This Week at Mercer University
Sept. 30 – Oct. 4
This is the weekly installment of story ideas and news items from Mercer University. For more information on these or other stories, please contact Lance Wallace at (800) 837-2911 or (478) 301-4037 or send an e-mail to wallace_le@mercer.edu.
What’s Coming Up:
• Nursing Education Transformed from Apprenticeship to Academic Model
• Mercer to Host Pulitzer Prize Winner for National Endowment for the Humanities Lecture on Civil Rights
• Just How Fast is Light?
• What Women Preachers Need to Hear
• As Schools Shrink Arts Education Budgets, Mercer’s GrandKids Program Fills the Void
• Mercer’s Society of Technical Communication Chapter Earns Honors
• Law Students Learn Lessons from Enron
1. Nursing Education Transformed from Apprenticeship to Academic Model
Atlanta – After 100 years in the nursing education business, the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing has witnessed an evolution in the way nurses are prepared. No longer are nurses educated solely through on-the-job-training. Now, they’re education is balanced with clinical experience and classroom instruction. The College of Nursing celebrates its 100th Anniversary on Oct. 11-13, which will include the dedication of its new state-of-the-art nursing education building. For more information, send an e-mail to wallace_le@mercer.edu.
2. Mercer to Host Pulitzer Prize Winner for National Endowment for the Humanities Lecture on Civil Rights
Macon – Mercer’s Committee for the National Endowment for the Humanities will present a special two-part program on the Civil Rights movement Oct. 8-9. At 7 p.m., Oct. 8, the award-winning documentary by Spike Lee “4 Little Girls” will be shown in Willingham Hall on the Macon campus. That will be followed by a lecture at 7 p.m., Oct. 9 in Willingham Hall by Diane McWhorter, the 2002 Pulitzer Prize winner for her book “Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama – The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution.” The program is free and open to the public. For more information, send an e-mail to wallace_le@mercer.edu.
3. Just How Fast is Light?
Macon – Peter W. Milonni of the Los Alamos National Laboratory will present a seminar “Fast Light, Slow Light” at 4:30 p.m., Oct. 9, in Room 101 of the Willet Science Center, sponsored by the Mercer Physics Department. Milonni will expound on the theories of “signals” as carriers of information. The program is free and open to the public. For more information, send an e-mail to wallace_le@mercer.edu.
4. What Women Preachers Need to Hear
Macon – The Bandy Professor of Preaching and New Testament, Emeritus, at Emory University, Dr. Fred Craddock, will lead “A Preaching Workshop for Baptist Women (and Men) in Ministry,” from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 18, along with Mary Wrye, minister to single adults at First Baptist Church in Greenville, S.C. The workshop, scheduled for the Religious Life Center on Mercer’s Macon campus, is open to all denominations and costs $50. It is open to media coverage. For more information, send an e-mail to wallace_le@mercer.edu.
5. As Schools Shrink Arts Education Budgets,
Mercer’s GrandKids Program Fills the Void
Macon – GrandKids, an arts education program created by Mercer University, is designed to offer rich learning opportunities for nearly 6,000 elementary school students from 64 schools in six different counties through exposure to six professional music, dance and theater performances in the historic Grand Opera House throughout the school year. Students view a preparatory video prior to each performance and then receive a “GrandKids Gazette” post performance to reinforce the material. Teachers receive Quality Core Curriculum (QCC) compliant lesson plans to place the arts in an educational context specific to each grade level. This year’s first program will showcase elements of Irish step dancing, tap and clogging as the troupe “Dancing On Common Ground” performs at The Grand, Oct. 1-2. At a time when school systems are shrinking budgets for arts education, the GrandKids program augments students’ educational experience by providing a medium for cultural enrichment that many may not otherwise encounter. For more information, send an e-mail to wallace_le@mercer.edu.
6. Mercer’s Society of Technical Communication Chapter Earns Honors
Macon – In the 10th year of the program, Mercer’s Technical Communication Department within the School of Engineering continues to build on its reputation. The Mercer chapter of the Society of Technical Communication recently received the Chapter of Excellence Award at the international STC conference. One of the most unique programs in Mercer’s School of Engineering is the Department of Technical Communication, which offers a major covering Web design, technical writing, creating technical presentations and a host of other contemporary communications applications. The first graduates finished in 1993 and can lay claim to breaking new ground in an area that is now pervasive in corporate America. For more information, send an e-mail to wallace_le@mercer.edu.
7. Law Students Learn Lessons from Enron
Macon – The annual Law Review Symposium at Mercer’s Walter F. George School of Law on Oct. 17-18 will be on the topic “Lessons From Enron: A Symposium on Corporate Governance” and will feature the president of the American Bar Association, the general counsel for the New York Times and the assistant secretary of the Treasury. For more information, send an e-mail to wallace_le@mercer.edu.
Experts
· The economy in flux – Dr. William “Skip” Mounts, professor of economics in the Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics at Mercer.
· Community service and civic engagement – Dr. Joe McDonald, Director of Service Learning, University Commons.
· Ethical leadership in business – Dr. Harold Jones, assistant professor of management and author of the recently published book “Personal Character and National Destiny.”
· Shortage of nurses and the impact on health care in Georgia – Dr. Susan Gunby, dean of the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing of Mercer University.
Public Service Announcements
October:
· “Celebrating its 100th Anniversary, the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing at Mercer University wants to remind you that October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. During this year, an estimated 203,500 new cases of breast cancer are expected to occur among women in the United States. Early detection can help save lives.
· “Celebrating its 100th Anniversary, the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing at Mercer University wants to remind you that October National Brain Injury Awareness Month. A traumatic brain injury occurs every 15 seconds in the United States. The only known cure for brain injury is prevention.
· “Celebrating its 100th Anniversary, the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing at Mercer University wants to remind you that October 13-19 is National Adult Immunization Awareness Week. Prevent unnecessary illness by being immunized.”
· “Celebrating its 100th Anniversary, the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing at Mercer University wants to remind you that October is Child Health Awareness Month. Nutrition, proper immunizations, and education about the subjects of violence prevention, injury prevention, and substance abuse prevention will have a positive impact on your child’s health.
Founded in 1833, Mercer is a 7,200-student, comprehensive, Baptist-affiliated university offering undergraduate and graduate degrees through the College of Liberal Arts, the Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics, Tift College of Education, School of Engineering, Walter F. George School of Law, School of Medicine, Georgia Baptist College of Nursing, Southern School of Pharmacy and James and Carolyn McAfee School of Theology.
Mercer University has campuses in Macon and Atlanta and at four extended education centers located in Douglas County, Covington, Griffin and Eastman. The University also operates the Mercer Engineering Research Center in Warner Robins and the Mercer University Press in Macon. For the past 13 years, Mercer has been ranked among the leading universities in the South by U.S. News & World Report.
