Georgia State University News & Events

University Relations Tip Sheet - September 25, 2009

A GSU team helps community, schools go green
Georgia State University’s College of Education was recently awarded a $140,956 federal grant to create a GreenCorps – a team of seven recent graduates and GSU undergraduates who will teach community members and students sustainability practices over the next year. Part of the AmeriCorps program, the GSU GreenCorps will start recycling programs and environmental clubs in 20 schools in metro Atlanta schools, as well as teach an eight-week course on environmentally conscious habits to grade school students and explain “green jobs” to older students. Members will also promote and preserve local and national parks, and educate teens and adults on financial literacy. “I wanted to change mindsets and behaviors and do something new in the community that could bring about positive change,” said GreenCorps member Nichole Hollis, 22, who graduated from Georgia State in May with a journalism degree. For more information, contact Liz Babiarz at lbabiarz@gsu.edu or 404-413-1356.

Transportation regionalism, racism have led to Atlanta's gridlock, sociologist says
Traffic gridlock in Atlanta is clearly one of the region’s most pressing issues impacting the local economy, and hindering citizens to get from point A to point B. The transportation policy that has led to it also has roots in race, class and competing motivations, as Georgia State University’s Miriam Konrad explains in a new book. In Transporting Atlanta: The Mode of Mobility Under Construction, Konrad explores the historical and sociological issues that have framed transportation policy and discussions about transportation in Atlanta from the latter half of the 20th century through today.
Konrad, a sociology lecturer, said racism and regionalism play a role in the modern, dysfunctional transportation system in the region, which has created inequities between socioeconomic classes and ethnicities. “Regionalism is a huge factor in the South, and particularly in Georgia, in terms of how spaces are laid out,” she said. “It’s hard to separate regionalism - the idea that this is my turf and I don't want any strangers coming on to it - from racism in the region.” To speak with Konrad, contact Jeremy Craig at 404-413-1357 or jcraig@gsu.edu.

Financial literacy series aims to school law students
The implications of the U.S. financial crisis stretch far beyond banks and the economy. It has educators rethinking the way they teach students. As an example, Georgia State’s College of Law is schooling its students in financial literacy – and offering it for free – since many don’t enter with a business background. “We’re trying to expose law students to enough financial literacy so they’re not like deer in the headlights when they hear these terms,” said Basil Mattingly, a Georgia State associate professor of law. “This series will help students gain a better understanding of concepts relevant in today’s world, give them context in courses they take, and discuss issues beyond the classroom.” To speak with Mattingly, please contact Renee DeGross Valdes, 404-413-1353.

Different Houses
As local governments debate how to organize and elect representatives, and as other countries increasingly move toward democratic governance, political science researchers say seemingly simple decisions such as length of terms of office and internal organization might lead to vastly different policy outcomes. In a new study, Jeffrey Lazarus and Amy Steigerwalt, assistant professors of political science at GSU, have found that length of terms of office and hierarchical divisions, are playing a major role in how earmarks are distributed in the House and the Senate and are important features in determining who plays and who wins in the legislative arena. “In the House you have to get elected every two years so everybody is scrambling for earmarks and the people who are the most electorally vulnerable are the ones who seem to get the most earmarks. Where as in the Senate you have to be elected every six years and not everybody is scrambling as hard and regardless of how vulnerable they are, if you are up for reelection in the near future you get more earmarks than if you are up for reelection in the far future,” Lazarus said. To speak with Lazarus or Steigerwalt, contact Leah Seupersad at 404-413-1354 or lvh@gsu.edu.

Happenings at Georgia State University

Leading scholar on desegregation to speak at Georgia State
Amy Stuart Wells, the Columbia University director of the Center for Understanding Race and Education (CURE), will lecture on the topic, “Metro migration, racial segregation and school boundaries: Education policy in changing suburban and urban America” at the upcoming Dan E. Sweat Lecture Series scheduled for Sept. 24 at 3 p.m. in Georgia State’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, 14 Marietta Street, N.W. in the seventh floor seminar room.

GSU welcomes families for the Sept. 26-27 weekend
Catch some Panther spirit and learn more about student life at Georgia State University by attending the fifth annual Family Weekend on Sept. 26-27. From the barbecue cookout to day trips in the city to a breakfast with Head Football Coach Bill Curry, the weekend offers ample opportunities for families to reconnect with their students and get to know more about Georgia State. The deadline to register is Sept. 23. The cost of adults is $30 and $20 for members of the Parents Association. For more information, visit www2.gsu.edu/~wwwnew or contact Liz Babiarz at lbabiarz@gsu.edu or 404-413-1356.

GSU's Hard Labor Creek Observatory holds open houses
Georgia State University's Hard Labor Creek Observatory in Rutledge, Ga., will hold open houses for the public during the fall months of 2009. Open house dates at the observatory include Sept. 19 and 26, and Oct. 24. Tours and observations in September will be held from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m.; the open house on Oct. 24 will be from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. The final open house on Oct. 24 will celebrate the International Year of Astronomy and the Galilean Nights program. No reservations are required, but organizers of large groups (of more than 20 people) should confirm visit times with the GSU Department of Physics and Astronomy at 404-413-6033 at least one week prior to the open house.

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