Oregon HB 4002 drug penalty law nears key vote after intense public hearing 

The joint committee on addiction and community safety response holds a public hearing amended House Bill 4002, which would bring back penalties for possession of drugs three years after Measure 110 was passed in the state at the Oregon State Capitol on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024, in Salem, Ore.

Oregon lawmakers are set to hold a work session Tuesday to vote on changes to House Bill 4002, the measure that would reintroduce criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of illicit drugs.

A public hearing on the bill held Monday evening lasted more than four hours, with dozens of individuals testifying. Hundreds more submitted testimony online.

A 137-page amendment was made public on Friday, updating the bill to penalize drug possession as an entirely new misdemeanor with penalties of up to 180 days in jail — more than the 30 days Democrats initially proposed.

Republicans and some law enforcement groups had called for penalties of up to a year.

What the amended bill does

Instead, the amendment encourages law enforcement and district attorneys to refer people to deflection programs or divert punishments but does not require deflection or diversion.

Current Class E violations, established under Measure 110, would become unclassified drug enforcement misdemeanors as of Sept. 1. A defendant would first face 18 months of probation. Probation violations would result in 30 days of jail. If probation is revoked, a defendant could be released to treatment or face a 180-day sentence.

Someone facing a drug enforcement misdemeanor could also request a 180-day sentence directly.

Records could be expunged upon completing a deflection program, two years after a citation without convictions, after successful probation or three years after conviction.

The amendment also adopted language from House Bill 4120 to fund the expansion of providing medications for opioid use disorders in jail.  

Unchanged by the amendment were the definition of drug delivery charges, an enhancement for dealers selling near treatment facilities, homeless shelters, and public parks, and an expansion of welfare holds from 48 hours to 72 hours.

Marion County Sheriff Nick Hunter speaks in support of House Bill 4002 during the public hearing at the Oregon State Capitol on Monday, Feb. 27, 2024, in Salem, Ore.

Marion County a state leader with diversion program

Counties were asked to submit letters of commitment to establish the optional pre-arraignment treatment pathways. So far, 23 of 36 counties have submitted those letters: Baker, Benton, Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Crook, Curry, Deschutes, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Hood River, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath, Lane, Malheur, Marion, Morrow, Multnomah, Umatilla, Wasco, and Washington.

According to a spokesperson for the Senate Majority office, the policy had been structured so additional counties could sign on at any time.

Law enforcement officers, including Marion County Sheriff Nick Hunter, testified Monday in support of the proposed amendment.

In its letter of commitment, Marion County said it has been a “leader in this state” as the first to run a “robust Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program” for the past seven years. It was a program Hunter said on Monday he was the most proud of.

“We are more than happy to take this program and share it with the rest of the state,” Hunter said.

The Oregon State Sheriffs’ Association also signaled its support for the changes, calling the amendment a “true partnership” between Republicans and Democrats to address the addiction epidemic in the state.

“This proposed bill will do excellent work in our communities. It will provide the public safety our constituents expect and will make a significant difference in the addiction crisis in our state,” said Hood River County Sheriff Matt English, a board member for the association.

Hood River County Sheriff Matt English speaks in support of House Bill 4002 during the public hearing at the Oregon State Capitol on Monday, Feb. 27, 2024, in Salem, Ore.

Others who spoke in support of the bill included Portland business owners and other city leaders including the mayors of Tigard, Hillsboro and Albany.

Marion County commissioner and Association of Oregon Counties president Danielle Bethell also spoke in support, saying reform of Measure 110 was top priority for Oregon counties. In October, Marion County joined 11 other counties asking for a repeal of Measure 110.

Bethell said the amended bill attempts to strike a balance of “supporting and strengthening the behavioral health system while reestablishing law enforcement’s vital role in tackling this crisis.”

Sandy Chung, executive director of the ACLU of Oregon, speaks in opposition to House Bill 4002 during the public hearing at the Oregon State Capitol on Monday, Feb. 27, 2024, in Salem, Ore.

Opponents worried about staffing, racial disparities

However, criticism remained strong amongst Measure 110 advocates, criminal defense lawyers, and criminal justice advocates.

Several members of the ACLU of Oregon testified, urging lawmakers to vote no on HB4002. Executive director Sandy Chung said moving the bill forward would be a step backward. Chung referred to the bill and its amendments as “massively bad policy.”

Jessica Maravilla, ACLU policy director, said the group was also concerned the bill would allow police and prosecutors to decide who does or does not get treatment.

District attorneys, under the amendment, are allowed to object to a defendant’s entry into probation and a court could deny entry if the probation agreement “would not serve the needs of the person or the protection and welfare of the community.”

People with money, connections, or racial privilege would be more likely to access limited treatment in the state, Maravilla said.  

“There’s some magical thinking happening here that somehow going back to the way things were before Measure 110 is going to take us back to the 2019 addiction crisis, but I want to remind you that it was bad in 2019, and it is still bad today,” said Haven Wheelock of Outside In, a health care nonprofit in Portland.

Jennifer Nash, chair of the Oregon Public Defense Commission, speaks about House Bill 4002 during the public hearing at the Oregon State Capitol on Monday, Feb. 27, 2024, in Salem, Ore.

Jennifer Nash, the chair of the Oregon Public Defense Commission, said the state’s criminal justice system was not equipped to handle the increased caseload expected with the new misdemeanor. There are over 2,700 Oregonians charged with a crime eligible for public defenders but without representation.

Nearly 39 full-time public defenders would need to be hired to provide representation for the additional cases the commission believes would result under this bill, Nash said.

Opponents also pointed to the Racial & Ethnic Impact Statement written by the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission and submitted Monday, estimating HB4002 would lead to racial disparities for Black Oregonians.

“The commission predicts there will be 2,257 additional convictions across all racial/ethnic groups, 103 of which will be for Black/African American individuals. To reach parity with whites given census population differences in Oregon, there would need to be no more than 74 convictions for Black/African American individuals,” estimated the CJC, based on 2019 possession convictions.

The CJC also estimated there could be racial disparities in new convictions from changes to delivery of controlled substances and in prison sentence lengths.

The joint committee on addiction and community safety response holds a public hearing amended House Bill 4002, which would bring back penalties for possession of drugs three years after Measure 110 was passed in the state at the Oregon State Capitol on Monday, Feb. 26, 2024, in Salem, Ore.

Senate Majority Leader and co-chair of the committee, Kate Lieber, D-Portland, acknowledged concerns but said lawmakers needed to act and that the goal was treatment, not jail.

“We know that we have to take action. We’ve got five Oregonians overdosing and dying every day. We have a goal to get people into treatment and recovery and not jail. And we agree that the current system, the way that it is set up, is not working. And we need to give providers and law enforcement the tools that they need to keep people safe and save lives. And we have heard from Oregonians across the state and we’ve incorporated their feedback in this plan,” Lieber said.

The work session to discuss and potentially send the bill to the House floor was scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Dianne Lugo covers the Oregon Legislature and equity issues. Reach her at dlugo@statesmanjournal.com or on Twitter @DianneLugo

SF apology to Black community: ‘Important step’…

SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco Board of Supervisors issued an apology Tuesday to the city’s Black community for decades of discrimination – but issuing $5 million checks to make up for the harm is another matter.

The 11-member board voted unanimously to approve a resolution apologizing “to all African Americans and their descendants who came to San Francisco and were victims of systemic and structural discrimination, institutional racism, targeted acts of violence, and atrocities.”

That makes San Francisco among the first major U.S. cities to publicly apologize for past racist policies, such as redlining and urban renewal programs that displaced largely Black communities. Boston was the first, in 2022.

But the resolution is the only action implemented so far among the more than 100 recommendations from a reparations advisory committee that also proposed a lump-sum payment of $5 million to every eligible Black adult and annual supplements of nearly $100,000 for low-income households to rectify the city’s racial wealth gap.

The median yearly income for a Black household in San Francisco is $64,000, less than half the city’s overall median of nearly $137,000, according to figures from the Census Bureau and Lending Tree.

‘Long overdue:’ California reparations bill would give some Black residents compensation

Mayor London Breed, who is Black, has said reparations should be handled by the federal government. She’s facing a tough reelection race in November and a budget deficit in the hundreds of millions amid the downtown’s sluggish recovery from the pandemic. The $4 million proposed for a reparations office was cut out of this year’s budget.

Tuesday’s resolution encourages the city to commit “to making substantial ongoing, systemic, and programmatic investments” in African American communities, and the board’s only Black member, Supervisor Shamann Walton, said he saw considerable value in that.

“We have much more work to do but this apology most certainly is an important step,” Walton said.

San Francisco NAACP President Amos Brown, third from right, listens at a San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting at City Hall, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024. The Supervisors formally apologized Tuesday to African Americans and their descendants for the city's role in perpetuating racism and discrimination.

Policies that made it harder for African American families to accumulate generational wealth likely contributed to San Francisco’s Black population dwindling to the current 46,000, a mere 5.4% of the overall population of 850,000 and way below the national percentage of 14.4. Despite their low numbers, African Americans make up 38% of the homeless population in San Francisco, one of the world’s most expensive cities to live in.

The Rev. Amos Brown, a member of the advisory committee and former supervisor, has been critical of the apology, calling it “cotton candy rhetoric.’’

Cheryl Thornton, who works for the city, said she wished the resolution had done more to address issues such as shorter lifespans for Black people like herself.

“That’s why reparations is important in health care,” she said. “And it’s just because of the lack of healthy food, the lack of access to medical care and the lack of access to quality education.”

Contributing: The Associated Press

Mayor Deegan announces African American Advisory Board at Black History Month event

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Mayor Deegan announced the creation of the African American Advisory Board at an event with Jacksonville nonprofit 904WARD on Tuesday at the St. James Building.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Deegan said the board will be made up of 11 individuals who will act as a liaison between the Black community and city government.

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Deegan said she hopes the board will help create more opportunities for everyone in the city, no matter what they look like or where they come from.

Area library aims to provide resources on African American history

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Throughout much of America’s history the contributions and accomplishments of African Americans have been under-documented and in some cases outright ignored.

The Columbus-Lowndes Public Library is trying to change that.

Archivist, Mona Vance-Ali, said the library was making sure it could provide resources so area residents can learn more about African American history.

“We have access to ancestry.com, and we also have vertical files which are like newspaper clippings. We have newspapers, manuscript collections, local government records so those court cases and minutes, and we have maps and photographs,” said Vance-Ali.

Vance-Ali knew that having more resources about black heritage could be important for many people.

“African American history is a very interesting topic for a lot of researchers, right now. Technology has allowed us to put more stuff online. Now, more people are coming here to access African American history. That has increased a lot over the last few years. We want to put more collections and materials out there that deal specifically with African American history,” said Vance-Ali.

She said the library was working with other institutions to make sure residents across the Golden Triangle would have access to these previously untold stories.

“The Lantern Project is in collaboration with Mississippi State, and we are digitizing local court records that involved enslaved people. That is different because, in the past, they may not be the plaintiff or the defendant, but the property that is being discussed,” said Vance-Ali.

If you’re looking to do some research of your own or if you would like to donate some of your archives to the library, the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library is open from Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. You can also call the library at (662)329-5300.

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Stitching Stories: Artist Talk and Exhibition Reception celebrates Black Pioneers quilt exhibition at Stark Museum of Art

Join the Stark Museum of Art for an inspiring afternoon of art and conversation as we celebrate the creative ingenuity and cultural heritage of the American West at the Stitching Stories: Artist Talk & Exhibition Reception. This event, presented in conjunction with the “Black Pioneers: Legacy in the American West” quilt exhibition, will feature renowned Texas artists Carolyn Crump, Barbara McCraw and Georgia Williams as they discuss their original quilts showcased in the exhibition. The artist talk will be held in the auditorium of the Lutcher Theater on Saturday, March 9, from 2-3 p.m., immediately followed by an exhibition reception at the Stark Museum of Art from 3-5 p.m.

“The Stitching Stories artist talk will offer attendees an opportunity to delve into the artistic processes, inspirations and personal narratives behind the quilts on display,” said Jennifer Dickinson, interim executive director of the Stark Museum of Art. “These talented artists will share insights into their creative journeys, shedding light on the significance of quilting as a medium for storytelling and cultural expression.”

In addition to the featured quilts, attendees will have the exclusive opportunity to view additional works on display during the artist talk. This rare glimpse into the artists’ portfolios promises to deepen appreciation for the rich tapestry of stories woven into each intricately stitched piece.

Furthermore, guests will have the chance to meet the artists and acquire signed copies of the accompanying book, “Black Pioneers: Legacy in the American West,” which offers a comprehensive exploration of the exhibition’s themes and showcases a stunning collection of quilts by Crump, McCraw, Williams, and the other talented artists showcased in the exhibition. A limited number of “Black Pioneers” books will be available for purchase during the event, making this a great opportunity to own a piece of history.

Cynthia Lockhart, Cool Jazz Hot Jam, 2021, ©Cynthia Lockhart

“This is the first time the Stark Museum has offered an exhibition of this magnitude featuring not only all African-American artists, but all female artists as well. Among the 50 artists featured, we are also showcasing an art quilt by Tomasita Louviere-Ligons, a Port Arthur native and Lamar University alumna, as well as art from Georgia Williams, who is a Beaumont native,” said Dickinson. “This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate art, culture and heritage.”

All quilts in the “Black Pioneers: Legacy in the American West” were created by members of the Women of Color Quilters Network. The exhibition is organized by The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art with gratitude to guest curator Carolyn Mazloomi, Ph.D.

For more information about the Stark Museum of Art, including bios of Crump, McCraw and Williams, please visit starkmuseum.org.

Admission to the Stark Museum of Art is free, providing an accessible and enriching cultural experience for the entire community.

The Stark Museum of Art is open Wednesday-Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Stark Museum of Art is located at 712 Green Avenue in Orange, Texas.

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New Wellness Center in Pasadena has it all – Cold Plunge, Float Tanks, Lymphatic Drainage, and more – opening 3/30/24

New Wellness Center in Pasadena has it all – Cold Plunge, Float Tanks, Lymphatic Drainage, and more – opening 3/30/24 – African American News Today – EIN Presswire

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Faculty and Staff Notables | March 2024

College of Education

Dr. Karyn A. Allee, assistant professor of elementary education, presented a paper titled “The state of elementary school recess: Studying recess before and ‘after’ COVID” at the Georgia Educational Research Association, where she also won the Distinguished Paper Award. The paper was co-authored by Erica DeCuir, Albany State University, and Dawn Robinson, University of South Carolina-Beaufort. Dr. Allee will also serve as mentor for Ph.D. student Amanda Price, a curriculum and instruction candidate, who has been awarded the 2024-2025 Marilyn Sackett Leadership Scholarship.

Mary Kay Bacallao, professor, presented a roundtable presentation titled “Integrated Curriculum Ideas” at the Eastern Educational Research Association Conference on Feb. 9 in Clearwater, Florida.

Dr. Adam Keath, assistant professor, represented Georgia at the annual SHAPE America Speak Out Day Event Feb. 13-14 in Washington, D.C. During this event, Dr. Keath met with Senate and congressional offices to advocate for Every Student Succeeds Act funding in support of health and physical education in Georgia. These Title IV Part A and Title II Part A funds bring in more than a million dollars to Bibb County schools each year and are critical to providing health and physical education curriculum, equipment and professional development, in addition to supporting all areas of school academic enrichment. Dr. Keath also had an article he co-authored with James Wyant and Brooke Towner titled “ChatGPE: Does Artificial Intelligence Have a Place in the Physical Education Setting?” published in the Journal of Physical Education Recreation and Dance

Dr. Katherine Perrotta, assistant professor, published an article with curriculum and instruction Ph.D. students Caitlin Hochuli, Jamilah Hickson and Rachael Williams titled “They Were Here: A Study on High School Students’ Engagement in Historical Empathy With a Local History Research Project” in The Journal Social Studies Research.

College of Health Professions

Dr. Huey Chen, professor of public health, and Liliana Morosanu, instructor of public health, co-authored an article titled “Program plan evaluation: Bridging plan evaluation and program evaluation through a participatory approach” that was published in the American Journal of Evaluation.

Dr. Beth Collier, clinical associate professor of physical therapy, presented “Tapping the E-Spirit: Entrepreneurship and innovation as leadership in physical therapy” at the American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meeting on Feb. 15 in Boston.

Dr. Dan Dale, clinical assistant professor of physical therapy, presented “To co-treat or not to co-treat, that is the question” at the American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meeting on Feb. 15 in Boston.

Dr. Rachel Le, assistant professor of athletic training, presented “The Effect of Functional Head Protection Time on Head Impact Biomechanics” at the Southeast Athletic Trainers’ Association Annual Conference on Feb. 8 in Atlanta.

Dr. Deborah Wendland, associate professor of physical therapy, presented “Implementation of the 2023 entry-level physical therapist curriculum recommendations for integumentary/wound management” and “Kick it up a notch: Engage your students in fun and creative integumentary laboratory activities” at the American Physical Therapy Association Combined Sections Meeting on Feb. 15 in Boston. 

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Dr. Paul Atandoh, assistant professor of mathematics, published an article titled “Statistical clustering of documents via stochastic block models in the Journal of Applied Statistics. Dr Atandoh also co-authored the following articles with collaborators in the U.S. and China: “Enhanced Word Embedding with CNN using Word Order Information for Sentiment Analysis” and “Associations of depression with hypertension and citizenship among U.S. adults: A cross-sectional study of the interactions of hypertension and citizenship.” 

Dr. David Davis, professor of English, published a review of the book Dark Mirror: African Americans and the Federal Writers’ Project by J. J. Butts in The Space Between journal.

Dr. Abby Dowling, associate professor of history, published the chapter “The World of Nature” in A Cultural History of Leisure in the Medieval Age. Vol. 2. in the series A Cultural History of Leisure. Dr. Dowling also published a book review of Roots of Sustainability in the Iberian Empires: Shipbuilding and Forestry, 14th-19th Centuries in Environmental History.

Dr. Rachael Goodman, assistant professor of global development studies, gave an invited talk titled “This is Not Microfinance: How Ideas about the Good Life Shape Conflict in International Development” on Feb. 15 to undergraduate students at Oxford College of Emory University. 

Dr. Matthew Harper, associate professor of history and Africana studies, published a peer-reviewed journal article titled “Contested Autonomy: Black Denominational Debates in the Early Jim Crow Era” in Religion and American Culture. The article traces the heated debates over racial independence and interracial cooperation within and between Black churches in the 19th century. 

Dr. James Davis May, assistant professor of English and director of creative writing, had his poetry collection titled Unusually Grand Ideas selected to be included in The Georgia Center for the Book’s 2024 Books all Georgians Should Read list

Dr. Clara Mengolini, associate professor of Spanish, published an article titled “El potencial escénico en los cuentos de Silvina Ocampo” in Anales de Literatura Hispanoamericana.

Dr. Jacqueline Pinkowitz, assistant professor of media studies and director of film studies, presented a paper titled “The Black Gothic and/as Body Gothic: Slavery’s Horrors and Haunting Afterlives” in Lovecraft Country (2020)” at the Critical Approaches to Black Media Culture Conference in New Orleans on Feb. 15-17. 

Chelsea Rathburn, associate professor of English and poet laureate of Georgia, delivered the benediction poem at the awards ceremony for the 2023 Governor’s Awards for the Arts and Humanities at the Georgia State Capitol on Dec. 12. Rathburn also published poems in Arts & Letters and Nelle and published creative nonfiction in the Notre Dame Review.

Dr. Katherine Roseau, assistant professor of French, and Libertad Aranza, lecturer of Spanish, were awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities grant in the amount of $150,000 to develop curriculum on immigrant and refugee experiences and to organize faculty workshops on incorporating oral history and the creation of open educational resources into humanities courses. Their NEH Humanities Initiatives project is titled “Integrating Voices of Refugees and Immigrants: Faculty and Curriculum Development.” Also on the project team are Associate Professor of Spanish Dr. Alana Alvarez and Vice Provost of Engaged Learning Dr. Kathy Kloepper.

Dr. Creighton Rosental, professor of philosophy, organized the first lectio by the Association for Core Texts and Courses Liberal Arts Institute at Mercer University. The lectio was on Milton’s Paradise Lost, and the following faculty were among the presenters: Dr. Thomas Bullington, senior lecturer of English and liberal arts; Dr. Bryan Whitfield, professor of religion; Dr. Paul Lewis, professor of religion; Dr. Charlotte Thomas, professor of philosophy; and Dr. Marc Jolley, senior lecturer of philosophy and director of Mercer University Press.

Dr. Tanya Sharon, professor of psychology, had a research paper titled “Social media and declining trust: An epistemic challenge for emerging adults?” accepted for publication in the Journal of Emerging Adulthood. The paper was co-authored with Mathew Encarnación, a 2023 College of Liberal Arts and Sciences graduate with a double major in psychology and sociology.

Dr. Margaret Symington, professor of mathematics, gave a seminar talk titled “From polyhedra to Lagrangian fibrations” at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, in January.

College of Nursing

Dr. Tessy George, clinical instructor and contract and clinical placement coordinator, co-authored a journal article titled “Treatment Modalities for Insomnia in Adults Aged 55 and Older: A Systematic Review of Literature from 2018 to 2023” that was published online in Current Sleep Medicine Reports

College of Pharmacy

Dr. Ajay K. Banga, professor and chair of pharmaceutical sciences, received $40,000 in funding from Inventprise LLC for his project titled “Characterization of a dissolvable microneedle array patch and determination of delivery efficacy.”

Dr. Nicole Metzger, clinical associate professor, co-authored an article titled “Impact of Internal Medicine Pharmacists on Antimicrobial Stewardship” that was published in the Journal of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.

Dr. Mohammad Nasir Uddin, assistant professor, co-authored with graduate student Sarthak Shah an article titled “Potential of DPD ((S)-4,5-dihydroxy-2,3-pentanedione) Analogs in Microparticulate Formulation as Vaccine Adjuvants” that was published in Pharmaceuticals. 

College of Professional Advancement

Dr. Richard Martin, professor, had an article titled “Importance levels of skills and traits for successful long-term police careers: Comparisons of Midwest police chiefs and commissioners of the Caribbean Islands responses” selected for inclusion as a chapter in the textbook Recent Research Advances in Arts and Social Sciences, Vol. 1. Dr. Martin also had the following manuscripts “‘Don’t stop, don’t rush, don’t go back’: The fabrication of a coup d’état through Bolsonaro and conservative WhatsApp groups” and “Forensic anthropology: challenges and scopes” reviewed for the Forensic Research & Criminology International Journal. He also had the manuscript “Preparing Students to Move into Societal Roles as Leaders” reviewed for the Journal of Education and Training Studies and “The relationship between patients’ demands and workplace violence among health care workers: A multilevel look focusing on the moderating role of psychosocial working conditions” reviewed for the Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Dr. Stefanie Sevcik, assistant professor of writing and interdisciplinary studies, delivered a research talk titled “Global South Women’s Creative Insurgency: Activist Art and Activist Reading Practices” at the British Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies Conference in Savannah on Feb. 12. She also co-authored a study on global learning as a high-impact practice in general education courses for a research poster titled “Global Learning as a High Impact Practice: Attitudes and Pedagogic Strategies among Core Faculty” at the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference on Feb. 28.

Dr. Jacqueline S. Stephen, assistant professor, director of the Office of Distance Learning and instructional designer, was invited by Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy University’s Writing Center to lead a webinar as part of their “How I Write” series aimed at undergraduate students. Dr. Stephen’s one-hour webinar on Jan. 31 focused on the importance of writing, college-level writing competencies for student success and self-help tools and resources to develop and enhance writing skills. The webinar was open to undergraduate students enrolled at public and private colleges and universities in Azerbaijan. 

Dr. Sabrina Walthall, professor of science, was named one of five recipients of the 2024 Louise McBee Scholarship for mentors sponsored by the Georgia Association for Women in Higher Education (GAWHE). The scholarship was awarded at the 2024 Annual GAWHE Conference in Athens in February. 

Dr. Samantha Waters, assistant professor, was interviewed for her expertise on microbial survivability to the martian environment for an article titled “Bacteria that can make humans sick could survive on Mars” that was published online Feb. 2 in ScienceNews

School of Business

Jody Blanke, the Ernest L. Baskin Jr. Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Law, was one of 14 featured Master Teachers and wrote a chapter in Innovative College Teaching: Tips & Insights from 14 Master Teachers by Perry Binder.

​​Dr. Geoffrey M. Ngene, associate professor of finance, published a paper titled “Herding in international REITs markets around the COVID-19 pandemic” in Research in International Business and Finance. The paper was co-authored with Dr. Keagill Lesame, Dr. Rangan Gupta and Dr. Eli Bouri. Dr. Ngene also published a paper titled“Arbitrage opportunities and feedback trading in regulated bitcoin futures market: An intraday analysis” in International Review of Economics & Finance that was co-authored with Dr. Jinghua Wang. He published another paper co-authored with Dr. Wang titled “Transitory and permanent shock transmissions between real estate investment trusts and other assets: Evidence from time‐frequency decomposition and machine learning” in Accounting & Finance.

School of Engineering

Dr. Pam Estes Brewer, professor and chair of technical communication, was recognized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Professional Communication Society and awarded the Emily K. Schlesinger Award for Outstanding Service to the IEEE Professional Communication Society. 

Dr. Sinjae Hyun, professor and chair of biomedical engineering, was selected as the recipient of the 2024 Gulf-South Summit Award for Outstanding Faculty Contributions to Service-Learning in Higher Education-Instruction. This year’s Gulf-South Summit theme is “Bridging the Gap Between Personal and Social Responsibility Through Knowledge, Engagement and Action,” and the award is given to a member of the teaching faculty who has demonstrated excellence in incorporating service-learning pedagogy in the college/university classroom. 

School of Law

Jarome Gautreaux, professor, was featured in WalletHub’s piece about Comprehensive vs. Collision Insurance

School of Medicine 

Dr. Jennifer Barkin, professor of community medicine and OBGYN, was invited by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to serve as a grant reviewer for the Exploratory Grants for Climate Change and Health Research Center Development Initiative. Reviewers will evaluate grants aimed at the development of Climate Change and Health Research Centers. Dr. Barkin will also join the Community Accountability Board as part of a joint collaboration between Morehouse School of Medicine and Emory University; the parent project is focused on reproductive justice and behavioral health among Black pregnant/postpartum women.

The Mercer University School of Medicine Simulation Center has initiated American Heart Association Basic Life Support and Advanced Cardiac Life Support courses to provide certifications across the Macon, Savannah and Columbus campuses. For this purpose, medical simulation faculty Dr. Robert Sarlay, assistant professor and senior director of medical practice; Dr. Yahya Acar, assistant professor and director of medical simulation on the Macon campus; Joe Slattery, assistant director of medical simulation on the Savannah campus; and Kenya Jones, assistant director of medical simulation on the Columbus campus, have obtained and renewed their American Heart Association instructor certificates. 

Dr. Jean Sumner, dean, received the Lighthouse Award from the Georgia Commission on Women during the group’s annual Champions for Change Day at the Georgia State Capitol on Feb. 22. The Lighthouse Award is given to a Georgia woman whose efforts have shined a light on solutions to problems and made lives better for Georgia families.

School of Music

Dr. Nathan Myrick, assistant professor and director of undergraduate studies, presented a paper titled “Inauthentic and Impure: Embracing the Messy Reality of Musical Worship” at the Diocese of Canterbury’s Transformational Music Conference: Music and Social Change, hosted by the University of Kent, United Kingdom, on Feb. 24 (virtual). The paper was selected for publication in a special issue of the journal Theology.

Dr. Katie Rios, associate professor of music history, presented a paper titled “‘A Mask Won’t Hide Who You Are Inside’: ‘Hood Beethoven’ and Kendrick Lamar’s 2022 Big Steppers Tour” at the annual meeting of the Southwest Popular and American Culture Association in Albuquerque in February. 

Staff and Administration

Dr. Ansley Booker, director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives, was named one of five recipients of the 2024 Louise McBee Scholarship sponsored by the Georgia Association for Women in Higher Education (GAWHE). The scholarship was awarded at the 2024 Annual GAWHE Conference in Athens in February. 

Carly Jessup, research services librarian at Jack Tarver Library, had her article titled “Bookstagram and Beyond: Instagram as a Professional Development Tool” published in Georgia Library Quarterly.

Bryan Johnson, global education program coordinator, served on an evaluation panel for the Critical Language Scholarship program on Feb. 9. The Critical Language Scholarship is a national scholarship program sponsored by the U.S. State Department that gives students from around the country the opportunity to study foreign languages that have been designated as critical to the U.S.’s national security, economic prosperity and engagement with the world. 

Tony Kemp, associate vice president for events and special programs in the Provost’s Office, joined more than 5,800 attendees for this year’s Georgia Thespian Conference held in Columbus on Feb. 1-3. He presented workshops for more than 100 high school students and educators and served as part of the three-person scholarship selection team to assist in distributing more than $26,000 to high school seniors during the three-day event.