes are smaller than most general education courses and focus on reading and discussion of great works. Students read works like The Iliad, Emily Dickinson poems, The Bible and many more.
Mercer is one of few universities to offer such a program. In addition to class experiences, where students lead discussion about the works, students attend the Conference of Great Books and Ideas, which brings in literary experts to explain a specific work and to help the students further engage in the text.
The A.V. Elliott Conference on Great Books and Ideas is coordinated by the Center for the Teaching of America’s Western Foundations, which has put on the conference for four years.
Each conference has focused on a figure or work from the Great Books curriculum, featuring both public and private lectures and including a faculty and student reading group on the focused figure or work. Some previous conferences have focused on Plato, Montaigne and Tocqueville.
The conference initially began with writing grants, but now the $1 million endowment from A. V. Elliott will be able to provide funding for the event each year. The conference brings new opportunities and enhances the Great Books experience.
In addition to the conference, the Great Books program holds summer programs for high school teachers and high school students. Teachers learn the importance of these primary texts and how to engage the texts within the classroom, and high school students learn and practice techniques for reading and analysis of these texts over a week’s time.
“Humanities education is in peril right now,” said Thomas. Most students and colleges are putting emphasis on the sciences and other tracks. “But,” she added, “Mercer has a commitment to the humanities.”
This gift to the conference shows the commitment Mercer has made to the preservation of the importance of humanities, especially within the Great Books program.
(11/07/12 11:00pm)
Macon has a proud history, and many examples of that history remain in Macon for adventurous students to see and explore. So much can be learned about Macon and about our beautiful city’s past.
The Sidney Lanier Cottage is a great place with a fascinating history, making it the perfect place to visit. It is located at 935 High Street and is one of the oldest houses in Macon.
Macon became a city in 1823 and the house was built in 1840. What makes the house famous, however, is the fact that Sidney Lanier, the famous poet, was born there in 1842.
Sidney Lanier was born in February in the cottage rented by his grandfather. His family was from Griffin, Georgia, but moved here to give birth to Lanier because better medical facilities existed here.
A graduate of Oglethorpe University, Lanier served in the Confederate States Army in the 2nd Georgia Battalion. He became a prisoner of war at Lookout Point, Md. until he was released and walked home to Macon.
At the age of 25, he wrote his only novel, “Tiger Lilies.” His first book of poems was published in 1877 when he was 35 years old.
From 1878-1879, he was very productive in terms of writing. Some of his famous works include “Song of the Chattahoochee” and the “Marshes of Glynn,” both about Georgia bodies of water.
He eventually caught tuberculosis and it resulted in his early death in Lynn, N.C. in 1881 as he was writing poetry.
The cottage itself had its own interesting journey. After Lanier and his family left the house, it was sold to Mrs. O.H. McAfee who remodeled the house to make the building into a tea room.
It became a museum in 1975 with a donation from Lanier’s grandson. Then the house itself was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and as a National Music Landmark in 1976. In 2004 it was listed as a National Poetry Landmark.
Students are welcome to visit the Sidney Lanier Cottage during its open hours. The ticket costs for students is only $3 and the Cottage is open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The cottage is more than just a museum, however, and it has some fun and interesting activities in the works.
“The Lanier Center has a regular schedule of literary events including Sidney’s Salons which feature authors and poets throughout the year,” stated Janis Haley, Director of Development for the Historic Macon Foundation.
“We are proud to have featured many of Mercer’s outstanding faculty - especially from the Southern Studies department. Students are always welcome to be a part of this great tradition! Right now we are planning a Winter Solstice Poetry reading at the Cottage on Dec. 22. It will be great fun,” Haley explained.
So go down to High Street and see what you can learn about Macon and about Sidney Lanier. Or go for a poetry event. It is a great way to experience the history and culture of Macon.
(11/07/12 11:00pm)
Macon Water Authority (MWA) was honored last month with a national award for its function as a business and a member of Macon’s community. MWA received a Gold Award for exceptional utility performance from the Association of Metro Water Authorities (AMWA).
This annual national award shows MWA’s commitment to being a strong business, a strong member of the community and a provider of a strong service.
The AMWA recognized 14 water authorities at their last meeting and awarded only four with a gold standard. MWA was one of four national winners this year and one of four Georgia water authorities to ever win this award.
The other three gold award winners were Denver Water of Colorado, Grand Strand Water & Sewer Authority of South Carolina, and Suffolk County Water Authority of New York.
The award was made known to MWA right before the death of its chairman, Frank Amerson, who passed away last month. Amerson was replaced by former Mercer University President, Dr. Kirby Godsey, as of last Thursday.
Godsey will serve as chairman until the election in 2013. Godsey has no plans to run for the position.
In order to win this award, water authorities are judged on 10 attributes and five Keys to Management Success.
The 10 attributes include: product quality, customer satisfaction, employee and leadership development, operational optimization, financial viability, infrastructure stability, operational resiliency, community sustainability, water resource adequacy, and stakeholder understanding and support.
MWA particularly shined in community involvement and has produced an impressive watershed protection plan that is well above state and national standards.
It has also shown involvement in providing support so that businesses will come to Macon. MWA appears to be a sustainable force in the Macon community.
“This award asks collectively: how is the organization running?” stated chief financial officer, Guy Boyle. MWA was recognized as a top performing business operator and for quality of water in several all-encompassing fields. The award shows that “the community it exists in is taken care of and the mission statement is being followed,” said Boyle.
Macon was commended for their customer care and for being a progressive organization that partners well with the community and businesses.
They are also proactive and show annual support for the Macon/Bibb Industrial Authority, donate land and show environmental stewardship to rivers.
The AMWA was founded in 2001. Its members provide drinking water for over 133 million individuals across the country.
Despite being an old city with older, fragile water lines, MWA was able to win an award of excellence on a national level. MWA serves as an integral part of Macon’s utility services, and Macon could not survive without such quality service.
MWA met or exceeded all of the requirements for the Gold Standard Award from the Association of Metropolitan Water Authorities.
MWA has put a lot of work into improvement and maintenance, including regularly locating and checking valves in case of emergency shut-off and replacing of broken or aging parts.
(10/24/12 9:01pm)
The College Hill Initiative wants to bring public art to downtown Macon. The Facade Squad and the Community Foundation of Central Georgia have answered the call with a mural located on a vacant commercial building on College Street.
Facade Squad began the process almost two years ago as they applied for a grant to fix what they deemed an eyesore in the community. MiLady Cleaners used to work from the building, but they closed down and left the building empty.
The Facade Squad felt the building needed some character and decided to apply for a grant to put a mural on the building’s side.
Facade Squad is a non-profit organization full of volunteers that believe Macon can be great. They strive to beautify Macon and put energy into their city.
“We see a need, find a way, and find the money to fix it,” stated Facade Squad Director Chris Kiker. To find the money for this project, the Facade Squad had to apply for money from the Knight Neighborhood Challenge Grant.
They applied initially two years ago, but failed to leave room in the budget for an artist. They had to resubmit the budget and then choose a design, a process which was completed in early spring 2012.
Then summer came and work had to be postponed so that the artist was not working in such a strong heat. After a long process, work began on the mural early this fall.
The mural depicts an older person tutoring a young student under a tent-shaped book. Around them there are fireflies and a night sky.
The scene takes place on a stack of books, with “Leaves of Grass” by Walt Whitman at the top and “A Journey to the Center of the Earth” by Jules Verne at the bottom. The work is supposed to represent community and exchange of knowledge.
“It is really a cool piece of work,” stated Kiker.
It is the hopes of the Facade Squad and the Community Foundation of Central Georgia that this mural is the first of an initiative to bring more public art to Macon.
“It was brought to us through the Facade Squad and it lined up with the College Hill Master plan,” explained Community Foundation Director of Donor Services Julia Wood. “There has been talk of public art in general and this was a good place to start.” The College Hill Corridor wants to increase public art in Macon and increase the visual appeal of the city through works with strong art content.
After the mural is finished, landscaping will be done around the mural to make it more attractive.
The mural will improve visual appeal of Macon and increase walk-ability from Mercer to downtown.
According to a work by Richard Florida, if a work with visual appeal is placed every so often along a path, people will be more likely to walk along it.
“We want downtown to look attractive so people want to move there and work there and exercise there,” stated Wood.