Beacon of Hope: New Special Olympics Georgia Cauldron for the Flame of Hope to be Unveiled Nov. 10

/PRNewswire/ -- Duke Oursler used to help run concession stands and run other errands at Special Olympics events his mom ran in Kansas. And recently, using his art and sculpting talents, he built something even greater for the movement: a bright and shiny beacon of hope for the athletes in Georgia.

The lighting of the new cauldron marks the opening of the games. This high energy portion of the Opening Ceremony is carried out by athletes and law enforcement officers and is always a highlight of the ceremony. The new Special Olympics cauldron will be unveiled at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10 on the lawn of the Bulloch County Court House in downtown, followed by a reception at the Averitt Center for the Arts. The cauldron is made of sanded stainless steel that looks like marble. Steps were built in the back where the torch lighter can easily light the fuse.

"It'll be like a shining moment the athletes experience at Games. I wanted to reflect that energy, because that's what it's all about," said Oursler, a Savannah State University art instructor. It took three months to create and design the cauldron and about a month to sand until it was sparkly into almost a mirror surface, like a piece of forever-lasting jewelry, he said.

The cauldron was designed and created to help in the celebration of Special Olympics Georgia's 40th Anniversary.

"Duke was given several ideas and he took those ideas and created a cauldron that would make all of our athletes, coaches, volunteers, Law Enforcement Torch Run officers, parents, sponsors and staff proud to be involved in the Special Olympics movement and to ignite the flame of hope," said SOGA's Vice President of Programs Robert Yost.

The cauldron will be lit for the first time Friday, Nov. 12 at State Fall Games Opening Ceremony at South East Bulloch High School.

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Career Astronaut and Commander of Apollo 13 to Speak at Georgia Southern January 28

Captain Jim Lovell, whose famous space mission was depicted in the film Apollo 13, will speak at Georgia Southern University’s Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, January 28th at 6:30 p.m.

Lovell will present his lecture, "A Successful Failure", and will share tales from his 11-year-career with NASA, tracing the history of America's sometimes turbulent and always amazing space program, and drawing on his experience as a successful telecommunications executive.

Lovell takes his audiences to the moon, brings them into the tension-filled cockpit of the Apollo 13 mission, and gives them an exciting look at the possibilities of the twenty-first century. His story embodies the spirits of teamwork, leadership, crisis management, goal-setting and excellence.

He educates and fascinates as he relates the skills required to turn a failed system into a successful mission and the tools needed to succeed in the business world of today and tomorrow.

The lecture is sponsored by Georgia Southern’s Office of Student Leadership and Civic Engagement as part of their Spring Leadership and Civic Engagement Week. This event is free and open to the public. For more information on Lovell, view his biography at: http://www.kepplerspeakers.com/speakers/speakers.asp?Capt.+Jim+Lovell

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Georgia Southern University Expert Offers Tips on Going Green in 2009

“Going green” in the New Year doesn’t have to take a lot of time or a lot of money. Dr. Lissa Leege, who heads up Georgia Southern University’s sustainability programs, offers five easy ways to help save the environment and save money.

1. As each incandescent bulb burns out in your house or office, replace it with a compact fluorescent bulb. CFLs use one-fifth the energy of incandescents and last 10 times longer, allowing you to save 670 pounds of carbon dioxide and $55 over the life of a single 60-watt bulb equivalent.

2. Replace old shower heads in your home with new, lower-flow shower heads. By law, all shower heads are now required to release no more than 2.5 gallons of water per minute – a significant savings over the older five-gallons-per-minute models.

3. Choose water from the tap over bottled water. Eight of 10 plastic water bottles end up in crowded landfills, and the oil required to make a year’s supply of new bottles in the U.S. is enough to fuel 100,000 cars a year.

4. Bring your own bags to the grocery store. They are much sturdier than the film plastic bags and they'll never end up as litter in a river!

5. Give someone a nice travel mug to carry to Starbucks. That will save 10 cents a cup, but better yet it will save landfill space and trees by not trashing 365 cups a year.

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MIT Holding, Inc. Chief Science Advisor Assists the Republican and Democratic National Conventions

(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dr. Thomas Kollars has been giving MIT advice on a variety of scientific projects, however recently Kollars, who is also the Director of the Biodefense and Infectious Disease Laboratory in Georgia Southern University’s Jiang-Ping Hsu College of Public Health, was asked by the Federal government to advise and educate them on bioterrorism for the national conventions. During training in Department of Homeland Security exercises this summer at Fort McCoy, WI, as a Lt. Colonel in the Army Reserve Consequences Management Unit, he was asked to create a bio-agent model threat map for both conventions.

By combining geographic information systems software (ArcView) and environmental modeling software (BioTEMS), the data identifies the areas where the biological agent would spread and the length of time it would last in the environment. Bio-agents are able to survive in soil or can infect the animal population for months or decades. Dr. Kollars stated, “The maps show where the bio-agent would survive in the environment for less than 15 days, less than 30 days, and less than 2 years.” According to Kollars, it takes an infective dose of about 8,000 Anthrax spores to be fatal. However, Tularemia needs only one to ten bacteria to be deadly, so the infective dose of each disease organism or strain is very broad.

“So instead of trying to clean up the entire Minneapolis or Denver area, which will take a whole lot of dollars and manpower, they can actually go to these specific sites and clean up,” Kollars said. The technology can be used locally here in Savannah, GA for consequence management and planning for important sites like Savannah-Hilton International Airport, the Port of Savannah, Hunter Army Airfield, Fort Stewart, and other federal and local government facilities. “What makes my bio-agent models unique is they can identify the environmental consequences from a few hours to several years,” Kollars states. The environmental models are another tool to combat bioterrorism along with population models the Center for Disease Control and Prevention use to project how the agents are spread from person to person contact.

Dr. Kollars is excited to know that he has contributed to combating the ever growing threat from bioterrorism and providing our leaders and citizens important information should a bio-agent attack occur. Kollars Biodefense work was recently featured on one of Savannah’s local news stations WSAV evening news.

If you are interested in Dr. Kollars work on bioterrorism and the bio-agent model maps you can reach him through Georgia Southern University (tkllars@georgiasouthern.edu) or at MIT Holding, Inc (tkollars@mitholdinginc.com) or (tomkollars@mevlabs.com).

Excerpts taken from GSU website www.georgiasouthern.edu

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"Anne Frank: A History for Today" Exhibit at Georgia Southern University Museum November 2

The Georgia Southern University Museum is hosting “Anne Frank: A History for Today” beginning November 2, 2008.

“Anne Frank: A History for Today” chronicles the Holocaust through the eyes of Anne Frank and her family. The goal of the exhibit is to confront issues of prejudice and intolerance and to educate young people about the positive values of diversity.

Consisting of 55 large panels, this exhibit juxtaposes photographs of the Frank family with photographs depicting historical events during that time. The goal is to show how persecuted people, such as the Frank family, were affected by political decisions and by the actions and beliefs of individuals. The exhibit invites people to view and think about prejudice, discrimination, hate and violence. It also encourages them to think about their own attitudes and beliefs.

Also part of the exhibit is “The Anne Frank Secret Hiding Place,” an artist’s representation of what the secret hiding place was like. The exhibit’s visitors will also have the opportunity to view a brief film, “The Short Life of Anne Frank.”

The exhibit is sponsored by The Anne Frank Center U.S.A. Through this exhibit and others, the center has introduced over four million young people to the story of Anne Frank. The goal of the exhibit is to confront issues of prejudice and intolerance and to educate young people about the positive values of diversity.

Accompanying the exhibit is “Witness to the Holocaust: WWII Veteran William A. Scott at Buchenwald.” This exhibit documents the liberation of Buchenwald through the lens of U.S. Army photojournalist William A. Scott, III. Scott was a member of a segregated African-American unit during World War II. This exhibit shows how powerful discrimination can be and teaches respect for diversity.

The exhibit will be on display from November 2 – December 3, 2008. The public is invited to an opening reception on November 3, 2008 at 3:00 p.m. The reception includes a lecture, “In the Shadow of the Swastika” by Sylvia Wygoda, director of the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust.

In coordination with the exhibit and Veteran’s Day, the Magellan String Quartet will present an informal concert “Death, Destruction, and Liberation in Music from WWII” at the museum at 4:15 p.m. on November 11, 2008.

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Georgia Southern University Hosting Economic Forum on Oct. 22

News in recent weeks has painted a bleak future for the financial stability of the United States. Some analysts suggest that the United States’ economic situation could become the worst in history since the Great Depression. This onslaught of bad news has created many questions in the minds of “Main Street America” about what is going on and how it affects the average person.

Georgia Southern University’s College of Business Administration, along with WTOC-TV (Channel 11, Savannah), will host an Economic Forum on Oct. 22 from 6-8 p.m. in the Nessmith-Lane Continuing Education Assembly Hall to help the public make sense of the current economic situation.

An expert faculty panel will be moderated by Mike Manhatton of WTOC-TV and will include renowned authorities in their respective fields: Ronald Shiffler, Michael Reksulak, William H. Wells and Edward Sibbald. The forum will begin at 6 p.m. and includes a question-and-answer session. The panel will delve into the daily headlines of the current financial crisis: the dissolution of Lehman Brothers; the bailout of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and AIG; the sale of Merrill Lynch; and the latest details of the federal bailout package.

The panel will seek to bring clarity to the reasons for the crisis, the severity of the current situation, how it will affect the local, national and global economies, and perspectives on building a stronger foundation for the future. Audience members will also be encouraged to ask the questions they want answered about the current crisis and future outlook of our nation’s economy.

This event is free and open to the public. Anyone who would like a deeper understanding of the current economic climate is encouraged to attend. For more information or directions to the Nessmith-Lane Building please call the Georgia Southern College of Business Administration at (912) 478-2622.

BACKGROUND ON PANELISTS:

Michael Reksulak is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Georgia Southern University. He earned his Ph.D. (2002) and his M.A. in Economics (1998) from the University of Mississippi. Prior to coming to Georgia Southern, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Mississippi (2002-03) and a Research Fellow at the Max-Planck-Institute for Research into Economic Systems (1998-99) in Jena, Germany. His current research analyzes the efficiency properties of various cost-sharing mechanisms and the effectiveness of industrial regulation. Capt. Reksulak is also active in the Army Reserves and has completed several tours of duty with the NATO-peacekeeping forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In addition to his research he currently writes a bi-weekly column for the Savannah Morning News on economic issues.

William H. Wells is Chair of the Department of Finance and Quantitative Analysis in the College of Business Administration at Georgia Southern University. He earned his Ph.D. in Finance (1999) from the University of Mississippi and was a faculty member at Merrimack College for six years prior to coming to GSU. Wells received the M. Albert Burke Award in 2003 and 2006, and received the Bank of America Faculty Award in 2005. He conducts scholarly research in the areas of Corporate Governance, Real Estate Finance and Financial Institutions. His latest paper is entitled, “Making the Mortgage Insurance Purchase Decision When Premiums Are Tax Deductible.” Dr. Wells teaches in the undergraduate and MBA programs.

Edward H. Sibbald is the BB&T Executive in Residence in Banking in College of Business Administration at Georgia Southern University and he is the Director of the College’s Center for Excellence in Financial Services. He has more than 30 years experience in commercial and community banking and related financial services. Sibbald has more than 20 years as a board member of several community banks, and served as Chief Financial Officer and Division Executive for retail banking of a $2.2 billion community bank in Illinois. He recently completed a three-part series on the “Federal Reserve Policy: Its Impact on Banks and their Customers” for the Savannah Business Report and Journal and his most recent article, "Beyond the Bailout ...What’s Next," was featured in this week's edition.

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Georgia Southern Graduate Student Project Makes Vending Machines More Energy-Efficient

When you stop for a few seconds to buy a cold drink from a vending machine, you probably don’t put any thought into how much energy the machine uses.

But a group of Georgia Southern University biology graduate students did – and found a way for the campus to save energy and money.

Eleven students in last fall’s Graduate Seminar in Sustainability researched possible service projects to make the Georgia Southern campus more energy-efficient. After discussing several ideas, they proposed putting energy-saving devices on vending machines.

“It was the best project because it is not just an awareness campaign – it is going to make a concrete difference,” said Dr. Lissa Leege, who taught the sustainability seminar along with Dr. Michelle Zjhra. “The work the students did is now really going to pay off on campus.”

The students’ research found that vending machines are one of the worst culprits of energy inefficiency, using 20 percent more energy on average than a refrigerator. As a solution, the students turned to the EMS-55, a device from the Coca-Cola Company that powers vending machines down to standby mode when they are not being used.

With $1,000 in funding from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and the support of Coca-Cola Bottling Company United in Statesboro, the students were able to purchase 12 of the devices. Three more were donated by Coca-Cola.

“It’s a simple solution, and you can do it for little money,” said graduate student Steve Williams, who led the research. “You see big benefits at a low cost.”

Three test models were put on Coca-Cola machines over the summer, and the rest have been installed this fall. The EMS (Energy Management System)-55 is now in use in 11 buildings: Biology, Forest Drive, Herty, Hollis, Marvin Pittman, Math-Physics, Rosenwald, Deal Hall, Hanner Fieldhouse, the Russell Union and the Williams Center.

The off-campus community will be connected to the initiative as well. The Coke machine at the Boys and Girls Clubs center in Statesboro is also slated to get one of the energy-saving units.
“We felt it was very important to involve our community outside of Georgia Southern in our efforts because community involvement is imperative to make a real difference for a sustainable future,” Williams said.

The energy-saving device uses an infrared motion sensor to power down the machine when no one is using it. So, for example, when the Biology building is vacant at 3 a.m., the vending machine is not constantly running coolant and its brightly-lit façade is turned off.
The EMS-55 also “learns” consumer traffic patterns. If no one uses the machine at a certain time on a certain day, the machine powers down at that same time on the same day the following week.

That all adds up to energy savings of about 33 percent, according to the students’ research. A vending machine without the power controller uses 3,021 kilowatt-hours per year on average, compared to 2,023 per year with one. Multiply that by the 15 machines on campus, and the University reduces its power use by nearly 15,000 kilowatt-hours per year.

“Our first step in sustainability is to increase the efficiency of what we already have,” said Dr. Leege, the director of the Office of Sustainability in the Allen E. Paulson College of Science and Technology. “We’re not having to change our behavior at all, and this is making a difference in our energy consumption.

The cost savings are just part of the equation, though. The devices also help conserve water and significantly reduce carbon dioxide and other air pollutant emissions.

“The energy efficiency is beneficial economically and environmentally,” Williams said. “While saving the university – and therefore students – money on the electric bill, this one small step also has a number of ripple effects on the environment.”

For example, these devices increase the lifespan of the light bulbs that illuminate the front of the vending machine. That means fewer materials (glass, metals, fluorescent gas, mercury, etc.) are used to manufacture bulbs for Georgia Southern’s machines; Coca-Cola United has to truck fewer bulbs to Savannah to recycle them, which saves gas and reduces harmful emissions; less energy has to be used to recycle those bulbs, which means less coal is mined and burned, which means lower greenhouse gas emissions; and, finally, less waste is generated from the parts of the bulb that cannot be recycled.

“These ripples will be multiplied 30 times since each of the 15 machines is equipped with two fluorescent light bulbs,” Williams said. “Our efforts are like throwing pebbles into the ocean; they make some ripples and waves. If everyone were to take a small step towards sustainability, then it would be like throwing a mountain of pebbles into the ocean.”

That’s not the only ripple effect Dr. Leege is counting on. As with all of Georgia Southern’s sustainability initiatives, she wants to see this project expand. The EMS-55 is reasonably-priced (about $80 per unit), so she hopes the Georgia Southern community will get on board and provide additional units for vending machines on-campus.

The project could not have been possible without the participation of Coca-Cola. Chad Henry, the cold drink manager for Coca-Cola United in Statesboro, said this fit perfectly with Coke’s commitment to be environmentally friendly through steps such as recycling out-of-date products, providing recycling bins and marketing their products with energy-efficient promotional items.

“The Coca-Cola Company is investing in ‘going green,’ and we are glad to have people like Lissa and Steve help us on the Georgia Southern campus,” Henry said. “They came up with the idea and got the wheels turning.”

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CNN Executive Producer Peter Dykstra to Speak at Georgia Southern University

Peter Dykstra, environmental journalist and executive producer for CNN, will speak at Georgia Southern University on Oct. 21. Dykstra will discuss current trends in media concerning environmental journalism. He will present his lecture, Britney vs. The Biosphere: How Reporting on the Fate of the World Gets Obscured by the More Important Stories, at 7 p.m. in the Assembly Hall of the Nessmith-Lane Continuing Education Building.

Dykstra oversees coverage of traditional sciences, technology, the environment, space and the weather for many of CNN’s broadcasts. His awards include a 1993 Emmy for his coverage of the Mississippi River floods, a shared 2004 DuPont-Columbia Award for CNN’s reporting on the Indian Ocean Tsunami, and a 2005 George Foster Peabody Award for CNN’s coverage of both Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. He has been the executive producer of investigative documentaries for CNN, including “Broken Government: Scorched Earth.”

Dykstra received his Bachelor of Science degree in Communication from Boston University. He currently serves on the panel for the John Oaks Awards for Environmental Journalism at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Dykstra is also a former board member of the Society of Environmental Journalism.

This event is free and open to the public. Dykstra’s appearance is sponsored by the Department of Communication Arts at Georgia Southern University. For more information on Dykstra or this event, contact Pam Bourland-Davis at:pamelagb@georgiasouthern.edu .

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Civil Rights Leader to Speak at Georgia Southern September 24

Georgia Southern University will welcome Morris Dees as its Fall Civic Engagement Speaker on Wednesday, Sept. 24, in the Performing Arts Center at 7 p.m. The speech is free and open to the public.

Dees is a civil rights leader who is the co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a non-profit group specializing in lawsuits involving civil rights violations, domestic terrorism, and hate-motivated crimes.

Dees will present his lecture “With Justice for All,” in which he discusses how a commitment to justice for all will chart our nation’s future as America becomes more diverse and economic disparity widens. Dees will share his experiences and insights, explaining how and why he sold a lucrative publishing business to become an attorney and then founded the Southern Poverty Law Center. Dees will also discuss hate crimes across the country and the need for the teaching of tolerance, love, and respect for one another.

For more information on Morris Dees or the Fall Civic Engagement Speech, please contact Jodi Middleton, Assistant Director for the Office of Student Leadership and Civic Engagement at Georgia Southern University, at or call (912) 478-1435.

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Georgia Southern Ceremony Honors Victims of 9/11

Georgia Southern University paused Thursday morning to honor the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The University’s Military Science Department hosted a ceremony at the Russell Union Rotunda to reflect on the tragedies seven years ago in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.
More than 100 cadets from Georgia Southern’s Army ROTC Eagle Battalion stood in formation as the ROTC Battalion Commander, Cadet Lt. Col. Amy McIntyre, addressed the crowd. Special guests included several members of the Statesboro Police Department, Statesboro Fire Department and Georgia Southern University Police Department.

“The events of Sept. 11, 2001, transformed America, and the current security environment will remain ‘guarded’ for the foreseeable future,” said Lt. Col. George Fredrick, Chair of the Military Science Department. “So it is vital that communities pay the appropriate tribute.”

“It is also important that we teach our students and cadets about the impacts of this most significant event, because it is up to them to deter, prevent and possibly respond to the next 9/11,” Lt. Col. Fredrick added.

The ceremony ended with a special presentation to the Georgia Southern Museum. Lt. Col. McIntyre gave a Georgia Southern University flag in a display case to the museum’s assistant director, Debra Gleason.

The flag was flown over a patrol base in the Karbala province of Iraq this spring by Georgia Southern graduate Maj. Kevin Rice (Class of 1988). The flag will now be displayed at the Georgia Southern Museum.

“In light of the University’s recent centennial celebration, this is a wonderful way to continue preserving and interpreting Georgia Southern’s history in the making,” Gleason said. “This particular artifact is a great testimony on how Georgia Southern graduates are really helping make a difference in the world through their deeds and their sacrifices.”

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A Day for Southern Campaign Sets New Record

Another year, another record Day. Bulloch County’s business and professional community along with Georgia Southern University faculty and staff donated $1,401,739 to the 35th annual A Day for Southern campaign. The record total also marks the 11th straight year the one-day fundraising drive has topped $1 million in contributions to Georgia Southern University.

"This year’s record total is incredible,” said Georgia Southern President Bruce Grube. “Georgia Southern University and Bulloch County have a special relationship that is more than a century old. We’re very appreciative of the community’s support in our efforts to continue to not only provide an excellent education, but to attract top-quality students."

A Day for Southern helps meet the needs that state funds do not cover. Proceeds go to the Georgia Southern University Foundation and Southern Boosters to support both academic and athletic programs at the University.

“The Bulloch County community has come through in a big way for us once again,” said Wendell Tompkins, Georgia Southern’s Director of Annual Giving. “Every year we see what a giving community this is, especially on A Day for Southern.”

In addition to today’s off-campus fundraiser, Georgia Southern University held its annual on-campus A Day for Southern campaign on Aug. 21. This year’s on-campus drive set a new high with more than $250,000 in donations from faculty and staff. The on-campus and community campaigns are combined to reach the total A Day for Southern contribution.

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Annual Fundraiser to Show the Difference A Day Can Make Set for September 9

Again this year, Georgia Southern University and the Bulloch County community are teaming up to show what a difference “A Day” can make.

The 35th annual A Day for Southern campaign is set for Tuesday, Sept. 9. Volunteers will collect donations from Bulloch County’s business and professional community during the one-day fundraising campaign to support the current and future needs of Georgia Southern University.

As Georgia Southern has grown, so has A Day for Southern. The first campaign was held in 1974 and raised over $60,000; last year’s campaign topped $1 million for the tenth year in a row.

“We cannot thank the Bulloch County community enough for all its support through the years,” said Wendell Tompkins, Georgia Southern’s Director of Annual Giving. “This is a very giving community, and we see that every year on A Day for Southern.”

Proceeds from A Day for Southern go to the Georgia Southern University Foundation and Southern Boosters to meet both the academic and athletic needs of the University.

The Georgia Southern Foundation uses a significant portion of the proceeds to help pay for the scholarships that are necessary to attract academically gifted students to campus.

In addition, A Day for Southern proceeds are used to support cultural and educational attractions like the Georgia Southern Museum, the Botanical Garden, the Performing Arts Center, and the Center for Wildlife Education and the Lamar Q Ball Jr. Raptor Center.

A Day for Southern benefits Southern Boosters as well. The organization manages money for student-athlete scholarships and supports the athletic department, which fields teams that compete in 15 varsity sports at the NCAA Division I level.

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Georgia Southern University Recognized as one of America’s Best Colleges by U.S. News & World Report

The 2009 edition of America’s Best Colleges, published by U.S. News & World Report, has included Georgia Southern University in the best national university category. The ranking is a result of Georgia Southern’s continued growth in academic quality and stature as a Carnegie Doctoral/Research University.

Georgia Southern University is one of only 262 American universities, both public and private, in the national category.

“As Georgia Southern University has grown, we have done what many said we could not,” said President Bruce Grube. “We have grown in both size and in the quality of our academic programs and students. We are welcoming the largest class of freshmen with the highest average SAT score in our history. We also welcomed the largest class of graduate students pursuing master’s and doctorate degrees. Our students are from nearly every U.S. state and more than 80 countries. This is a direct reflection on the efforts of our outstanding faculty and staff who work every day to provide all the benefits of a major university with the personal attention of a much smaller college. Students and their parents value being taught by a professor in a small class setting where knowing your professor isn’t a luxury, it’s the norm.”

National universities offer a full range of undergraduate majors, plus master’s and Ph.D. programs and emphasize faculty research. Data indicating academic excellence from a range of categories is gathered from each institution and is weighted by the magazine's staff. The colleges are then ranked against their peers based on their composite score.

U.S. News & World Report utilizes seven categories to evaluate and capture academic quality: assessment by leadership at peer institutions, retention of students, faculty resources, student selectivity, alumni giving, financial resources and “graduation rate performance,” the difference between the proportion of students expected to graduate and the proportion who actually do. In addition, the publication also evaluated graduation rate performance for national universities. Georgia Southern University is listed in the Tier Four category of institutions within the National University rankings.

In addition to being named one of the top national universities in the nation, Georgia Southern University was recognized by high school guidance counselors for providing an outstanding education to students. U.S. News & World Report asked guidance counselors from America’s Best High Schools to rate national universities they believe offer the best education to their students. Georgia Southern University was ranked number 206 nationally, tied with the University of Cincinnati and the University of Memphis to name a few.

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Papers of Jenkins County’s Walter Harrison now available in Henderson Library at Georgia Southern University

Walter Harrison (1899-1995) of Millen in Jenkins County was in many ways a man larger than life. His papers, now available through special collections at Georgia Southern University’s Zach S. Henderson Library, illuminate a large and important part of the history of his times.

Harrison was Mayor of Millen, editor of The Millen News, a state legislator, and for more than 30 years, a member of the national board of directors of the Rural Electrification Administration. His extensive papers reflect the relationships he formed over his lifetime with U.S. Senators George, Nunn, Russell, and Talmadge; both Governors Talmadge, as well as Griffin, Sanders, Harris (and fellow-Millenite Melvin E. Thompson), and various members of Congress, mayors, and commissioners from around the state.

Harrison became involved in the Rural Electrification Administration as soon as it began in Georgia in 1936, at a time when the idea of providing electric power for all rural areas seemed unthinkable. “A lot of folks thought we were selling lightning rods,” he recalled in later years. Only 1 percent of Georgia farms had electricity, and it was not in the interest of private power companies to extend their lines to remote and lightly populated regions. By the time Harrison retired in 1975, 99 percent of rural households had power and 95 percent had telephones. Going far beyond the local and state level, he served on the board of directors of the national REA organization for more than 30 years and as president twice.

The first series of Harrison’s papers, “Local and Personal,” cover his activities as an important citizen of Millen, Jenkins County, and Georgia. He was mayor of Millen from 1930-1950, and during those years and later, he was involved with local organizations such as the American Legion, the Board of Health, the Boy Scouts, the Chamber of Commerce, the City Council, the County Commission, the Georgia Baby Chick Association, the Georgia Forestry Association, the hospital, the library, the Red Cross, and many other groups. For decades he was editor of the Millen News. On a statewide level, he served in the State Senate for eight years and in the House for 14.

The collection also contains lengthy records of the aspects of the Walter Harrison Company in Millen: loans, insurance and real estate. Other series cover his long involvement with the Methodist Church and Rotary International, on local, state and national levels.

Centennial Place Construction Brings Jobs and Expertise to Statesboro

Creating Centennial Place, Georgia Southern University’s new 1,000-bed residence hall, calls for the talent and expertise of many people and their organizations. Scheduled for completion in July 2009, the large-scale project includes a developer, an architect and a general contractor.

“Centennial Place is one of the largest construction projects that the University has undertaken,” said Vickie Hawkins, Georgia Southern University’s Director of Housing.
“Working with professionals makes this project a win-win situation for everyone involved.”

“The success of Centennial Place is directly tied to and dependent upon our strong relationship with the University,” said Paul Morgan, vice president of project management for Ambling University Development Group of Valdosta, Ga., which will coordinate the building process. “The key to success will be open communication among all the partners and team members, from the project’s inception through design, programming, construction, and delivery.” Ambling University Development Group’s portfolio of work, which includes nearly 30,000 beds and 10,000 units in university and college housing across the U.S., can be viewed at http://www.amblingunivdevgroup.com.

“This is an exciting project for Niles Bolton Associates,” said Gordon Karns, senior project manager of the Atlanta architectural firm that designed the new residential complex. “We’re part of an experienced team that has worked on major universities in the University System of Georgia, and we’re please to now have an opportunity to work in Statesboro.” Karns’ firm was designated among the top 40 architectural firms in the U.S. by Building Design and Construction Magazine, and the company has completed projects in 42 states and 14 countries around the globe. Completed work by Niles Bolton Associates can be viewed at http://www.nilesbolton.com

Actual construction of Centennial Place will be accomplished by Hardin Construction Company, headquartered in Atlanta. In addition to building residence halls at Kennesaw State University, Georgia State University and Georgia Institute of Technology, Hardin has completed education-related projects in Florida and Texas. Atlanta-based Hardin Construction Company is the winner of multiple awards—including two exclusive “Best Of” awards—in Southeast Construction magazine’s 2007 construction and design competition. In the Best College Housing category, Hardin was honored for its work on University Commons of Georgia State University. More about Hardin is available at http://www.hardinconstruction.com.

“We were approached by Ambling University Development Group to join them on this project, and we previously worked with this team on the Georgia State University Commons project,” said Joe Dusek, vice president of Hardin. “With Georgia Southern University supporting our efforts and with the weather cooperating, we’re ahead of schedule.”