Professor: Holidays affected by trend toward mixing the sacred and the secular
   Visit a mall or retail chain this holiday season and you’ll see plenty of toys, trees and Santas – but not many references to the religious aspects of the season. Though commercialism seems to dominate the holidays, there are still large factions of people pushing to separate the profits from the season’s spiritual connotations, says a Georgia State University expert. “With Christmas there are people who only want to make money, and there are very religious people who resist the commercialism and want the holiday to be solely about Jesus,” says Christopher White, an assistant professor of religious studies. The conflict represents a paradox in American culture and is part of a larger trend in society, says White. But most Christians who continue to celebrate the religious part of the season still participate in secular holiday activities, he says. “Whether it’s Christmas or Easter, there’s now a movement toward mixing the sacred and the secular.” Contact White at 404/651-0724 or cgwhite@gsu.edu.

Companies help alleviate consumers’ holiday guilt
   Around the holidays, people often feel guilty about not doing enough for the needy. Many companies profit from the guilt by tying sales of their products to charitable contributions for specific causes, says Pamela Scholder Ellen, an associate professor of marketing and expert on corporate social responsibility at Georgia State University. “Companies providing mechanisms to easily help others lets people off the hook at Christmastime,” says Ellen, who’s studied the marketing approaches that work best for boosting cause-related sales. “A company wants to make it look as though they’re doing it out of pure altruism, hiding the fact that it has economic benefits,” she notes. “Customers in general react well to cause-related marketing, responding most positively when companies step up after disasters.” Contact Ellen at 404/651-4179 or pellen@gsu.edu.

Researcher offers survival skills for dealing with substance abuse
   The number of people adversely affected by substance abuse far exceeds the number of those who abuse drugs and alcohol. Despite the disparity, relatively little help has been available to those affected by a loved one’s substance abuse, whether spouses, partners, children or siblings. Georgia State University’s Jan Ligon, an associate professor of social work, offers a short list of survival skills for families affected by substance abuse. The first, detaching oneself from the problem, can be the most difficult to grasp -- yet may also be the most important. He says the skills don’t have to be followed in any particular order, and some of them may be easier to master than others. For more information, contact him at jligon@gsu.edu or at 404/651-2210.

Enrichment programs stem poor kids’ summer learning loss
   Research has shown that low-income children typically forget classroom lessons at greater rates than their more economically advantaged peers. But a pilot summer program helped underprivileged children in metro Atlanta retain and increase what they learned during the pre-kindergarten year, according to Georgia State University researchers. The program, which served 173 children, extended kids' participation in various pre-k classes for eight to 10 weeks during summer. Funded by private foundations and administered by Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning, the program was designed to continue the development gains made by children during the pre-k year, said lead researcher Gary Henry, professor of public administration and urban studies/political science/educational policy studies. "Research suggests the traditional summer break may last too long, and that children learn best when instruction is continuous," Henry said. Contact Henry at 404/651-2343 (office), 404/808-9352 (cell) or gthenry@gsu.edu. View the full report online at: http://aysps.gsu.edu/publications/2004/preksummerreadiness.pdf.

Professor: Using social science to end affirmative action a disturbing trend
   A recent study suggesting that affirmative action initiatives at the nation’s law schools hurt rather than help black students is refueling the debate over whether racial preferences have a place in higher education. But while the study suggests that giving admission preference to black students leads them to schools where they are more likely to be unsuccessful, an education expert at Georgia State University says relying on “statistical mumbo jumbo,” such as bar passage rates and drop-out rates, is part of a “disturbing” political trend to attempt to unseat the progress made by affirmative action. “This is one of the unintended consequences of using social science to resolve what is essentially a moral issue,” says Benjamin Baez, an associate professor of educational policy studies. “Regardless of whether or not one performs well on any given quantitative criterion, the moral issue of whether certain institutions are to be closed off to certain groups of people is one we should struggle with,” says Baez, an expert on affirmative action. Contact him at 404/651-1191 or bbaez@gsu.edu.

Popular economic development tool poses risks
   Tax allocation districts are an increasingly popular financing tool for promoting redevelopment of blighted areas, but municipalities must carefully consider the potential cost of their implementation, according to Carolyn Bourdeaux, assistant professor of public administration and urban studies at Georgia State University. Tax allocation districts, or TADs, use the anticipated tax growth from rising property values in designated geographical areas to finance new infrastructure or other public improvements that will lead to private-sector investments in the community. Although TADs have surged in popularity, their effectiveness has not been carefully studied, warns Bourdeaux, who has researched how this economic development tool is employed in Georgia and other states. Potential risks of TADs include financing projects whose benefits do not materialize sufficiently to cover the costs of the debt issued or other public-sector investments. TADs may also stimulate growth that increases demand for public services without generating sufficient new revenues to meet the need. Contact Bourdeaux at 404/654-5808 or cbourdeaux@gsu.edu.

Happening at Georgia State University:

Experience Japanese theater at the Rialto
   Georgia State University’s Rialto Center for the Performing Arts presents an evening of classical Japanese theater at 7 p.m. Dec. 12. “The First Noh & Kyogen Program Witnessed by Americans,” is performed by nearly three dozen of Japan’s most accomplished Noh and Kyogen actors and musicians. The tour, co-sponsored by The Japan Society and Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs, recreates a performance from 1874 -- the first ever seen in the United States -- of these ancient art forms and celebrates this year’s 150th anniversary of the historic United States-Japan Treaty. A pre-show lecture and question-and-answer session will begin at 6 p.m. Tickets range from $26-$52 and are available at the Rialto Box Office, by phone at 404/651-4727, or on the Web at www.rialtocenter.org.

Holiday Iron Pour and silent auction
   Molten metal and roaring flames will be the stars of the show at the Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design’s annual Holiday Iron Pour, where guests can watch artists and students pour thousands of pounds of iron into the sculpture studio’s furnace, heat it to temperatures approaching 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit and cast it into molds. This year’s pour, set for 3 p.m. Dec. 18 at the Edgewood Avenue Sculpture Studio (184 Edgewood Ave.), features a special gimmick: For a $10 donation, guests can carve and cast their own molds. Festivities will culminate in the early evening with food and a silent auction of faculty and student artwork, among other items. A $5 donation is requested at the door, and proceeds will be used to purchase equipment and supplies for the sculpture studio. The event is presented by the sculpture department and the Edgewood Sculpture Forum. For more information, call 404/651-4227 or 404/651-2433.

Exhibition celebrates travel
   Installations at four Atlanta venues -- including two at Georgia State University -- examine contemporary travel in “Gas, Food & Lodging,” which opens with a roving reception at 5 p.m. Jan. 27. “Imagining Escape” at the Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design Gallery considers notions of escape, escapism and the wandering life; in the Rialto Center for the Performing Arts exhibition space, “Going South” features Southern sightseeing, especially tourist attractions and regional cooking. Other participating venues are the Dalton Gallery of Agnes Scott College, and Eyedrum Art and Music Gallery. For more information, contact Cathy Byrd, Welch School Gallery director, at 404/651-0489 or cathybyrd@gsu.edu.

Georgia State Leads is a biweekly e-mail publication from the Department of University Relations. For more information about the publication or to sign up to receive Georgia State Leads, contact Beth Flannigan at 404/651-3576 or bflannigan@gsu.edu.

Don't see what you're looking for? Call University Relations at 404/651-3025 for fast access to faculty experts and university news. After hours and on weekends, contact Betsy Robertson, assistant director, via pager at 404/655-3456.

©2003 Georgia State University