Schools

UGA News Roundup

News of GMOA, rabies, the Georgia Theatre

Holder Construction, which is the contractor for the s $20 million , has received a 2011 Build Georgia Award for its work.

Build Georgia is a branch of the Association of General Contractors. It honors the Georgia’s construction firms for their performance on some of the state’s most notable projects. Each year, a panel of industry professionals selects construction projects to receive the award.

There were several criteria for 2011: exceptional project safety performance, meeting the challenge of a difficult job, innovation in construction techniques and materials, excellence in project management, scheduling and client service.

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Holder Construction Company also won first place in the best sustainable building practices division.

The GMOA expansion includes 16,000 square feet in galleries, an outdoor sculpture garden, an expanded lobby, additional storage space and study centers.

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 “The success of our expansion and renovation project is in large part due to the commitment and dedication of the team members,” said Annelies Mondi, deputy director of GMOA. “Holder was key in making sure our project was on schedule, in budget and met the museum’s goals and expectations.”

 

 

Dr. Zhen Fang Fu, a rabies researcher in the , will work with Thomas Jefferson University Jefferson Medical College and several other institutions to test a curative vaccine for Rabies Virus, or RV, that could be administered late in the disease process.

Fu received $1.4 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a division of the National Institutes of Health, for his work.

“More than 10 million people are bitten by a rabid or suspected rabid animal each year and require post-exposure treatment,” said Fu. “People who have been bitten must seek post-exposure treatment immediately, because there is no cure nor any interventional therapies for rabies once clinical symptoms of the disease are present.”

More than 55,000 people die from rabies annually around the world. According to the World Health Organization, the disease is prevalent in more than 150 countries and territories.

The total NIH award is $4,850,126 over five years.  It will be shared with the UGA, Medical College of Wisconsin, the Institute for Hepatitis and Virus Research, and Thomas Jefferson University.

 

 WUGA-TV, the t.v. station of UGA, will show the rebirth and reopening of the Georgia Theatre in a half-hour documentary titled The Magic and the Music Are Back! Reflections on the Reopening of the Georgia Theater. It will air on tonight at 9 p.m., and will be rebroadcast on July 28 at 9 p.m., July 30 at 8:30 p.m., July 31 at 6:30 p.m., and Aug. 1 at 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

WUGA-TV airs on Channel 32 and is carried on all cable systems throughout 17 counties in Northeast Georgia.  For cable listings, see www.wugatv.org.

In 2009, the Georgia Theatre burned almost to the ground. Like other venues in Athens, the Georgia Theatre had featured fabulous performers, including R.E.M., Sea Level, the B-52s, The Dave Matthews Band, B.B. King, David Alan Coe, the Kinchafoonee Cowboys, Jump Little Children and Widespread Panic.

After an outpouring of community support and a massive rebuilding project, the famed performance venue will open with a variety of groups in August. During the program, WUGA-TV host Charlie McAlexander will provide a nostalgic look at the rebuilt theater, interviewing such guests as keyboardist Chuck Leavell, who has performed with The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and the Allman Brothers.  Georgia Theatre owner Wilmot Greene will share his two-year journey to restore the music venue, along with his plans for the future.

“The fire may have destroyed its structure, but it certainly didn’t scar its spirit,” said McAlexander, whose music and broadcasting career spans almost 40 years. “Prior to the grand reopening, our viewers will get an exclusive sneak preview of what’s gone into this massive rebuilding project, and they’ll learn about all the new features of the theater.”

McAlexander said the documentary will allow viewers to better appreciate and understand the important role the Georgia Theatre has played in the local music industry and business community. 

 “Athens is known as a national and even international music mecca,” he said. “It is a privilege to share with our viewers how one of its biggest influences has literally risen from its proverbial ashes.”

Production of The Magic and the Music are Back! was provided by graduates and students from the mass media arts program in UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, under the direction of James Biddle, a professor in the same program.

“Because of the caliber of instruction and curriculum our students receive in the Grady College, we turn out professionals who create outstanding work,” said Biddle. “I was proud to work side-by-side on this project with these production professionals.”

WUGA-TV is a new a partnership between the University of Georgia and Georgia Public Broadcasting. It provides quality television programming to viewers in Northeast Georgia.


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