Governor Perdue Signs Student Health and Physical Education Act

Governor Sonny Perdue yesterday signed into law HB 229, the Student Health and Physical Education Act. He signed the bill at Glen Haven Elementary School in Decatur. The Governor was joined by Atlanta Falcons players Matt Ryan, Erik Coleman and Brian Finneran and the Atlanta Dream’s Chantelle Anderson.

“A big part of getting better in anything – a class, your personal fitness, a sport – is knowing how you measure up and what you need to improve on,” said Governor Sonny Perdue. “This legislation will help students live healthier lives.”

With the signing of HB 229 students in a physical education course will receive an annual fitness assessment. Beginning in 2012, each year the State Board of Education will submit a report to the Governor detailing the compliance of each school system and school.

“Instilling the importance of physical fitness at a young age will improve the quality of life for children for years to come,” said Brooks Coleman, House Education Chairman. “This important piece of legislation will encourage all parents, students, and educators to take a serious look at health education being taught in their school systems.”

"The American Heart Association is very pleased that Governor Perdue and the majority of the state legislature are willing to address the alarming problem of childhood obesity in Georgia,” said Bill Burns, Georgia Advocacy Director for the American Heart Association. “We applaud the enactment of this important legislation. It’s an excellent first step towards allowing the Department of Education to make informed policy and curricula decisions when it comes to our children's physical well-being."

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DeVry Decatur Campus Moves to New Location

(BUSINESS WIRE)--DeVry University Decatur has moved its campus from 250 North Arcadia Avenue to One West Square in Downtown Decatur.

The six-story, blue glass building is located in the Decatur Town Square, in the heart of the city's business and financial district, with easy access to Ponce De Leon Avenue and the MARTA train and bus service.

“We are very excited about the move to downtown Decatur,” said Chris Chavez, Atlanta Metro President. “Our new location allows us to be better integrated in the downtown Decatur community and gives our students, faculty and staff more opportunities to be involved in the exciting renaissance of the neighborhood.”

DeVry Decatur serves students who live or work in DeKalb County and Atlanta's central, eastern and southern metropolitan areas with both undergraduate and graduate degree programs in some of today's fastest growing career fields, including Game and Simulation Programming, Business Administration, Computer Information Systems and Technical Management, as well as master’s degree programs through its Keller Graduate School of Management. Keller's MBA program is listed as the fifth largest MBA program in the state, as published in the Atlanta Business Chronicle in January 2009.

A modern facility, the Decatur campus offers spacious classrooms; an expanded library with research and information resources; access to Galileo, an online database retrieval system for Georgia libraries; a computer lab with online access and a comfortable commons area. In addition, this Atlanta area location provides all administrative functions, including student finance, and student and career services.

“We’re pleased to welcome DeVry University to downtown Decatur,” said Mayor Bill Floyd. “With a location literally adjoining the Decatur MARTA station, DeVry University will play a key role in the development of the downtown area.”

DeVry University has been part of the fabric of Atlanta’s higher education community for 40 years. Students enrolled at DeVry University’s Atlanta-area locations have the flexibility to attend any of its seven Georgia locations: Alpharetta, Buckhead, Cobb/Galleria, Decatur, Duluth, Stockbridge, and Perimeter, as well as numerous online class options.

DeVry University maintains a focus on academic outcomes that result in a strong employment rate among its graduates. In Georgia, 87 percent of DeVry University's October ‘07, February ‘08 and June ‘08 graduates in the active job market were employed in their fields within six months of graduation at an average salary of $44,000.

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Georgia College Students Invited to Enter 2009 Agnes Scott Writers' Festival Contest

Georgia college and university students may submit creative writing entries to the 2009Agnes Scott College Writers’ Festival contest until Dec. 15, 2008.

“The Writers' Festival contest is an opportunity for student writers to get their work critiqued by internationally known novelists, poets, dramatists and essayists; to see their work published in a beautiful magazine; to make connections with other outstanding student writers throughout the state and incidentally to win a fairly large cash prize,” says Rachel Trousdale, associate professor of English and contact for writers submitting their work.

The annual Writers’ Festival will be held March 26 -27 at Agnes Scott College. Featured writers Anita Desai and Junot Diaz will give a joint reading in Gaines Chapel March 26 at 8 p.m. and Memye Curtis Tucker, an Agnes Scott graduate, will read from her work at 10 a.m. in the Winter Theatre March 27. Pulitzer-nominated playwright Quiara Hudes, who wrote the book for “In the Heights,” 2008's Tony winner for Best Musical, will join the visiting writers to judge the competition and lead workshops for the finalists.

A first place prize of $500 will be awarded to each winner selected in four categories: creative nonfiction, fiction, playwriting and poetry. Finalists will be notified in January and their work will be published in the festival magazine in March. After a congratulatory luncheon on campus, winners will be invited to a workshop led by one of the visiting professional writers.

The Writers’ Festival contest accepts entries from students enrolled in any undergraduate or graduate program in a college or university in Georgia. Previously published work is not accepted and writers retain copyright after it appears in the festival magazine. Writers may submit materials in multiple genres and must conform to all of the guidelines to be considered. Entrants should send submissions to Rachel Trousdale, 2009 Agnes Scott College Writers Festival Contest, Agnes Scott College, 141 E. College Ave., Decatur, Ga. 30030. All entries must be postmarked by the deadline, Dec 15, 2008. Guidelines can be reviewed by visiting the Agnes Scott Web site at:

http://www.agnesscott.edu/events/writersfestival/creativewritingcompetition.aspx .

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Georgia State Receives Grant to Educate Children about DNA’s “Language”

The National Institutes of Health has awarded Georgia State University with a three-year, $760,000 grant to help educate Georgia’s K-12 students about DNA and genetic principles through the university’s Bio-Bus program.

The grant is part of nearly $17 million in grants from the NIH’s Science Education Partnership Awards, aimed at stimulating scientific curiosity among students and to encourage hands-on science education.

The project’s goal is to teach children about DNA, the essential building blocks of genetics, as a language — something that has not done at early ages, said Barbara Baumstark, professor of biology and principal investigator of the project.

Baumstark said since DNA contains a certain code that is read from left to right, it is usually taught as a language. But concepts surrounding DNA, including the “alphabet” of the genetic language — adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine, abbreviated A, C, G and T —are not commonly taught until adolescence, even though younger children often acquire languages much more readily than older children and adolescents.

“We were missing an excellent opportunity to allow younger children to get familiar with DNA,” Baumstark said.

She and her colleagues will develop activities in partnership with the Decatur City Schools to teach children ages 6 to 9 to help get them familiar with the concepts. Those activities will hopefully spread to other schools throughout the state.

The Bio-Bus program brings biology education to Georgia school students, offering hands-on, inquiry-based activities designed to get K-12 students enthusiastic about science.

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Georgia Student Named Rousseve Scholar at Xavier University of Louisiana

A Georgia student is among the thirty-one upperclassmen at Xavier University of Louisiana named as Rousseve Scholars for the 2008-09 academic year.

Selected as a Rousseve Scholar is Justin Frederick of Decatur,GA. Frederick is a senior engineering major and graduate of Druid Hills High School.

Students selected for the Rousseve Scholars program generally represent the top ten students in the sophomore, junior and senior classes based on their academic performance the preceding
two semesters. Each recipient receives a full tuition scholarship (valued at $13,700) and a book allowance.

Xavier University of Louisiana is the only Black Catholic university in the United States. It is a private, co-educational institution, founded by St. Katharine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. Xavier offers a comprehensive liberal arts program and professional programs, including 41 undergraduate majors, masters degree programs and a doctor of pharmacy program.