MACON - The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) has selected the Beall's Hill Development urban design and architectural guidelines to be among the best in the world in representing excellence in urban design. This year, CNU, one of the nation's leading organizations in promoting sound urban design and walkable, mixed-use cities and towns, chose only 14 Charter Award recipients from 136 submissions. Of the 14 recipients, only eight projects were in the United States, with Beall's Hill being one of only three in the Southeast.
CNU will present the 2005 Charter Awards on June 10, in Pasadena, Calif. Accepting on behalf of all of the partners from the Beall's Hill Neighborhood will be Dhiru Thadani, principal, Ayers/Saint/Gross, Architects+Planners; Peter Brown, director, Mercer Center for Service-Learning and Community Development, Mercer University; Charles Bohl, director, Knight Foundation Program in Community Building, University of Miami School of Architecture; and John Williams...
ATLANTA - Andrew Christopher Smith of Nashville, Tenn. received one of three top honors for Mercer University theology students at commencement at the Atlanta campus on Saturday, May 21. He is the son of Randy and Diane Smith of Nashville.
Atlanta-Approximately 770 elementary students will soon have the thrill of seeing their work published in a hardback book, thanks to Mercer's Budding Authors summer writing enrichment workshops.
A joint effort of the Tift College of Education and Mercer's College for Kids, Budding Authors is a program in which first through fifth-grade students try their hand at writing in a variety of formats. The students attend "college" on the Cecil B. Day Atlanta Campus for one week and work with Mercer graduate education students and alumni to hone their writing skills. Then, at the end of the workshop, they select one piece of their work for publication. This year, students are participating in Budding Authors on Mercer's Cecil B. Day Atlanta Campus June 6-24.
In the fall, the students will return to Mercer for a special graduation ceremony. At the event, they will receive a hardback book featuring one piece of writing from each of the participants. A copy of the book will also be sent...
The Macon Telegraph
The Grand Opera House in downtown Macon will get close to $1 million in renovations this summer as the stage is replaced, the mid-level balcony gets an air-conditioning upgrade and other work is done.
ATLANTA - Two Mercer University pharmacy students have been awarded pre-doctoral fellowships from the American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education (AFPE). Doctoral students Nima Akhavein of San Francisco, Calif., and John Bauer of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., each received $6,000 stipends to continue their studies and earn the Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences at the Southern School of Pharmacy of Mercer University.
Amanda Rose Sloan, a senior English major in Mercer University's College of Liberal Arts, performed oboe and English horn with the National Wind Ensemble at Carnegie Hall in New York on May 28. The ensemble was developed for young musicians to display their musical talent with other performers from across the nation. The musicians were directed by one of the top directors in the country, H. Robert Reynolds.
Sloan described her experience as "incredible" and "amazing." "The moment I stepped onstage in Carnegie Hall, my breath was taken away from me and tears came to my eyes." Sloan continued, "I never thought that I'd ever have the opportunity to perform there. It felt like all of my hard work finally had paid off."
One of the musical works performed by the ensemble was "American Salute" by Morton Gould. Sloan adds, "I had a very important English horn solo in this piece. In addition, the composer's daughter was there to hear us play.
"This...
Jordan J. Cohen, president and chief executive officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges, gave the commencement address for the the School of Medicine on May 7, at the Macon City Auditorium. Below is Cohen's address:
The class of 2005! Wow! Let me be among the first to congratulate you, not only for your marvelous academic achievement, which we're celebrating today, but also for the choice you made some time ago when your decided to spend your working life as a health care professional.
That choice, and the tangible symbol of academic success you will receive momentarily, have positioned you to contribute your talents to one of the most noble of human causes. Whether as a doctor, or as a public health professional, or as a family therapist, you will be positioned as few others are to advance the cause of human health.
Indeed, you will be armed with more powerful tools for doing your noble work than any generation...
U. S. District Court Judge Beverly B. Martin was the commencement speaker at the Walter F. George School of Law commencement on May 6, which was held at the Macon City Auditorium. Below is her commencement address:
President Godsey, Dr. Fleming, Dean Floyd, distinguished members of the faculty, and members of the graduating class of 2005:
It is a real privilege for me to be here in my hometown with you on this marvelous day. I love Macon, and I have a tremendous affection for Mercer Law School. My great grandfather, my grandfather, and my father each graduated from the Mercer School of Law, and if I have accomplished anything in this profession, I know that it is due, in large part, to the heritage given to me by these three Mercer lawyers.
I am here to honor the graduates, but this is a big day for the families of the graduates as well. There are many mothers, fathers, husbands and wives who have sacrificed so much to make this day...
Gwen Dorminey Sherwood, executive associate dean of the School of Nursing at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, was the commencement speaker for the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing. The commencement took place on May 7, at the Sheffield Student Center on the Cecil B. Day Campus. Below is Sherwood's address:
It is our Choice......Living According to Mission and Purpose
President Godsey, Dean Gunby, administrators and faculty, thank you for inviting me here to participate in the Georgia Baptist graduation. Most of all, graduates, I greet you and thank you that I get to be a part of this day.
Today is a day you will always remember. Wherever you are, wherever you go, you will be able to stop and remember this day. Pause for a moment with mindful presence, notice who is sitting next to you. Smell the air, sense the excitement that prevails. Embrace this moment. Recognize the optimism that imamates from your faculty as they bask in a...
