Blog Topic: On Campus

In the Loop: Whatever You Do, Stay Away from Campus Saturday

By Blake Aued | September 30, 2015 4:30pm

Football game days in Athens are always intense, but the Georgia-Alabama game this weekend has the potential to be pure pandemonium. Hide the women and children, board up your windows and hunker down.

“The high-profile 3:30 p.m. game in Sanford Stadium is expected to draw one of the largest crowds of the past couple years,” according to a UGA news release.

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Culture Briefs: Alice Walker Fans Disappointed by Lack of Tickets for UGA Event

By Blake Aued | September 28, 2015 2:52pm

Alice Walker fans who waited in drizzly weather this morning for tickets to the writer’s upcoming talk at the Morton Theatre left disappointed after learning that UGA held back almost all of the tickets.

Free tickets to “A Conversation with Alice Walker” on Oct. 15 were made available at the Morton Theatre box office at 10 a.m. today.

Several people who waited for tickets said they were told that the UGA Willson Center for Humanities and Arts, which is sponsoring Walker’s two appearances on campus next month, had released only 80 of 500 tickets to the general public. A number of people complained on the event’s Facebook page.

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In the Loop: The UGA Medical Training Class That Killed Dogs Really Lasted Until 2014

By Blake Aued | September 24, 2015 12:05pm

On Monday, the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said it was filing a federal complaint about a University of Georgia veterinary college program that trained National Guard soldiers in battlefield medicine using live goats, pigs and dogs.

UGA at first defended the program, then said that it had stopped in 2013.

Tuesday, PETA provided documentation that it said showed that the program had continued on into 2014. When asked about it at a media briefing that day, UGA President Jere Morehead said he didn't have any information to that effect.

But Wednesday, the university released a letter from Vice President for Research David Lee to PETA confirming that the program was not, in fact, completely discontinued until last year.

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In the Loop: UGA: Program Criticized by PETA No Longer Exists

By Blake Aued | September 21, 2015 8:54pm

Photo Credit: Ruth Ellison

This is a stock photo of a random beagle.

Earlier today, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals announced that it's asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate a UGA medical training program involving dogs, goats and pigs that PETA deemed unethical, unnecessary and possibly illegal.

UGA initially responded that it has reviewed the program—in which Georgia National Guard soldiers trained in field medicine using live but anestheticized animals that were later euthanized—and the program met the university's ethical standards for humane treatment of animals.

Now, however, the university says that the program was discontinued in 2013:

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In the Loop: PETA: UGA Is 'Mutilating' Dogs in Training Course

By Blake Aued | September 21, 2015 4:11pm

Photo Credit: PETA

The animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate a UGA training program in which PETA says “dogs and other animals [are] mutilated and killed in a cruel and archaic training course.”

The UGA College of Veterinary Medicine course trains Georgia National Guard soldiers in field medicine by practicing procedures on 30 live animals, including goats, pigs and dogs. However, “dogs are the preferred animals for this laboratory because of their anatomic similarity to humans,” according to a university document.

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In the Loop: Jeb Bush, in Athens, Calls for a Kinder, Gentler GOP

By Blake Aued | September 19, 2015 5:14pm

Photo Credit: Joshua L. Jones

For a guy Donald Trump famously derided as “low energy,” Jeb Bush proved he has stamina while campaigning in Athens today.

Bush—the former Florida governor and latest in a political dynasty to seek the presidency—walked from a fundraiser at the Classic Center to the UGA College Republicans’ tailgate at Herty Field, where hundreds of fans and gawkers mobbed him. He shook hands and posed for photos in 90 degree heat—“I really like taking selfies,” he joked, rolling his eyes—for half an hour before giving a brief stump speech.

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In the Loop: UGA Closes Bridge Over Thomas Street

By Blake Aued | September 4, 2015 11:24am

Photo Credit: Stephanie Schupska/UGA

A pedestrian bridge over Thomas Street on the UGA campus has been closed after a routine inspection found that the bridge is structurally unsound and needs replacement.

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Culture Briefs: Upcoming Exhibitions at Lamar Dodd

By Madeline Bates | September 3, 2015 5:09pm

Farrah Karapetian

The exhibitions at UGA’s Lamar Dodd School of Art this semester pull together an impressive lineup of artists from around the country working in a variety of mediums. The shows address issues that range from abstract concepts of time, perspective and form to contemporary social issues of gender, identity and the effects of mass media.

Two rounds of receptions will be held in September and October, providing an opportunity for artists and viewers to mingle over light refreshments. To supplement the exhibitions, gallery talks and tours will be lead by artists and curators.

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Culture Briefs: A UGA Astronomer Helped Discover a Planet

By Blake Aued | August 17, 2015 1:27pm

Photo Credit: The University of Georgia

An artist's rendering of 51 Eridani b.

University of Georgia astronomy professor Inseok Song was part of a team that recently discovered a gas-giant planet orbiting a distant star.

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Culture Briefs: Visiting Artist Lectures at Lamar Dodd School of Art

By Madeline Bates | August 4, 2015 10:40am

Henrik Drescher

Every academic semester, UGA’s Lamar Dodd School of Art (LDSOA) hosts several series of public lectures by artists, scholars, critics and museum professionals from around the world. The visitors typically give hour-long lectures on topics related to their professional or creative career. These lectures are opportunities for students and locals alike to meet with and ask questions of the speaker.

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