Online service offers olympic fitness training for the masses
Interested in stealing a couple of fitness secrets from the professional athletes? Based on research by Georgia State University nutritionist Dan Benardot, SportsNutritionClinic.com, puts decades of professional sports fitness training in the hands of the general public with the click of a computer mouse. SportsNutritionClinic is a subscription-based Web site offering energy-building and nutrition regimens that Benardot developed to prepare professional and Olympic athletes. With the service, subscribers can build a personal fitness program based on Benardot's laboratory work. The Web site and fitness consultation service was started by Calorie and Pulse Technologies, one of the first privately owned companies to license Georgia State intellectual property. For more information, contact Aaron Baca at 404-651-1444 or abaca@gsu.edu.

Crime rates get a second look
Atlanta got a bad rap in 2005 after ranking 11th out of 65 American cities with the highest homicide rates, but a study released earlier this month shows it could have been much worse. Given that the city's population has a relatively large percentage of "crime-producing factors" like male unemployment, single mothers and low-income families, "in a city like Atlanta, you would expect more crime," says Robert Friedmann, a professor of criminal justice at Georgia State University and principal investigator for the Improving Crime Data project. After factoring in potential causes for crime, Atlanta fell from 11th to 52nd place on the list of city homicide rankings. Friedmann says it isn't fair to evaluate cities or their crime prevention programs without considering the societal factors that law enforcement is up against. "Cities vary by different kinds of qualities and attributes. This analysis holds a number of factors constant and then develops an expectation scale." To talk with Friedmann about the Improving Crime Data project, contact Andria Simmons at 404-651-3579 or asimmons2@gsu.edu. To view homicide rankings with adjusted and unadjusted scores, go to www2.gsu.edu/~crirxf/HomRates-PR-2007-02-02.htm.

Could the Civil War have Started in the North?
According to Georgia State professor of history and legal historian Robert Baker, a little-known fugitive slave case in Wisconsin nearly set off the Civil War more than five years before the Battle of Fort Sumter. In his new book, "The Rescue of Joshua Glover: A Fugitive Slave, the Constitution and the Coming of the Civil War," Baker considers the case of Joshua Glover - an escaped slave bound by the Fugitive Slave Act to be turned over to federal agents. A crowd of 5,000 people rescued Glover in Milwaukee on March 11, 1854, and helped him reach freedom in Canada. Wisconsin refused to enforce the Act on the grounds that it was the state's right to refuse to enforce federal laws, and threatened to raise a militia to prevent the government from enforcing the law. These same states' rights were invoked by Southern states to justify secession from the Union and, a century later, to buttress attempts to resist integration. To speak with Baker, contact William Inman at 404-651-3578 or winman@gsu.edu.

Economy shows its good, bad and ugly sides
While the economy shows a few positive signs, Rajeev Dhawan, director of the Economic Forecasting Center at Georgia State University, says it is heading into dangerous waters. A 20 percent drop in gasoline prices which helped bolster the economy in 2006 is unlikely to occur in 2007. To prevent the economy from spiraling out of control, Dhawan says the Fed will start cutting rates by early summer. "We began seeing the first signs of a slowdown in the later half of 2006. While it is true that Georgia created 80,100 jobs last year, only 28,700 of those jobs were generated in the second half of the year," he said. But there is some good news. According to Dhawan, "the pullback that we will experience in 2007 will be short-lived and better job growth will return to Georgia in 2008 and continue in 2009." To speak with Dhawan, contact Tammy DeMel at 404-651-2645 or Dhawan at 404-651-3291.

HAPPENINGS AT GEORGIA STATE

Campus MovieFest Atlanta Grand Finale
Join us at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday (Feb. 28) for the fourth annual Campus MovieFest Atlanta Grand Finale, showcasing phenomenal short movies made by students at Georgia State University, Georgia Tech, University of Georgia, Emory, Morehouse, Spelman and Clark Atlanta. Special presenters include Carson Daly. You can win an Apple computer, iPods, and more just for attending. This unforgettable celebration will be held at the Atlanta Symphony Hall in the Woodruff Arts Center at 1280 Peachtree St., Atlanta. The event kicks off the 2007 tour of the world's largest student film festival. General admission is $10, $5 for students. For more information call Campus MovieFest at 404-875-9395, or contact William Inman at 404-651-3578 or winman@gsu.edu.

New conference tests youth on international facts
Twenty-five high school teams will be quizzed on international affairs, geography and culture at Atlanta's first Academic WorldQuest Competition at Georgia State University. The competition will be held at 8 a.m. Saturday (March 3) in the Student Center Ballroom. A goal of the program is to promote global awareness using a leisurely and scholastic approach. The competition seeks to develop and enhance this awareness to influence young Georgians and high school graduates to broaden their education and seek out international opportunities upon entering college. For more information, contact Leah Harris at 404-651-3575 or lvh@gsu.edu

Georgia State Leads is a publication from the Department of University Relations. For more information about the publication or to sign up to receive Georgia State Leads, contact Andria Simmons at 404/651-3579 or asimmons2@gsu.edu.

©2005 Georgia State University