What about Us?: Standards Based Education and the Dilemma of Student Activity will be presented by Edgar Johnson, associate professor in the Department of Communications and Professional Writing.

His research areas include communication, education, and assessment, rhetoric of public education, and youth culture. Johnson received his bachelor’s degree from Oregon State University and doctoral degree from the University of Iowa.

Shannon Byrd-Jones, instructor in the Department of Educational Leadership, Counseling, and Special Education, will present Technology Integration in Today’s Classrooms.

Her research interests are the effects of virtual and online education on students with disabilities and special needs, use of technology integration in special education, and the effects of online vs. traditional learning. Byrd-Jones received her bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees from the University of South Carolina.

This free event is sponsored by Augusta State’s chapter of the National Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the Department of Educational Leadership, Counseling, and Special Education, and the Department of Communication and Professional Writing.

For more information, call ASU’s Office of Public Relations and Publications at 706-737-1444.
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Wuraola  A. Animashaun
Michael J. Ansley
Ayesha Iqbal Azeem
Jill M. Bono
Justin K. Boyington
Chelsey A. Carr
Casie Elaine Cook
Larissa Nicole Cowan
Amelia (Ayme) Usry Cranford
Elizabeth A. Danko
Haley Mae Dennard
Ann K. Dodge
Jessica L. Gay
Daniel Vincent Goodwin
Krystal M. Herline
Sarah A. Hilliard
Kenneth J. Hiroshige
Lieghton Sue Huffman
Jenelle M. Hutchinson
Amanda Lynn Jones
Jacob Thomas Jones
Joan M. Keeton
Jamie M. Kimball
Brandon W. Koch
Karmen M. Lowery
D.Lee McFatridge II
Melinda L. McKew
Tamara R. Morgan
Courtney E. Parker
Michael Scott Reimche
Sarah Elizabeth Robelen
Frank Joseph Schmidt, Jr.
Marian T. Schneider
Karis M. Smith
Rebekkah Nordan Teboe
Miriam Hope Townsend
Ashley N. Troxel
Julie Reynolds Unger
James Matthew Wilson
Taylor F. Winkleman
Angela M. Aaron
Elizabeth Kerr Airgood
Pamela Lynn Altman
Ashley Denise Atkins
Alli Dawn Bailey
Lydia Elizabeth Bailey
Shamikia LaShun Barnes
Traci B. Boutwell
Christopher C. Brailer
Margorie (Molly) Murphy Burt
Jennifer D. Butler
Margaret Mosby Crawford
Sarah B. Driver
Justin C. Earnest
Betty J. Eason
Sara M. Ellis
Tina Marie Esposito
Elizabeth Anne Farrow
Jaclyn Michelle Fortson
Brooke M. Gilmer
Barbara Bullard Hawkins
Judson Stephen Hickey II
Kimberly S. Isiminger
Cathy E. Kepshire
Allison Rae Laakso
Lauren M. Lesso
Vanessa A. Lozada
Adam Christopher Mestres
Charles R. Moore
Lisbeth A. O’Connell-Klebba
Dimaris Cuyar Perez
Amanda M. Perkins
Quishawna L. Roberson
Margueritt E. Sturgis
Andra L. Syms
Paul A. Taylor
Emily Youngblood Tedder
Shawna L. Todd
Shawna G. Treworgy
Amber Elizabeth Tucker
Samuel L. Van Deest
Elizabeth James Varner
Margo Cooley Villarosa
Kathy B. Williams
Thurston E. Williams
Victoria F. Williams
Kimberlee D. Wood

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Larry Rivers, instructor in ASU’s Department of History, Anthropology, & Philosophy, will discuss Choreographing Socio-Dramas: The New South, Electronic Media, and the Civil Rights Movement on Wednesday, Nov. 3.

Rivers’ research interests include Black Civil Society, the Black Church as well as Modern Media, Legal History, & the History of Medicine. Rivers is also the author of the peer-reviewed article Leaning on the Everlasting Arms’: Virgil Darnell Hawkins’s Early Life and Entry into the Civil Rights Struggle which appeared in Winter 2008 edition of The Florida Historical Quarterly. He received his bachelor’s degree from Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University and both his master and doctoral degrees from Vanderbilt University.

On Wednesday, Nov. 10, Pamela Gray, assistant professor in ASU’s Department of Nursing, will present Health Literacy: Its Impact on Healthcare in the U.S. Gray has served as the primary care provider in a rural private practice for 13 years, and currently volunteers at a free clinic in Dearing, Ga. She received her associate’s degree from Augusta State, bachelor’s degree from the University of the State of New York, and her master and doctoral degrees from the Medical College of Georgia.

For more information, call ASU’s Office of Public Relations and Publications at 706-737-1444.
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The grant will fund a General Education Diploma (GED) Lending Library at Augusta State’s Literacy Center that will provide test preparatory books to enhance adult students’ reading abilities. Adult students will have the opportunity to work with students from ASU and will also be encouraged to check out the GED materials from the lending library for at-home use. Phi Kappa Phi’s Literacy Grant will help purchase bookcases to prominently display the GED Test Prep Books.

ASU’s Literacy Center, founded by Dr. Harris, has provided literacy services to thousands of adults and children at its original location as well as at satellite locations she helped establish in three counties. Several other collaborative projects have reached thousands more, such as an annual Family Fun Fair and a Literacy in Motion program with the Patchwork Players.

She has been recognized by the American Newspaper Publishers Association with its Outstanding College Educator Award; by the Georgia Council, International Reading Association, with the University Reading Leader of the Year Award; the CSRA Reading Council’s College Professor of the Year Award; and the Savannah River Soil and Power Squadron with its Marline Spike Award for Excellence in Education. She also was named a National Fellow by the American Association of Colleges and Universities.

Dr. Harris also has received the university’s Richard S. Wallace Distinguished Service Award and the alumni association’s Town & Gown Award. Dr. Harris is a member of the university’s chapter of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.

The Phi Kappa Phi Literacy Grants program was initiated in 2003 to provide an opportunity for campus chapters and individual members to reach out to local communities to share with them the love of learning. Applicants are encouraged to consider literacy projects that have creative relevance to their disciplines and to the needs of their communities. Phi Kappa Phi has awarded more than $150,000 in literacy grants.
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“This has been generating increasing interest in the developed world for about three decades.  This interest has two aspects: first, the agricultural benefits, and second, the possibility of sequestering carbon in the soil long-term,” says Charlotte Christy, associate professor in the Department of Biology. Dr. Christy and Hauke Busch, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Physics, are the students’ supervisors for this project.

The device, now in its experimental stage, will make fine particles of charcoal from partly burnt vegetation, which will then be incorporated into the soil. “Charcoal decays very slowly and improves the soil’s ability to support plant life,” says Dr. Christy.

With the home-use-size BioChar device, homeowners who may have a lot of sand or clay will be able to use the device to add the charcoal to their yards. Dr. Christy states that by adding the charcoal, it increases the ability of sandy soil to hold water and mineral fertilizers, improving the oxygen levels in the clay.

“If Alexander’s device proves workable and efficient, I hope that either he or another student will be able to use it to generate enough biochar for a small demonstration project on campus,” says Dr. Christy.

Mr. Bauer will be presenting his findings during the Phi Kappa Phi Student Research and Fine Arts Conference on Wednesday, March 10, from 11:15 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in ASU’s Jaguar Student Activities Center Ballroom. For more information, call ASU’s Office of Public Relations and Publications at 706-737-1444.
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In his 2008 book The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes our Future, Dr. Bauerlein discusses why you “don’t trust anyone under 30.”  A professor of English at Emory University, he says that this generation uses the Internet as a communications tool—not a learning tool—and that social media sites, email, and text messaging encourages illiteracy by making its own peculiar spelling, grammar, and punctuation socially acceptable. He says that the “more skilled kids become in using the tools of the digital revolution, the more ignorant they become about the world around them.” He called it a “famine of intelligence” in one newspaper interview.

Dr. Bauerlein’s scholarly work has appeared in numerous publications, and his popular book has been featured on news networks and public broadcast stations as well as traditional and online media. He has been interviewed on CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, CNN Headline News, Frontline, NPR, and by the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and others.

The author’s program is being jointly sponsored by the ASU Academy for Learning and the university’s chapter of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi as part of its annual Arsenal Speaker Series. For more information, contact ASU’s Office of Public Relations and Publications at 706-737-1444.

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A Day for ASU campaign.  For more information, call ASU’s Office of Public Relations and Publications at 706-737-1444.
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In hopes of solving this problem, Brandon Hammond, biology major, and Jeremy Robinson, chemistry major, both students at Augusta State University, conducted experiments using an aluminum-gallium-indium-tin alloy to extract hydrogen from water.  In their research, Synthesis of an Al-Ga-In-Sn alloy: An alternative method of generating Hydrogen gas for the operation of a fuel cell, their results show that after placing the alloy into water, the water will divide itself into hydrogen and oxygen. This technique which was inspired by Dr. Jerry Woodall, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University, could be used to replace gasoline in cars in the near future.

Mr. Hammond and Mr. Robinson will present their research during the second session of the 10th Annual Phi Kappa Phi Student Research and Fine Arts Conference on Wednesday, March 11, beginning at 10:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., at ASU. The conference is sponsored by ASU’s Chapter of the National Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and First Citizens Bank.  This event is free and the public is invited. If you are interested in pursuing this story, contact Danielle Harris, media relations specialist, in ASU’s Office of Public Relations and Publications at 706-737-1876.
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The conference, which will be held on Wednesday, March 11, beginning at 10:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., is sponsored by ASU’s Chapter of the National Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and First Citizens.

The conference will open with a presentation in 170 University Hall featuring former student presenters. An excerpt from the Broadway musical Oklahoma! will also be presented by ASU’s Department of Music during the opening ceremony.

Student conference presentations will follow in Augusta State’s Jaguar Student Activities Center. The conference will consists of two sessions in which students will be given the opportunity to present their findings. These forums will be held throughout the day and in various locations of the JSAC.

This event is free and the public is invited. For more information, contact ASU’s Office of Public Relations and Publications, at 706-737-1444.
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