The Tax Man cometh
With W-2s in hand, workers across America are heading to the tax office, or preparing their returns themselves. But while preparing a tax return can be a fairly straightforward endeavor, it can also be complicated and fraught with potential pitfalls. Georgia State law professor Ronald Blasi, director of the College of Law’s Tax Clinic, says filers may get themselves in trouble with the tax man if they forget to claim 1099 income, or claim “head of household” when they don’t qualify. “If you think you’re going to get away with not paying (taxes on) 1099 income, you’re wrong,” says Blasi. The Tax Clinic, which has been helping low-income Georgians resolve disputes with the IRS since 1992 with the assistance of students, has dealt with many of the most common tax problems as well as complicated cases. “We’ve helped thousands of people and we see patterns here of how people get into trouble,” Blasi says. To speak with Blasi, contact Michael Davis at (404) 413-1361 or mdavis6@gsu.edu.

Learning at the Georgia Dome
Where is the best place for an undergraduate to learn the ins and outs of sports marketing? Georgia State kinesiology professor Brenda Pitts knows it is the Georgia Dome. Pitts uses the venue as her “living classroom,” bringing students to major sporting events where they perform consumer market research. On Feb. 23, Pitts’ students will be at the Dome’s “Supercross” event. Clipboards in hand, students will collect data on the consumer demographics and compile a report. At the end of the semester, the class will present it to the Dome’s CEOs and their clients. Not only does the Dome receive helpful consumer data, but Georgia State students gain valuable real-world experience. In fact, some of Pitts’ students now work at the Dome. “It’s a way for students to see that research isn’t just done in the lab with white coats and rats,” Pitts said. For more information, contact Liz Babiarz at (404) 413-1356 or lbabiarz@gsu.edu.

Project aimed at helping Peruvian farmers
When poor, rural farmers in Peru work through middlemen to try to bring their produce into the world market, they are sometimes thwarted by dishonest brokers who won’t pay the promised rate. Sometimes, farmers find a buyer willing to pay more than their broker and decide to sell to them, despite the broker having financed the crop. Ragan Petrie, an assistant professor of economics at Georgia State’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, believes there’s a way to design a contract to hold both sides to the deal and ensure everybody wins. “If you want to help poor people, the question is how can you make these contracts really difficult for farmers to renege on?” Petrie says. With a grant from the University of Wisconsin’s BASIS Program, funded by USAID, Petrie and a team of scholars are working this year to construct workable contract terms she hopes will help farmers gain the access they need to world export markets. To speak with Petrie, contact Michael Davis at (404) 413-1361 or mdavis6@gsu.edu.

Debate Project honored at the White House
Carol Winkler has watched the three-year-old Computer Assisted Debate (CAD) program she leads grow by leaps and bounds, and even get a nod from the White House. Winkler, the associate dean for the humanities for the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgia State and a professor of communications, was recognized for her work with CAD during a White House reception last week to celebrate the third anniversary of the Helping America’s Youth Initiative. The program was among five singled out by Mrs. Laura Bush. The after-school program works with middle school students who live in some of Atlanta’s roughest sections, and teaches them skills such as online research gathering, the construction of persuasive oral arguments and strategies for critically analyzing various policy and value claims. Winkler is a founder of CAD and is executive co-director of the National Debate Project, one of the program’s sponsors. To speak with Winkler, contact William Inman at (404) 413-1355 or winman@gsu.edu.

New psychiatric nursing program
A serious shortage in Georgia of health care professionals trained in psychiatric care is one of many challenges currently facing the state’s psychiatric treatment system. The Byrdine F. Lewis School of Nursing at Georgia State is currently taking applications for its new nurse practitioner program specializing in psychiatric care. The program’s goal is to train more nurses to treat psychiatric patients. For more information, contact Van Jensen at (404) 413-1357 or vjensen@gsu.edu.

HAPPENINGS AT GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY

University breaks ground on two student housing projects
Georgia State is breaking ground on two new housing projects that will bring the university closer to President Carl Patton’s goal of having 20 percent of students living on campus by 2015. A groundbreaking ceremony will be at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 28 at the corner of Edgewood and Piedmont avenues. The housing projects are expected to be complete by fall 2009. One complex will be a freshmen hall able to accommodate 325 to 350 students in two-bedroom units with a shared bathroom. A traditional dining hall will be located on the first floor. Also, the university is building three-story town houses for Greek organizations. For more information, contact Liz Babiarz at (404) 413-1356 or lbabiarz@gsu.edu.

Conference tests teens on international affairs
Which Nobel Peace Prize winner founded the Grameen Bank? The answer is Mohammad Yunus. More than 20 high school teams will be answering questions such as this one, testing their knowledge on international affairs, geography and culture at the second annual Metro Atlanta Academic WorldQuest Competition. The event will be held from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 8 in the Georgia State Student Center Ballroom. The team with the highest overall score will represent metro Atlanta at the national competition April 4 - 6 in Washington. For more information, contact Liz Babiarz at (404) 413-1356 or lbabiarz@gsu.edu.

“Reconstructing Atlanta” lecture focuses on saving the built environment
Recognized artist and activist Rick Lowe will speak on the topic of “Sculpting the Built Environment” at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 20 at Georgia State Speaker’s Auditorium in the Student Center. Lowe’s visit is part of “Reconstructing Atlanta,” a city-wide continuum of exhibitions and lectures focused on art, architecture and urban design curated by Cathy Byrd, director of the Welch School Gallery. Lowe is well known for founding the Project Row Houses in the Third Ward of Houston, where he works to preserve the neighborhood’s cultural legacy and slow down the process of gentrification. The event is sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences Visiting Artists and Scholars program and the Welch School Gallery. “Urban Intervention,” the exhibition at the Welch School Gallery centering on the evolving Beltline transportation initiative held in conjunction with the “Reconstructing Atlanta” project, ends March 6.

Finding new ways to serve Atlanta
Georgia State’s School of Social Work is still accepting registrants for its March 11 Community Forum, a day of presentations and workshops designed to bring together a variety of community involvement leaders and help them to find new ways to serve residents of Atlanta. The event will be held in the State Ballroom of the Student Center from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and will feature a keynote address by King Davis, the executive director of the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health Services at the University of Texas. For more information, contact Van Jensen at (404) 413-1357 or vjensen@gsu.edu.

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