Success Stories - Kennesaw State University

Kennesaw State University
Capital Campaign Reaches
its $75 Million Goal Early!
M A G A Z I N E
SUMMER 2011
Success
Stories
Success Stories
University successfully reaches $75
million capital campaign goal p.21
French Revolution
KSU students write books for African
schoolchildren p.14
For the Love of Sports
Clubs gives students the opportunity
to play collegiate sports p.17

EARLY SUCCESS!
KEnnESAw StAtE CAPItAL CAMPAIGn REACHES $75 MILLIOn
Launched in October 2007, Kennesaw State’s five-year
comprehensive capital campaign — labeled The New
Faces of Kennesaw State — has reached its goal one
year early! Read the story on page 20.
Visit the campaign website at:
www.kennesaw.edu/newfaces

Kennesaw State University
contents
M A G A Z I N E
SUMMER 2011
Managing Editor
Neil B. McGahee
Writers
Robert S. Godlewski
Jennifer Hafer
Sabbaye McGriff
Aixa M. Pascual
Graphic Designer
Sekayi A. Brunson
Photographers
David Caselli
Anthony Stalcup
Assistant Director for Creative Services
Ray Burgos
Assistant Director for Strategic Communications
Tammy DeMel
Assistant Director for Strategic Projects
Tawania Thigpen
Director of University Relations
Frances Weyand Harrison
Vice President for External Affairs
Arlethia Perry-Johnson
President
Daniel S. Papp
Advisory Board
Lisa Duke
Director, Alumni Affairs
Carolyn Elliott-Farino
Director, Contracts and Grants Administration
George Olney
Director of Development, Athletics
Karen Paonessa
Assistant Vice President
Advancement and Foundation Programs
Dan Paracka
Director, Office of International
Services and Programs
Jorge Perez
Faculty Executive Assistant to the President
Wesley Wicker
Vice President, University Advancement
Brian Wooten
Director, Center for Student Leadership
ON THE COVER
These Kennesaw State University students — Angela Elliott,
left, Travis Allen, Seth Carver, Kelvin McConnell, Andrea Rioux
and Jason Carver — are self-starters who were not content
to simply attend classes. Instead, they dreamed big, seized
numerous opportunities offered by the university and created
career paths along the way.
Kennesaw State University Magazine is published by KSU’s
Office of University Relations, a department of the Division of
External Affairs.
1000 Chastain Road, MD 9103
Kennesaw, GA 30144
770-423-6203
4 LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
FEATURES
9 Comparative Economics
Coles College professor honored for revamping global economics course
10 The Language Connection
Kennesaw State professor studies chimps to see if human language
evolved from a common ancestor
14 French Revolution
KSU language students write books for schoolchildren in Benin
17 For the Love of Sports
Club sports athletes organize practices, raise money and schedule travel
20 Capital Campaign Defies Odds
University reaches its capital campaign goal of $75 million
22 Success Stories
Some Kennesaw State students create career paths before they ever
leave campus
28 Linking the Past
Kennesaw State professor’s Arctic research offers hope in the study of
birth defects
30 Peace, Love and Pizza
Alumni entrepreneurs are rolling in the dough…literally
32 Recovering Hope
Kennesaw State’s Center for Young Adult Addiction and Recovery
helps students struggling with addictions
36 Reaching for the Stars
The Owl’s new athletic director brings years of experience in Division I
42 The Zen of Marketing
Coles College professor’s insights into consumer behavior challenge
marketing canons
DEPARTMENTS
5 Campus Briefs 36 Faculty Spotlight
34 Alumni Profile 38 Class Notes
35 Owl Country

president’smessage
Dear Friends of Kennesaw State University:
Four years ago, when we launched Kennesaw State University’s first-ever
comprehensive capital campaign, we knew there would be challenges however, we
never expected the country to spiral into the worst economic recession since the Great
Depression. That turn of events made our goal of raising $75 million in five years seem
almost insurmountable. But we did it! Not only did we reach our goal, but we did so one
year early. Surprising? Perhaps. But not for those who are connected even in some
small way to the university because Kennesaw State is a dynamic, growing institution
with a developing entrepreneurial spirit that is evident in our faculty, students, staff and
alumni. The excitement for what is going on here is contagious and the individuals and
institutions that contribute to and support Kennesaw State recognize and appreciate
how far we have come and the great accomplishments we are making.
The Kennesaw State University Magazine is a vehicle that allows us to showcase
those accomplishments and to share the exciting news and information that confirms
our existence as a university of great achievement and promise.
In this issue’s cover story, we are delighted to introduce you to a group of student
self-starters who are blazing trails and creating career paths for themselves along
the way. You’ll find interesting similarities in the entrepreneurial spirit among these
students and three successful alumni also profiled in this issue.
Among the distinguished faculty highlighted in this issue is a biology professor
who is collaborating with scientists at Emory University’s Yerkes Primate Center
to test a theory on how human language evolved. Another professor is involved
in fossil research that could lead to cures in limb regeneration. We’re also pleased
to introduce you to two outstanding members of the Coles College of Business faculty, one whose recent book presents an
innovative approach to understanding consumer behavior and another who was recently named Georgia’s economics and
finance professor of the year. You’ll also meet a professor who created a unique opportunity for her students to demonstrate
proficiency in writing French while helping improve literacy among French-speaking children in Africa.
With the addition of Vaughn Williams as our new athletic director, Kennesaw State is bracing for a new era in NCAA Division I
athletics. We’re glad to have him share his vision of developing student-athletes by focusing on character and scholarship.
We’re also very proud of the students who participate in Kennesaw State club sports. They have competed extremely well
to earn distinctions for the university in regional and national competitions. In so doing, they honor the investment we made
several years ago, with the help of the Kennesaw State Foundation, to greatly expand our club sports facilities. As we celebrate
the success of our first-ever comprehensive capital campaign and look towards the future, we hope these stories inspire you to
become more involved with KSU. As always, we invite you to visit our campus and experience the excitement for yourself.
Daniel S. Papp
President, Kennesaw State University
4 Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011

campusbriefs
Construction of Bagwell College of
Education building set to begin
Kennesaw State will begin construction next year on a $20
million addition to the Bagwell College of Education, thanks to
an $18 million allocation in the state’s budget.
“We are deeply appreciative of the strong support from
the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents for this
much-needed addition to the Bagwell College of Education
and to Gov. Nathan Deal and the General Assembly for
recognizing the important role Kennesaw State plays in
the education of the state’s teachers,” said KSU President
Daniel S. Papp. “The outstanding support and advocacy
on behalf of KSU by the members of our Cobb County
delegation also played a key role in the funding of this
critical need for the university.”
The 82,900-square-foot addition will adjoin the existing
classrooms in Kennesaw Hall. When construction is completed
in 2013, it will feature 17 fully equipped classrooms including
eight state-of-the-art model classrooms for high-need areas
such as science and math, and the new Birth-through-5 degree
program.
Eaton said the project, which was included in the Board
of Regents’ capital priority request, is being rolled out over two
years, with $18 million earmarked for design and construction
funds in FY 2012. Another $2.3 million for equipment is
budgeted in FY 2013.
The projected enrollment growth in new educator
preparation degree programs requires more dedicated space.
Also, new initiatives in the Bagwell College — such as the
Center for Literacy and Learning — require room to grow.
Currently, the USG satisfies only 30 percent of the state’s
teacher requirements, with another 20 percent of teachers
coming from private universities. However, a “20,000 by 2020”
USG initiative seeks to meet 80 percent of the state’s need for
teachers by the year 2020 while strengthening teacher quality,
recruitment and retention.
Kennesaw State students earn top
state honors for experiential learning
Kennesaw State gradautes more teachers annually than any other
University System of Georgia institution.
Kennesaw State graduates more teachers each year than
any other USG institution. Over the past five years, enrollment
in the Bagwell College of Education has more than doubled.
“The university and the Bagwell College of Education are
top choices for students who aspire to careers in teaching
and educational leadership,” said Arlinda Eaton, dean of
the Bagwell College of Education. “As the number of future
teachers enrolling at Kennesaw State continued to grow, so did
momentum for the new education building addition. We simply
needed more space to meet the need for more teachers in
Georgia.”
Two Kennesaw State students were recognized by the
Georgia Association of Colleges and Employers for performing
outstanding job internships during the 2010 -2011 academic
year. Terrence Young and Randy Fussell each received $250
for the Jack Mangham Experiential Learning Award in business
and engineering/technology, respectively.
The Georgia Association of Colleges and Employers
presents the awards annually to students in business,
education, arts and sciences, and engineering/technology.
Young interned at the KSU Career Services Center, where he
worked with students in the Coles College of Business through
Iota Chi Epsilon, a student organization focused on internships
and co-op experiences.
Fussell interned in Home Depot’s information technology
department. After completing the internship, he was offered a
full-time position following his May graduation.
“Through this internship, I learned exactly what I would
like to be doing when I graduate (mobile Web development),”
Fussell wrote in a required essay. “I also made myself a career
roadmap spanning the next five to 10 years. This experience
has not only driven my academic advancement, but opened
opportunities for me due to my professional — and meaningful
— experience as an intern.”
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011
5

campusbriefs
Academy for Inclusive Adult Education graduates first students
It was a typical graduation scene at the May 2011
commencement; friends and family were gathered; diplomas
were conferred; congratulations were offered; and lots of
photographs of the new graduates were taken. There were
even a few tears.
Chris Hunnicutt, left, and Kelsey Bizzell, the first graduates of KSU’s
Academy for Inclusive Adult Education, marched in the university’s
spring commencement ceremonies.
But this wasn’t your typical college commencement.
Kelsey Bizzell and Chris Hunnicutt became the first graduates
of Kennesaw State’s Academy for Inclusive Adult Education.
The academy, part of the WellStar College of Health and
Human Services, offers a unique, two-year certificate program
designed to provide a college experience for students with
developmental disabilities.
“We’re the only university in Georgia to give young adults
with developmental disabilities the opportunity to have a
college experience,” said WellStar dean Richard Sowell. “Here
at Kennesaw State we are focused on inclusion as part of the
university’s mission, so the academy is a natural extension of
what KSU is all about.”
Program coordinator Jill Sloan said Bizzell and Hunnicutt
each brought different talents to the university. Bizzell was an
“exemplary scholar,” she said, while Hunnicutt’s gregarious
personality helped raise the program’s visibility.
Bizzell and Hunnicutt were part of the academy’s original
three-student cohort, arriving on campus in fall 2009. The
program has been so successful that three additional students
will be enrolled in the academy this fall. A future collaboration with
Georgia State University and the University of Georgia will create
a consortium dedicated to replicating the program throughout the
University System of Georgia’s 35 colleges and universities.
Student athletes aid in tornado relief
Kennesaw State student athletes, coaches, administrators and
staff joined relief efforts in Ringgold in northwest Georgia after
a mile-wide tornado packing winds of 175 mph carved a 13-
mile path of destruction near the city’s downtown in April. The
tornado killed eight and destroyed about 100 homes.
“All of us who traveled to Ringgold were awed by the mass
wreckage and destruction,” said senior associate athletic director
Scott Whitlock. “You see things like that on TV or read about
them in the newspaper but you never expect to see it yourself.”
Nearly 75 boxes of supplies — blankets, clothing, water,
canned goods, toiletries, cleaning supplies and other nonperishable
items — were collected at drop-off locations
throughout campus and transported by truck to distribution
centers in Ringgold.
“The outpouring from the Kennesaw State community has
been overwhelming,” said men’s tennis coach T.J. Greggs, who
headed the relief effort. “We’re glad we could lend a hand and
help the people in Ringgold. To see first hand the damage that
Senior associate athletic director Scott Whitlock, left, and KSU
sophomore student-athlete Markeith Cummings offload donations at a
Ringgold distribution center.
was caused has really inspired us to continue helping in any
way possible to rebuild this community.”
Kennesaw State staff members Jennifer Brisson, Drew
Hashimura, Dimitrios Kasarhis, Christie Smeal and Mark Toma
aided in the effort as did head men’s basketball coach Lewis
Preston, Whitlock and athletic director Vaughn Williams.
6 Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011

campusbriefs
Kennesaw State named to national
honor roll for community service
Kennesaw State was named to the 2010 President’s Higher
Education Community Service Honor Roll by the Corporation
for National and Community Service for the second
consecutive year. The university was one of 641 colleges and
universities honored for its support of volunteering, service
learning and civic engagement.
“We are honored to receive this recognition. Community
service and civic engagement are at the core of a Kennesaw
State education,” said Jerome Ratchford, vice president for
student success. “Through our curriculum-based projects,
student organizations and the efforts of Volunteer KSU, our
students are learning how to be successful leaders committed
to building and strengthening the communities they serve.”
During the 2009-2010 academic year, more than 900
KSU students volunteered more than 15,200 hours with 230
different on-and off-campus agencies and programs.
Volunteer KSU, a campus-based volunteer service
center matching volunteers’ interests with community
needs, coordinates with more than 300 organizations in the
community. Partnering with various university colleges and
departments, it encourages students to learn and serve
through individual placements and group service projects.
Papp also has a role in two other ACE initiatives — the
Commission on International Initiatives, which he chairs, and
the Leadership Network for International Education.
Kennesaw State to offer new master’s
and bachelor’s degrees
Kennesaw State continues to expand its degree offerings,
with the Board of Regents approving in spring 2011 two new
master’s degrees and a new bachelor’s degree.
Papp appointed to global
engagement panel
Kennesaw State President Daniel S. Papp is among 19
prominent education and international affairs leaders appointed
to the American Council on Education’s blue-ribbon panel on
global engagement. The group, led by New York University
President and council board chair John Sexton, is working to
set a new global agenda for U.S. higher education.
“Globalization is an extremely complex and evolving
phenomenon, and we must gain a deeper understanding of its
implications for American higher education. ACE’s blue-ribbon
panel will convene some of the field’s most internationally
engaged leaders to examine this 21st century issue,” said
ACE president Molly Corbett Broad in announcing the group’s
formation. “We will develop a new agenda to expand the
capacity of American higher education to both navigate and
influence the new global environment.”
Before issuing its final report this fall, the panel will seek
feedback from a broad group of stakeholders, including other
council members and higher education leaders from other
countries.
KSU will soon offer two more master’s degrees and a new bachelor’s.
The new Master of Science in criminal justice, Master of
Arts in integrated global communication and Bachelor of Arts in
art history degree programs will be launched in fall 2011.
“As Kennesaw State University grows as an institution, our
capacity to serve our community’s expanding needs likewise is
growing,” said interim provost and vice president for academic
affairs W. Ken Harmon. “The faculty and administrators of
these programs identified significant community demand for
these new degrees, and we are pleased that the Board of
Regents supported our request to add these exciting new
offerings here at KSU.”
In keeping with the university’s emphasis on global
education, KSU’s new master’s programs will include a focus
on internationalization.
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011
7

campusbriefs
Kennesaw State reduces carbon footprint, cuts greenhouse gas emissions
Despite adding new buildings and nearly 1,800 students on
campus, KSU has reduced its per-student greenhouse gas
emissions since 2008 according to the university’s second
environmental inventory.
The environmental inventory is collected biennially as part
of KSU’s membership in the American College and University
President’s Climate Commitment. The inventory includes
greenhouse gas emissions from the university’s use of energy,
natural gas, transportation, solid waste disposal, nitrogencontaining
fertilizers and refrigerants.
“A large portion of KSU’s overall emissions total comes
from transportation, since about 87 percent of our students
commute to school,” said Robert. C. Paul, director of
sustainability and professor of biology. “Idling in traffic when
arriving or departing campus contributes heavily to greenhouse
emissions.”
While KSU’s gross total greenhouse gas emissions rose
by about 1 percent per year since 2008, emissions per student
declined 9 percent. Greenhouse gas emissions per 1,000
square feet of building space decreased by nearly two-thirds,
despite a 183 percent increase in building space. According to
Paul, this dramatic decrease can be attributed to the addition
of two new LEED-certified buildings on campus, Prillaman Hall
and The Commons Student Culinary Center, as well as energy
conservation efforts.
Since the last inventory, KSU has instituted conservation
measures such as season-appropriate thermostat settings,
turning off parking deck lights during breaks and weekends,
and instituting a no-idle policy for vendors and other visiting
vehicles.
Paul said other energy-saving and waste-reduction
measures, including installing reusable bottle fillers on water
fountains and increasing shuttle service for commuters, are
being considered and implemented now.
“Our biggest goals are to educate and to create a cultural
shift of awareness of the environment at KSU,” Paul said.
Concert featuring five Steinway pianos salutes Dr. Bobbie Bailey
Kennesaw State honored the generosity of Dr. Bobbie Bailey
with “440 Keys: A Reunion,” a concert by the KSU Orchestra
and the KSU Jazz Ensemble
featuring faculty members
playing five Steinway pianos
— Bailey’s gift to the School
of Music.
In 2007, the university
celebrated the opening of
the Dr. Bobbie Bailey &
Family Performance Center
and her donation of a single
Steinway D concert grand
piano. At the opening concert,
Bailey announced plans to
Audrey,” honoring her sister Audrey Morgan, was donated to
the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, home of the Atlanta
Opera and the Atlanta Ballet.
Each piano has 88 keys;
together, the five pianos have
440 keys, thus the concert’s
name.
“The 440 Keys concert
was the first time ‘Miss Audrey’
joined the other pianos in the
family,” said Michael Taormina,
managing director of the
Cobb Energy Performing Arts
Centre. “That’s what inspired
us to call it a reunion. We are
donate 26 more Steinways,
excited to have all the pianos
Five KSU faculty members played Steinway pianos at the “440 Keys” concert.
earning Kennesaw State
together to honor Bobbie
the designation as an All-
Bailey and her family.”
Steinway School.
The concert included the KSU Orchestra under the direction
Four of the pianos used in the Bailey Center were named of Michael Alexander, the KSU Jazz Ensemble under the
in honor of Bailey’s family and a friend: “Miss Mary” for her
direction of Sam Skelton, and faculty pianists Joseph Meeks,
mother, “Mr. Elbert” for her father, “Miss Ann” for a family friend Robert Henry, Judith Cole, Tyrone Jackson, David Watkins and
and “Mr. Henry” for her grandfather. A fifth Steinway, “Miss
Soohyun Yun, as well as guest pianist Dmitri Levkovich.
8 Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011

facultyspotlight
Comparative Economics
Coles College professor honored for revamping global economics course
Michael Patrono was named Professor
of the Year by the Georgia Association
of Economics & Finance.
BY AIxA M. PASCUAL
Long before Michael Patrono went to college and majored in
economics, he was well versed on the virtues of capitalism.
When he was 13, Patrono read “Atlas Shrugged,” Ayn
Rand’s voluminous paean to capitalism. Discussions with his
father, who owned a small construction company, afforded
Patrono appreciation for the good and the bad of being both a
capitalist and a blue-collar worker.
“I grew up seeing both the owner’s and the worker’s
sides,” says Patrono, an economics lecturer at the Coles
College of Business. “Economic debates that tend to be purely
abstract and academic became more concrete in my eyes.”
Patrono’s early immersion into laissez-faire economics
led him to a successful career teaching college economics. A
professor at KSU since 2001, Patrono was named Professor of
the Year by the Georgia Association of Economics & Finance
in spring 2011. He was recognized for revamping Economics
1100, a global economics course that most non-business
majors take. (In fall 2010, more than 1,000 undergrads took the
course).
Originally, Patrono says, the course blended principles
of macro and microeconomics, but there was resistance from
students because it was too technical for non-business majors.
Five years ago, Patrono revised the course and refashioned it
into a philosophical, comparative study of different economic
systems.
Today, the class delves into the economies of prewar
Germany, modern China and the former USSR, among others.
In the course, Patrono goes back to 1917, when Russia turned
communist and the cosmic “capitalism versus communism”
debate originated. Communism, he says, was an attempt to
solve the problems of capitalism, but it failed miserably.
“I want students to have a broad view of what’s possible
in economics and to be able to make a reasoned judgment
as to which kind of system they would prefer,” says Patrono,
who has been teaching economics since 1989. “There are no
perfect systems. Even capitalism has inherent flaws. As long
as students can give a reasonable explanation of the pros and
cons of the two systems, I feel I have done my job.”
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011 9

10 Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011

The Language
Connection
Kennesaw State professor
studies chimpanzees for clues to
origins of human language
BY JENNIFER HAFER
Under a blistering June sun, assistant biology professor Jared Taglialatela climbs atop
his 30-foot perch overlooking a corral containing 11 chimpanzees at Emory University’s
Yerkes National Primate Research Center. This is the place where the professor
becomes the student.
Taglialatela studies the evolutionary origins of human language and the biological
processes that support its development. His research focuses on which part of a chimpanzee’s
brain is activated when it communicates through gestures or vocalizations.
“I’m doing this research for two reasons,” he said. “Science for the sake of science and
because there’s a lot of reasons to believe it can help us to develop treatments for certain
disorders.”
Taglialatela’s research is supported by a $389,000 grant from the National Institutes of
Health, one of the largest research-specific grants ever awarded to a Kennesaw State University
professor. His findings may one day help autistic children speak.
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011
11

“A chimpanzee’s brain is a third of the size of a human’s,”
Taglialatela said. “They don’t have language, but there are
fundamental components of language that humans share with
chimpanzees.”
The question is: Did human language evolve from a strictly
manual system of gesturing, or did a common ancestor use
manual gesturing in conjunction with vocalization before the split
between humans and chimpanzees some 5 million years ago?
Just as a human baby learns to gesture and use other
In a study published in April, Taglialatela’s research
confirmed that the same part of a human’s brain that is
activated during speech is activated in chimps when they make
communicative gestures and vocal signals. Broca’s area is a
region of the cerebral cortex located in the left inferior frontal
gyrus, or left lobe, of the human brain, and is critical for the
planning and execution of language. Chimpanzees also have
a region of the left inferior frontal gyrus that is anatomically
similar to the human Broca’s area. Taglialatela’s research led
Steward repeatedly raised his hand to request an apple.
nonverbal cues, like looking at an object to indicate desire,
chimpanzees do the same thing. On that hot June morning,
as a Yerkes keeper tossed apples into the chimps’ corral, the
alpha male, Steward, and at least one other chimp, repeatedly
raised their hands in an obvious bid for more treats.
“In the first 10-to-12 months of a human baby’s life, they’re
learning how to interact with other individuals through shared
attention, gesturing and vocalizing, but we don’t have a good
handle on what’s going on in their brains,” Taglialatela said.
“We’re trying to figure out the connection between the brain
and these communicative behaviors.”
While conducting his post-doctoral research at Yerkes,
Taglialatela earned a fellowship from the National Institutes
of Health to investigate functional imaging of communicative
behavior in chimpanzees via brain scans.
him to conclude at least some vocal signals produced by the
chimps were deliberate and purposeful.
“This finding contradicts an exclusive ‘gestural origins’
theory for human language, and points to a multimodal origin
of human language where manual communicative gestures
and vocal signals were commonly controlled and co-evolved in
a common hominid ancestor,” Taglialatela explained.
In his sparsely appointed office in the College of Science
and Mathematics, Taglialatela, wearing a T-shirt that proclaims,
“I do my own experiments,” struggles to pinpoint how exactly
he became an animal researcher. His family had always had
pets while he was growing up, and at one point in his youth he
thought he might be a veterinarian.
A primate behavior course during his undergrad studies at
the University of Virginia, however, set him upon his chosen path.
12 Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011

Research technician Jamie Russell, left, and Jared Taglialatela study chimps at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center field station near
Lawrenceville, Ga.
“I thought it was really interesting, and interestingly
enough, I got an internship at the DuMond Conservancy,”
Taglialatela recalled.
The DuMond Conservancy for Primates and Tropical
Forests is a nonprofit located on the grounds of Monkey
Jungle, a 1950s-era tourist attraction in southeast Florida
that provides access for behavioral studies of its primate
collection.
While at the conservancy, Taglialatela worked with a
National Institutes of Health researcher who needed help with
vocalization recordings. The rest, as they say, is history.
“Language is such a hallmark of human communication,”
he said, “and a logical place to look for its origins is in our
evolutionary cousins.”
Armed with his NIH grant and the knowledge that
manual gestures in conjunction with vocalization activate the
same region of the chimpanzees’ brains that is activated by
speech, Taglialatela is turning his attention to researching
whether a chimp that gestures, but does not vocalize to get
a human experimenter’s attention, is capable of being taught
vocalization. If so, how quickly can it be done and what are the
neurobiological effects.
“It doesn’t appear that chimpanzees that make attentiongetting
sounds are smarter than the ones that don’t,” he
said. “Preliminary results suggest they’re just not as good
communicators.”
Taglialatela’s NIH grant was awarded specifically by the
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication
Disorders. If the nonvocalizing chimps can be taught to make
attention-getting sounds, and the corresponding brain functions
can be identified, it may one day be possible to address a
variety of neurodevelopmental and psychological disorders
linked to brain activity, such as autism.
“We’ve learned a lot about what parts of the brain are
responsible for the production of language in humans,” he said. “If
we can understand the fundamental aspects of communication
that chimpanzees share with humans, as well as the
neurobiological components that support these competencies,
then we may be able to gain new insights into the nature of
language deficiencies and how they can be treated.”
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011
13

goingglobal
Benin schoolchildren thanked KSU French students for sending books.
French
Revolution
Professor’s win-win approach promotes childhood literacy
in Africa, boosts KSU students’ confidence to write in French
14
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011

goingglobal
BY SABBAYE McGRIFF
As if the gleeful faces of hundreds of African children
just given a load of exciting new books to read were
not enough, less visible rewards of those gifts also
are being felt by students studying French at Kennesaw State.
component in which students read their books to children in
local elementary schools, exposing them to French-speaking
African countries and discussing their experiences as authors.
“I never would have thought that I could do this,” said
Brewer, whose colorful and uniquely illustrated book, titled
“La Mer Salée: Une Histoire d’Héros Perdus” (“The Salty Sea:
A Story of Lost Heroes”), tells how the sea became salty.
KSU professor Lucie Viakinnou-Brinson reads to Benin schoolchildren.
For one of them, senior Mallory E. Brewer, the chance to
conceive, create and produce a French-language children’s
book as a class project and to actually have it delivered to
children in Benin, West Africa, has inspired her and piqued
her interest in the cause the project serves — illiteracy among
underprivileged children.
Brewer, an interdisciplinary studies major, was among
students in classes taught by Lucie Viakinnou-Brinson,
assistant professor of French, assigned to write a children’s
book reflecting the cultures of French-speaking African
countries. Since the professor started assigning the project in
2009, 160 students in elementary, intermediate and advanced
French classes have written and illustrated books. A $1,000
grant from KSU’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and
Learning helped provide materials and binding for the books.
Like Brewer, nearly 40 students have completed all
elements of the multi-dimensional project, which includes
producing reflective posters that are displayed and shared at
KSU’s annual symposium of student scholars. The display
must reflect the extensive research students conducted to
write the book. Completion also requires a “learn and serve”
Benin schoolchildren eagerly read the books sent by KSU French
language students.
“Although it was a class project, I relished the opportunity to
use my creative talents in writing and drawing to help solve a
legitimate problem.”
Maria Quiroz, a senior biochemistry major, authored “Les
Petites Fourmis” (“The Little Ants”), a story that incorporates
elements of Senegalese culture such as the fabled, giant
baobab tree and the theme of collaborative work to solve the
problem of famine in a fictitious African village. She said the
project has been “one of the most fulfilling things I have ever
done.”
In assigning the project, Viakinnou-Brinson said she
asked students in her advanced French classes to use their
creativity, knowledge of French and the culture of Francophone
or French-speaking Africa to write stories from an African
child’s perspective and/or stories with which the children could
identify. She also asked the students to conduct research
on a specific country, to capture some cultural beliefs of that
country and transmit their understanding of those beliefs in
their stories and illustrations. Elementary-level French students
wrote thematic picture books on animals, numbers, colors and
objects in the classroom and sports.
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011 15

goingglobal
Professor Lucie Viakinnou-Brinson distributes books to children in Benin.
For Wesley Griner, a junior biology major, learning the
culture of Benin, particularly its beliefs about reincarnation,
in order to write his “Le Cylce de la Vie” (“The Cycle of Life”)
made the project worthwhile.
“I managed to learn new and exciting things about
Francophone culture,” Griner said in reflection. “When done
writing the story, it was as though I had somehow experienced
the very universe that my characters were placed in. Souls
living in otherwise inanimate objects didn’t seem like too much
of a bizarre idea.”
During summer 2010, Viakinnou-Brinson delivered the
books along with other textbooks, workbooks and school
supplies to more than 1,000 schoolchildren in four schools
in Benin. Working though Seeds of Knowledge, a nonprofit
organization she founded in 2003 while still in graduate school,
she hopes to expand the delivery of needed educational
materials and academic programs to other underprivileged
rural and urban areas of Africa.
In Benin’s Hinhoudé, Gbagla Koké and Lotin Gbegodo
elementary schools, the KSU students’ books are used to
organize weekly reading hours. Viakinnou-Brinson brims
with pride in her students’ accomplishments and the project’s
success in meeting needs of real children.
“Mentoring and advising students on the project is
very fulfilling,” Viakinnou-Brinson said. “I do it because I
enjoy seeing the students eyes light up when they see the
final product of their hard work. Students admit that high
expectations and the knowledge that their books will be read
by French-speaking children make them want to produce their
best and that is what has motivated me to repeat the project
every semester.”
As important, she said, is increasing self-confidence and
the self-efficacy of American English-speaking students writing
books in French while increasing their sense of civic and global
engagement. “They are demonstrating that they too can solve
problems and make a difference.”
16
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011

For the
Love
The KSU men’s
cycling team posed
for a team photo.
Club sports gives students the
opportunity to play competitively
of Sports
BY JENNIFER HAFER
Sports for the love of sports. That’s how participants and administrators describe
intercollegiate club sports, where there are no athletic scholarships, minimal
university funding and little fanfare.
Billed as “for the students, by the students,” club sports are organized more
like mini-corporations than traditional varsity teams. There are presidents, vicepresidents,
secretaries and treasurers just to name a few of the roles athletes play
off the field.
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011 17

Kennesaw State lacrosse player Brian Broe helped secure a
playoff berth; Equestrians, Sara Lyn Colley,left, and Stephanie
Webb brought home top prizes in the post-season.
Club sports athletes organize their own practice and
game schedules, raise money for uniforms and game
officials, decide who plays and who doesn’t, schedule
hotel and travel arrangements and manage the paperwork,
including team budgets. During the 2009 – 2010 season, KSU
club teams traveled more than 45,000 miles during seven
months of competition and collected more than $194,000
from dues, gate revenue, sponsorships, fundraising and
special events.
“This isn’t just about the sporting experience as much as
it is about the opportunity to learn skills that are transferable to
the workplace and to build friendships,” collegiate club sports
director Laura St. Onge said. “That they succeed is icing on
the cake.”
And succeed they do.
In 2011, six club sports teams — competitive cheer,
paintball, women’s rugby, fishing, softball and wrestling
— attended national championship tournaments. The
competitive cheer team is the two-time defending national
champion, and in the last 16 months, the fishing team
has raked in $40,000 in tournament winnings. Half of the
fishing team’s prize money goes to the university to fund a
scholarship for club sports athletes.
In addition, another six of the 25 club sports teams
qualified for post-season regional play, including the baseball,
swim, ultimate Frisbee, equestrian, men’s lacrosse and men’s
roller hockey teams.
“These are talented athletes with great organizational
abilities, who make sound financial decisions and play for the
pure love of the game,” St. Onge said.
Samer Kaddah is president of the men’s soccer team.
A former varsity soccer player at Georgia State University,
Kaddah came to Kennesaw State following a knee injury.
“I was only going to come here for a semester while
my knee healed, but I found club sports, fell in love with it
and didn’t want to leave,” he said. “Club sports are a great
opportunity to grow as a leader. You learn a lot of skills that
can be used after college.”
With its focus on student development, club sports fall
under the domain of the Division of Student Success.
“Club sports provide a learning and leadership experience
in that students self-administer and self-regulate these sports,
as well as create their own sporting experience under the
guidance of club sports administrators,” Division of Student
Success vice president Jerome Ratchford said. “The club
sports program also serves individual interests, which
18 Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011

The competitive cheer squad won its fourth
national championship since 2004.
Kennesaw State swimmer Ellie Handley dives into
her relay leg; KSU women’s lacrosse team took on
Georgia Tech in a driving rainstorm.
contribute to a student’s comfort level at KSU and increase
the prospect of successfully matriculating and graduating.
The program also expand students’ overall educational
experiences in that it teaches leadership skills, team work and
the importance of physical fitness among other attributes.”
In 2007, there was only one non-regulation intramural
field on campus, a 1.45-acre tract that was shared by HPS ,
intramurals, club sports and other students. Since 2009, the
88-acre Sports & Recreation Park has opened, including two
regulation synthetic turf fields, a training/warm-up area and
the Owls Nest, a 16,000-square-foot indoor training facility, all
dedicated to club sports and intramurals.
Although sometimes confused with intramural sports,
where participants play against other KSU teams, club sports
compete against other universities and adhere to national
governing body requirements. An important difference, said
men’s soccer team president Kaddah, for those who played
competitive sports growing up.
“We want everybody to know, club sports is very
competitive,” the junior sports management major said.
“Sometimes people don’t understand the difference between
club sports and intramurals. Club sports is an opportunity to
still play competitively for those that want to.”
Competitive cheer squad wins
fourth national championship
Kennesaw State’s competitive cheer squad brought home
another national championship — the fourth since 2004.
The Owls defeated nine teams to win the All-Girl Division
I championship at the National Cheerleaders Association
and National Dance Association (NCA/NDA) Collegiate
Cheer and Dance Competition in Daytona Beach in April.
Jocilyn Yarnell, club president and a KSU senior
majoring in exercise and health science, said the squad
won with a routine choreographed by volunteer coach
A.J. Lawrence.
One of 25 KSU club sports, the team provides
much of its own budget and three-hour practice
sessions three times a week are mandatory.
“Most of us work jobs as well as go to school full time,”
Yarnell said. “We have to really manage our time well.”
“KSU is proud that our student-athletes can take
part in a sport they enjoy, balance their academic and
personal commitments and be truly competitive in a
national competition like this,” said Laura St. Onge,
collegiate club sports director. “This program has been
around for 13 years, and it has been in the hands of
many great alumnae. Our team strives to hold up the
program, and we’re driven by the knowledge that we’re
capable of winning national titles.”
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011
19

Capital Campaign
Defies ODDs
University reaches its capital
campaign goal of $75 million
BY RALPH ELLIS
The timing could not have been worse.
In October 2007, the Kennesaw State University
Foundation launched the university’s first-ever
comprehensive capital campaign. The goal: Raise $75 million
in five years to fund new scholarships, build new facilities and
expand research. But the university faced a huge challenge.
Just months after the campaign kickoff, the national economy
went into a freefall and donating money was not high on most
people’s lists.
Yet, Kennesaw State defied the odds. The school not only
raised $75 million, it met the goal a full year ahead of schedule.
In August 2011, the campaign, “The New Faces of Kennesaw
State,” met its goal.
“I’m not surprised that we are ahead of schedule,” said
Bob Prillaman, a longtime KSU supporter, trustee and co-chair
of the capital campaign. “People and organizations simply
care about Kennesaw State. “They see what Kennesaw State
has been accomplishing, they know the school produces highquality
graduates and they understand what this university
means to the community. There’s a connection to the school.”
Just 47 years old, Kennesaw State, now Georgia’s thirdlargest
university, has one of the youngest alumni bases
among colleges and universities in the state. Yet when
stacked against Georgia’s more established institutions, KSU
consistently ranks fourth and fifth in contributions behind
Emory University, the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and
Georgia State.
Beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach and other fresh produce are
cultivated on part of a 56-acre farm donated to Kennesaw State by
Cartersville native Jodie Hill.
“Kennesaw State University is a young, dynamic,
growing institution with a developing entrepreneurial spirit
that is evident in our faculty, students, staff and alumni,”
said KSU President Daniel S. Papp. “The individuals and
institutions that contribute to and support Kennesaw State
recognize and appreciate how far we have come and the great
accomplishments we are making, and we, in turn, make it clear
how much we highly value our donors’ support.”
The contributions comprise everything from scholarships
and private foundations funds to major gifts and research
grants.(See chart)
20 Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011

Annual Gifts: $5.5 million
Scholarships: $6.3 million
Foundation Gifts: $8.2 million
Tangible Property: $9.7 million
Major Gifts: $10.4 million
Research Grants: $30.1 million
Other Gifts: $4.9 million
Some of the more notable gifts include a $2.4 million
gift from longtime KSU benefactor Bobbie M. Bailey for the
performing arts center that now carries her name — the Dr.
Bobbie Bailey & Family Performance Center. Her contribution
included a gift of 27 Steinway pianos, earning KSU the
designation as an “All-Steinway School.”
In June 2008, the Clendenin family donated $1 million
— the largest single gift for scholarships in Kennesaw State
history — to endow fellowships for graduate students and
doctoral candidates. The Clendenin Graduate Fellows Program
supports graduate and doctoral students pursuing master’s and
doctoral degrees.
Chet Austin, longtime KSU supporter, trustee and
campaign co-chair, said the success of the fundraising effort
was driven by more than just sentimentality.
“The university has become an important part of Georgia’s
economic engine,” Austin said. “Kennesaw State is on the
cutting edge because of its research and entrepreneurship. It’s
simply good business to help Kennesaw State succeed.”
Over the past few years, KSU has become a magnet
for prestigious research grants. The U.S. Department of
Education awarded KSU an $8.9 million grant –– the largest
ever awarded to the university –– for teacher recruitment and
professional development and the Department of Defense
gave KSU $2.38 million for a study of brain injuries. The
Harnisch Foundation awarded KSU a five-year, $1.5 million
gift to establish the Center for Sustainable Journalism in the
College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Overall, sponsored
research at KSU increased from $6.2 million in 2007 to $16.2
million as of June 2011, a gain of 159 percent.
Money came in for scholarships, too. The university
has raised more funds for need-based scholarships during
the capital campaign than at any other time in its history,
establishing 41 endowed scholarships and 42 annual
scholarships that have helped defray tuition costs for
hundreds of students. Also, the Osher Foundation gave $3.3
million that provided re-entry scholarships for students who
interrupted their college careers for five years or more and
also helped adults over 50 participate in lifelong learning
through KSU’s College of Continuing and Professional
Education.
A U.S. Department of Education grant was awarded to the Bagwell
College of Education for teacher recruitment and professional
development.
“The success that we achieved with this capital campaign
is a tremendous accomplishment,” said Norman Radow,
chairman of the board of trustees of the KSU Foundation. “The
Foundation’s executive committee and board members are
pleased to play a key role in helping KSU meet the goal of the
university’s first-ever capital campaign. We are thrilled that the
goal was achieved ahead of schedule.”
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011
21

22 Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011
Success

Stories
These six Kennesaw State students
exemplify “The New Faces of Kennesaw
State,” the theme of the KSU Foundation’s
successful $75 million capital campaign.
Self-starters not content to simply attend
classes, they seized numerous opportunites
offered by the university and created career
paths for the future.
BY NEIL B. McGAHEE AND JENNIFER HAFER
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011
23

A Digital Learning Revolution
NAME: Travis Allen
HOMETOWN: Fayetteville, Ga.
MAJOR: B.A., Business Administration
YEAR: 2013
Using the latest smart-phone technology, Allen hopes to use
applications or “apps” — computer software applications
designed to perform a specific task — to revolutionize the
way students learn.
When Kennesaw State students from the iSchool Initiative
took the stage in front of hundreds of screaming Utah
high school students, they said they were launching a digital
learning revolution. Looking like Steve Jobs-style product
launchers, they showed the students of Kearns High School
how to best use the 1,700 iPod Touches they had just received.
The iSchool Initiative, the brainchild of KSU sophomore
Travis Allen, started when the Whitewater High School student
wanted to use his iPhone in the classroom as a learning tool. It
has evolved into a nonprofit organization with a team of more
than a dozen KSU students working to promote their vision of
the 21st century classroom throughout the United States.
In 2009, Allen speculated that the iPhone, iPad and
similar technologies had the potential to transform the current
educational system. He posted a YouTube video titled “The
iSchool Initiative (Mobile Learning)” to explain his concept. The
video has received more than 33,000 views to date, and it was
one of the factors that inspired Kearns to provide iPod Touches
to its student body.
After entering KSU as a freshman in 2009, Allen joined the
university’s chapter of the international organization Students
in Free Enterprise (SIFE), which has supported the growth of
the iSchool Initiative.
Allen is a mobile learner at KSU. He takes an iPad
to classes and says he uses it exclusively to take notes,
create study aids, read textbooks, stay organized and digest
information. He eschews the use of the traditional pen and
paper and doesn’t own a printer.
“Wherever I am, even if I’m waiting in line somewhere, I
can study. I can access my assignments and schedule,” Allen
said. “I’ve got everything I need right here.”
Allen’s team has big plans for the future, from launching
an e-magazine about going digital to securing support from
corporate sponsors to fund weekly seminars all over the U.S.,
like the one at Kearns High School.
“Our mission is to inspire and educate students on how to
become lifelong digital learners in the information age,” Allen said.
Junior business major Travis Allen is president and CEO of iSchool
Initiative.
“We want to completely revolutionize the educational system,
whether it takes two or 10 years. We plan to lead the revolution.”
A Nonprofit for Nonprofits
NAMES: Molly Branch and Angela Elliott
HOMETOWN: Kennesaw, Ga. and Atlanta, Ga.
MAJOR: B.A., Communication and B.A., Graphic Design
YEAR: 2011
While students at KSU, Branch and Elliott helped found
Social 360, a nonprofit that promotes social events
that pairs volunteers with a nonprofit or community
organization in need of a particular skill.
Molly Branch and Angela Elliott are co-executive directors
of Social 360, a nonprofit organization promoting social
awareness of community issues like poverty, domestic abuse,
animal rights and environmental protection by holding special
events and pairing volunteers with nonprofit or community
organizations in need of their skills.
24 Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011

“Social 360 is a ‘nonprofit for nonprofits,’” Branch, a
communication major, said. “We provide a vehicle for young
professionals to learn about local nonprofits and their needs.
Let’s say an organization is in need of some help with public
relations; we will host a social event and try to pair the
organization with people that have those skills. We find it is
especially helpful with people new to the business because
we are able to help the organization and our volunteer has
something to add to their portfolio. Some of our clients
include Project Open Hand, Trees Atlanta, Ink for Pink and
Good Mews.”
that I could really do this. That’s when I knew I was part of
something special.”
Branch and Elliott hope to extend S360’s outreach and are
working toward establishing tax-exempt status, an important
step in ensuring its growth.
“Right now, we’re depending on grants to fund our work,”
Branch said. “Once we get our 501c(3) tax exemptions, we will
be able to take it to the next level.”
A Passion for Fitness
NAMES: Seth and Jason Carver
HOMETOWN: Johns Creek, Ga.
MAJOR: B.A., Exercise and Health Science
YEAR: 2012
The brothers juggle the demands of school with those of
operating their own personal training company, Dream
Body Inc.
Molly Branch, seated, and Angela Elliott, are co-directors of Social 360,
a “non-profit for non-profits.”
Elliott, a graphic design major, joined the group after
Branch asked her to design a flier for a Social 360 event. She
was able to develop marketing and advertising materials in
conjunction with her school assignments.
“It was a learning process on many levels,” she said. “I
have been an avid volunteer all my life, but when you work
for a nonprofit, it is usually focused on one cause. But at
S360, we do a little bit of everything. I learned to multitask
and work under pressure, and I gained the confidence
When Jason Carver was 13 or 14, he bought his first set
of dumbbells at a garage sale. From that point on, there
was no looking back for the fitness buff. But things were a little
different for his younger brother Seth.
“When I was a kid my parents took me to a doctor
because they thought I had a thyroid problem,” Seth recalled.
“I remember going back-to-school shopping with my mom and
having to buy ‘husky’-sized clothes.”
Sensing Seth’s embarrassment, his mom said his size
could be their secret. And it was until Seth got home and Jason
cajoled him into admitting the truth.
“I remember going to Whitewater or the pool and keeping
my shirt on,” Seth said. “Girls wouldn’t talk to me, except to ask
what my brother’s name was.”
That was then.
Today, the two senior exercise and health science majors
are certified personal trainers juggling the demands of school
with those of operating their own company, Dream Body Inc.
The pair offers personal training at Anytime Fitness locations
in Kennesaw and Acworth, as well as boot camps at Chastain,
Piedmont and Legacy parks and in-home instruction.
“We’re passionate about fitness and living a healthy
lifestyle,” Jason said. “This is a gift we love to share.”
The satisfaction the brothers get from helping transform
lives one waistline at a time has inspired them to create a
nonprofit — the Active Atlanta Campaign.
“Georgia is No. 2 in childhood obesity,” Seth said, “and is
the 17th fattest state. People are dying every day because of
obesity-related diseases and it doesn’t need to happen.”
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011
25

“Turn My Swag On,” recorded by rap artist Soulja Boy, which
won a 2010 BMI Music Award as one of the “Most Performed
Urban Songs of the Year.”
That he would move seamlessly from the world of college
sports to the music pantheon should come as no surprise.
“I grew up in a musical home,” McConnell said. “My dad
was a musician and my brother played several instruments and
I played drums. We would sit around the house for hours just
playing music. Most of the time we were just making it up as
we went.”
Brothers Jason and Seth Carver are fitness trainers when not attending
Kennesaw State.
Though in its infancy, the Active Atlanta Campaign seeks
to create a series of 5K races to promote an active lifestyle.
The series is expected to kick off next spring, and in addition
to the races, Seth and Jason hope to bring their message of
healthy living into local schools with a curriculum focused on
the importance of nutrition and exercise.
“Just get moving,” Jason said of the campaign’s goals.
“Anyone and everyone can do something to improve their health.”
Leaving His Mark
NAME: Kelvin McConnell
HOMETOWN: Marietta, Ga
MAJOR: B.A., Communication
YEAR: 2012
McConnell ended his collegiate basketball career as the
Owls 12th all-time scorer. Off the court, he penned the hit
single “Turn My Swag On,” recorded by rap artist Soulja
Boy, which won a 2010 BMI Music Award as one of the
“Most Performed Urban Songs of the Year.”
Kelvin McConnell left his mark on the KSU basketball court
and over the nation’s airwaves.
McConnell, a senior communication major slated to
graduate next spring, ended his collegiate basketball career
as the all-time Owls leader in consecutive games played, the
second-most prolific three-point scorer in school history and
the 12th all-time scorer. Off the court, he penned the hit single
Senior communication major Kelvin McConnell, the second most
prolific three-point shooter in KSU basketball history, made news off
the court when he penned a hit single for Soulja Boy.
Naturally he began composing his own music.
“I must have written at least 30 songs before ‘Turn My
Swag On’ hit,” McConnell said. “A friend of mine who knew
Soulja Boy emailed a demo to him and he liked it. That was my
first placement with a well-known artist.”
His good fortune led to a full-page story about him and his
musical talents in the 2011 NCAA Final Four program.
McConnell plans to pursue a career in the music industry
after he graduates. He is currently a self-described free-agent
pursuing offers from SONY, Maybach Music Group and other
music production companies.
26 Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011

“Like most kids, I had the pipe dream of playing in the
NBA,” he said, “but I always knew I had the gift of music to fall
back on. I can’t wait to get started.”
Move That Bus…with Biodiesel
NAME: Andrea Rioux
HOMETOWN: Johns Creek, Ga.
MAJOR: M.A., Education
YEAR: 2013
Rioux, a physical science teacher, designed a
technology-supported unit of instruction titled “Move that
Bus…with Biodiesel.” The unit called for students to
make an alternative biodiesel fuel from cooking oil — a
product found in abundance in the school cafeteria.
What began as an exercise in professor Jo Williamson’s
graduate-level instructional technology class became an
educational gold mine for Andrea Rioux’s eighth graders.
“It was called an engaged learning project, ” said Rioux,
a master’s student in the Bagwell College of Education and a
physical science teacher at River Trail Middle School in Johns
Creek, Ga. “We had to write a curriculum unit using researchbased
strategies to motivate students.”
Rioux designed a technology-supported unit of instruction
titled “Move that Bus…with Biodiesel.” The unit called for
students to make an alternative biodiesel fuel to power a
school bus 15 miles from River Trail’s parking lot to the garage
in Alpharetta, Ga. Students would have to use the Internet to
research biodiesel, video conferences to communicate with
biofuel experts and write blogs to document their scientific
process and conclusions. They decided to use cooking oil — a
product found in abundance in the school cafeteria — to make
the fuel.
“On April 25, 2011,” the class blog read, “Ms. Rioux
assigned us a project that would stretch our brains to the limit.
Mr. Ham from the Fulton County School Bus Commission
came to us and said, ‘I am depending on you students to
power a bus using biodiesel fuel made by you.’ This is going
to be a challenging yet awesome project. The catch is, our
teacher cannot guide us through the experiment! We are going
to have to research everything on our own, come up with a way
to make biodiesel and make sure it works.”
In another class, Rioux learned that $1,000 research
grants were available from the Atlanta Chapter of the Armed
Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA)
to develop future science and technology leaders. Putting
aside her doubts, Rioux submitted an application to AFCEA to
fund “Move that Bus.”
Andrea Rioux helped her eighth grade physical science students
produce biodiesel from used cooking oil.
“I never thought I would get the grant,” she said. “I justified
it by saying even if I don’t get it, I’ll still gain the experience of
applying for one.”
Rioux won the grant and after a month of research and
lab work, a school bus — its engine fueled with 20 ounces of
biodiesel and reeking of stale french fries — roared to life and
made the trek to the bus barn.
Rioux has no grand plans to become a used cooking oil
baron; she defines success in a more personal way.
“I hope my students learned how to take a big problem
and come up with a solution,” she said. “In the real world you
either pass or fail. This is a great way to get that across to kids.
I hope to be able to expand this idea so many more kids are
able to share the experience.”
A Wealth of Resources
Every student agreed that Kennesaw State provides a fertile
field for nurturing and enacting bold ideas.
“At Kennesaw State, the academic environment is great,
but it’s the chance to network that puts you in a position
to succeed,” said Allen, founder of the iSchool Initiative. “I
would encourage students to take advantage of the free
rich resources you have access to — events, campus
organizations, research opportunities, brilliant professors, you
name it. I have taken advantage of every little bit and I think
that’s why I’ve been successful. Most students here don’t take
advantage of the tremendous resources this university has to
offer and they should.”
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011
27

Biology professor Marcus Davis spends summers in the Canadian
Arctic searching for fossils like this saber-toothed cat skull.
Linking
BY ROBERT S. GODLEWSKI
Evolutionary biologist Marcus C. Davis delves into the past
with an eye on the future, knowing that his research will shed
new light on birth defects and limb regeneration in humans.
An assistant professor of biology in KSU’s College of
Science and Mathematics, Davis spends summers digging
for fossils in the Canadian Arctic where temperatures hover
around freezing and the sun never sets.
Davis was among a group of researchers led by the
University of Chicago’s Neil Shubin, that made a key discovery
while exploring 375 million-year-old fossilized streambeds 600
miles from the North Pole — the skeletons of well-preserved
fossil fish.
They were searching for what Davis describes as
a transitional organism between fish and land-living
vertebrates, which possessed attributes of both fish and
amphibians.
“What we found was a mosaic animal with long and
muscular limbs like an amphibian, with a fish-like fin at the end
for swimming,” he said. “Unlike fish, it had a distinctive neck
— a key attribute that allows land animals to move their head
independently from their body.”
The team named the “missing link” fossil Tiktaalik
(pronounced tic-TAH’-lic) roseae, and nicknamed it the
“fishapod,” or fish with feet.
The New York Times quoted H. Richard Lane, director of
paleobiology at the National Science Foundation, as saying,
“These exciting discoveries are providing fossil Rosetta Stones
28 Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011

Davis was among a group of researchers
that found Tiktaalic roseae or “fishapod.”
the Past
Kennesaw State professor’s
Arctic research offers hope
in the study of birth defects
for a deeper understanding of this evolutionary milestone —
the link from fish to land-roaming tetrapods.”
Davis said his current research explores the
mechanisms of evolutionary change that underlie the origins
of new animal body plans. “I integrate information from
the fossil record with the investigation of developmental
mechanisms in living vertebrates. I’m trying to determine
whether fish have fingers, or something that became fingers
in all of us ‘land fish.’”
The patterns of limb evolution across hundreds of millions
of years have allowed researchers like Davis to develop
hypotheses about how limbs form and which genes are involved.
So, besides the evolutionary insights, these discoveries
may lead to medical breakthroughs since many fish and
amphibians can replace damaged or lost limbs.
Since these vertebrates and mammals, including humans,
use mostly the same genes to build their limbs, researchers
are confident it will one day be possible to regenerate lost
digits and limbs in humans.
“Insights from our study also have allowed us to
clarify the very confusing observations that have been
made regarding birth defects in humans. Which is why,
in polydactylism, one of the most common forms of birth
defects, there are extra digits – six, seven or eight but never
more than eight digits,” Davis said.
Davis made a return trip to the Arctic this summer. “It is
now time to open the next chapter in exploration and I have
been invited back to play a role,” he said. “We are excited to
explore some new exposures, on new islands, that we did not
explore over the last decade.”
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011
29

30
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011
Kennesaw State alums Dave
and Rich DeSantis own Peace
Love and Pizza in Woodstock.

outstandingowl
Peace Love and Pizza
Alumni entrepreneurs are rolling in the dough...literally
BY ROBERT S. GODLEWSKI
K
ennesaw State alums Dave and Rich DeSantis have spent
most of their adult lives working in the restaurant business.
Back in 1976, when their father opened Dunkin’
Donuts and Blimpie restaurants in Atlanta, the boys served
food and ran the register. The brothers, now in their early
forties, say the family business work ethic helped when they
launched All-Star Pizza restaurants in Atlanta 15 years ago.
After a decade in business, they decided to sell their
four All-Star Pizza locations and take corporate
jobs. Then, laid off as the economy sputtered,
they enrolled in the Coles College of
Business for some professional
retooling and graduated with
EMBA degrees in 2008.
That’s when
they cooked up
a new pizza
concept, dubbing
it Peace Love
and Pizza. While
the big chains churn out
mass advertising and tons of
promotions at a frenetic pace,
the DeSantis’ philosophy is more
laid back as reflected by pies named
“Groovylicious,” “Bye Bye…American
Pie” and “Viva Las Vegan.”
The brothers’ hard work and attention to
serving the needs of customers has really paid off.
“The end of May was like Super Bowl week for us
around here,” says Dave, the older brother. “We got an order
for 100 pizzas before noon and that was on a Monday.”
Adds Rich, “We’re super busy all the time now, but we’re
not complaining.”
The 1,200 square-foot-shop, staffed primarily by KSU
students, is located about two miles from campus. It has
only a couple of tables since most orders are for carry-out or
delivery.
To stand out in the crowded pizza restaurant business,
they needed to show some environmental attitude — which
they clearly do on their Web page:
“Peace Love and Pizza is deliciously different from all
mainstream pizza, dudes. My name’s Dave and my bro is
Rich, and Peace Love and Pizza is the result of our
over 25 years of pizza making experience,
a lifetime of good times and a love of
everything cool.
Times are tight! We work
hard to keep our overhead
costs low and in turn pass
on our savings to you,
our customers.
We also strive
everyday to
reduce our
environmental footprint
by recycling all our
cardboard, aluminum and
steel. Since this effort requires
time and costs a bit more, lots of
peeps have asked us why? Because
it matters!”
Brian Cohen, a friend and fellow
entrepreneur in their EMBA cohort and
secretary of the KSU Alumni Association, says
the brothers learned more than just solid business practices
in class. “I think they may have learned how to work better
with each other, too. I always thought they would be
successful at whatever they did. Rich loves details and the
financial aspects of running a business, and Dave brings the
emotion and passion. Together, they’re very inspiring, very
good at what they do.”
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011 31

RecoveRing
Hope
Kennesaw State center responds to growing
number of students battling addictions
Teresa Johnston, director of the Center for
Young Adult Addiction and Recovery on the
KSU campus, and client Katherine Davidson.
BY SABBAYE McGRIFF
From the vantage point of Katherine Davidson’s early teen
years, graduating in 2011 from KSU with a bachelor’s
degree in psychology was even more far-fetched than
living to her 18th birthday.
After several relapses during treatment for anorexia, the
eating disorder she describes as an addiction that began when
she was 12, Davidson said going to college “just didn’t seem
like something I could do.” Persevering in her commitment
to recovery, however, she finished Kennesaw Mountain High
School and applied to only one college.
Choosing KSU turned out to be a milestone on Davidson’s
path to recovery, which in 2007 intersected with the university’s
newly established Collegiate Recovery Center, since renamed
the Center for Young Adult Addiction and Recovery (CYAAR).
Based on a model program at Texas Tech University,
KSU’s center helps students struggling with and recovering from
addiction. It provides education and prevention services for the
campus community and collaborates with faculty, academic
departments and community organizations to conduct research
into young adult addiction, treatment and recovery. The center
includes the Collegiate Recovery Community (CRC), which
provides students in recovery from alcohol, drug, food and other
addictions with individual attention, group meetings, academic
advisement and support. The center’s Alcohol and Other Drugs
initiative provides evidence-based prevention education for
those who are addicted and those at risk.
A week before moving into her residence hall, Davidson
reached her goal weight, a condition of her therapy. Early in
her freshman year, she attended a forum on eating disorders
presented by CYAAR and the KSU Wellness Center, where
she was surprised to see her therapist on the panel. She also
met Teresa Johnston, the CYAAR’s director and a licensed
professional counselor.
Davidson worked with Johnston to start a campus chapter
of ANAD, the national association of Anorexia Nervosa and
Associated Disorders. By spring semester, she was leading a
weekly peer group session for KSU students struggling with
eating disorders, and eventually became certified as a peer
health educator. During her sophomore year, she continued
recovery in weekly CRC group sessions and prevention
32 Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011

Katherine Davidson, left, talks with Teresa Johnston, director of the
Center for Young Adult Addiction and Recovery on the KSU campus.
activities and earned one of three scholarships funded by
William S. and Betsey B. Duffey for KSU students in recovery.
KSU was prime to become the first higher education
institution in the Southeast to establish a center devoted to
young adult addiction and recovery because of the growing need
on campus and surrounding community, according to Johnston,
who also teaches a learning community for first-year students
who either have a need or an interest in addiction and recovery.
Using calculations based on a national model, Johnston
estimates that some 300 KSU students need recovery
services. The CRC began with three students in 2008. During
spring 2011, it served 46 students, one-half of whom said
they attended KSU because it provides an addiction recovery
support program.
“We’re becoming a destination campus for local students
in recovery, largely due to word-of-mouth and a very active
therapeutic community in the Cobb County area,” Johnston said.
“The center is an acknowledgement that culturally addiction
is a big problem. We can address it by masking the problem
and pretending that it doesn’t exist, but that doesn’t advance
knowledge and help make it safe for students with addictions.”
For Katherine Davidson, now 23 and hoping to earn a
master’s degree in social work from the University of Texas in
Austin, the safety and support provided by the CRC allowed
her to heal and thrive.
“When you have school work, studying, tests, working
parttime, it’s very difficult to stay in recovery if you don’t have a
regular support group,” she said. “It made all the difference in
my recovery. I feel amazing.”
SUPPORTING RECOVERY
If the movement to firmly establish addiction recovery
communities on college campuses were a relay race, Teresa
Johnston, director of KSU’s Center for Young Adult Addiction
and Recovery (CYAAR), would be among the front runners.
Taking up the mantle from colleagues at the pioneering
Texas Tech University’s Center for the Study of Addiction and
Recovery, Johnston has forged ahead in the race to promote
addiction recovery and support for college students.
With the exponential growth of KSU’s collegiate recovery
community and the addition of alcohol and drug education
and intervention services, the CYAAR is poised to become a
national model and a resource for research into young adult
addiction and recovery.
Johnston also is a major contributor to an effort to
institutionalize addiction and recovery services throughout
higher education. In July, she co-facilitated the first meeting
of the executive board of the Association for Recovery in
Higher Education (ARHE), which supports addiction recovery
communities at 20 campuses nationwide, with several more
poised to open next year.
In addition, KSU will host more than 250 scholars,
practitioners, administrators, staff and students at the 3rd
annual National Collegiate Recovery and Relapse Prevention
Conference in March 2012.
“There is a great momentum, even from the federal
government, to make certain that young people with addictions
get the services and support they need in an academic
setting,” Johnston said. “KSU students in recovery are given
the opportunity to build community, sustain their recovery and
progress in their academics one semester at a time, one day at
a time and one person at a time. It’s a race worth winning.”
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011
33

John Drummond owns two
dot.com companies selling
banjos and unicycles.
John Drummond juggles
two online businesses
from his unicycle seat
BY JENNIFER HAFER
John Drummond, Communication
’98, has never had “one of those
days.” He loves his job and is still
passionate about the hobbies that have
made him a successful entrepreneur.
Drummond is founder and president
of unicycle.com and banjo.com, mailorder
businesses based out of a
3,200-square-foot warehouse in Marietta,
Ga. His wife, Amy, is CEO.
“We started unicycle.com in 1999 at
the height of the dot.com bust,” Drummond
recalled. “It was 10 days before our first
order came in, and it was for a small, clipon
rearview mirror. The sale was only a
few dollars, but we were so excited. At that
point we knew it would work.”
In its first year, unicycle.com
generated $150,000 in sales. Today,
sales are more than $1 million annually
and there are 12 unicycle.com franchises
around the world.
“I started riding unicycles when I was
12,” Drummond said. “Then when I was
16, the unicycle got put away after I started
driving. It disappeared into the basement
or attic, coming out whenever we moved.”
And, that’s where it stayed until
Drummond turned 40 and was looking for
a way to lose a few pounds.
“By age 40, I’d gained a pound a
year for every year since high school,”
Drummond said. “I was tired of failing at
diets, so I chose the fitness route. I ride
my unicycle six miles every day.”
With the success of unicycle.com,
Drummond was able to launch his second
Internet-based business, banjo.com, in
2003. Banjo.com is the largest music
store dedicated to the sale of banjos,
stocking more than 500. By 2007, sales
at banjo.com were nearly $1 million. This
year, sales are tracking 40 percent above
last year.
In addition to overseeing his
companies, Drummond also plays drums
in a local band, 120 East, another hobby
that will soon manifest itself into a third
e-commerce venture; drums.us.com.
34 Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011

owlcountry
Owls baseball ends season on a high note
In spite of being picked to finish eighth in the Atlantic Sun
Conference’s preseason coach’s poll, the KSU baseball team
ended the season with a 35-25 record and a third-place finish
in the conference standings. The pot was further sweetened
as three Owls earned All-Conference honors.
Outfielder Aaron Dobbs was selected to the A-Sun
first team, although he didn’t start the season in that
position. Injuries to other outfielders forced Dobbs to move
from the infield.
“A quarter of the way through the season, Aaron
moved to the outfield,” said KSU head coach Mike
Sansing. “I feel like he’s made a good adjustment and
has turned into a really good outfielder. Obviously, he hit
well throughout the year, but to make that transition and to
keep the offensive numbers there is really impressive.”
Dobbs finished the season hitting .393 in conference
games and led all Owls with 44 hits and 28 runs.
First baseman Andy Chriscaden and catcher Ronnie
Freeman earned A-Sun second team honors.
Chriscaden’s 15 home runs and 73 RBIs — 42 in
A-Sun play alone — set KSU Division I records.
Freeman set some records of his own including a 42-
game hitting streak that spanned the end of last season
through the first 13 games of this season. The sophomore
finished the regular season with a .380 batting average.
Freeman was also named to the Capital One Academic
All-District first team.
“These are well-deserved awards,” Sansing said. “All
three players have worked hard all year, and we are very
proud of their accomplishments.”
Owls record best season in KSU golf history
The Owls recorded the best season in KSU golf history,
winning five team titles including its first Atlantic Sun
Conference championship, a spot at the NCAA national
championship tournament and Atlantic Sun first team
honors for juniors Jeff Karlsson and Matt Nagy.
Adding icing to the proverbial cake, Jay Mosely, in his
second season as the Owl’s head coach, and Karlsson
were unanimously voted A-Sun Coach of the Year and
A-Sun Men’s Golfer of the Year respectively by the other
A-Sun coaches. Karlsson becomes the first KSU men’s
golfer to claim the award.
“We’re extremely proud of Jeff for receiving this
honor,” Mosely said. “Any kind of award of this magnitude
is great for this program. It says a lot, not just about Jeff,
but about the program and the quality of players that we
have in it.”
The Owls finished 26th at the national competition,
where Karlsson carded a four-over, 220, to finish in a tie
for 21st, a team-high. Karlsson capped the season as
the eighth-ranked golfer in the GolfStat Cup standings
with 975 wins compared to only 22 losses – the 11th best
record in the nation.
“I am very proud of what this team has accomplished
all year long,” Mosely said, “and I look forward to an even
better season in 2011-12.”
McNair earns All-American honorable mention
Senior KSU track and field athlete Josh McNair closed
out his collegiate career at the NCAA Division I Track and
Field Championships, heaving a shot 55 feet 1.50 inches,
good enough for a 20th-place finish and selection as an
All-American honorable mention.
“I am very pleased with the job that Josh has done
this year,” head track and field coach Andy Eggerth said.
“It’s great for him to cap off his year with a top 20 finish in
the nation. This is the highest finish that any KSU athlete
has had in outdoor track. Coach Morris did a great job with
Josh this year as he guided him to breaking the school
record three times and his previous best by over two feet
at the East Preliminary Round.”
McNair competed in three different field events earning
All-Conference honors in shot put, hammer and discus.
KSU junior Jeff
Karlsson was
named the Atlantic
Sun Conference
Golfer of the Year.
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011
35

Reaching
for the
Stars
Kennesaw State Athletic
Director Vaughn Williams
charts an ambitious course
BY ROBERT S. GODLEWSKI
When former University of Connecticut associate
athletic director Vaughn Williams was introduced
as Kennesaw State University’s new athletic
director, he was still basking in UConn’s third NCAA men’s
basketball championship.
Williams, who brings more than 17 years of senior
athletic administrative experience, joined KSU as the
university was in the midst of a search for a new head
basketball coach and is adding football.
In making the announcement, KSU President Daniel
S. Papp said, “We are also embarking on a multi-milliondollar
fundraising initiative that will be critical to making
football part of the KSU athletics program, and the
person who will lead these important athletic initiatives is
Kennesaw State’s new athletic director Vaughn Williams.”
Williams, who was responsible for UConn’s strategic
planning, facility master plans and policy/procedure
improvement sat down with KSU Magazine to talk about
KSU athletics and where the program is headed.
Vaughn Williams, Kennesaw State’s new athletic director.
36 Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011

What exactly does it mean for us to be, as you said during
your press conference, “champions with integrity in
academics, in the community and in athletics?”
We want to do things with class and dignity. It’s not
on winning alone; it’s how one carries himself. We want
to be leaders and role models for the KSU community
in everything we do in the classroom, community and in
competition. We want to highlight all the greatness that
happens on this campus. The bigger picture is not just
attracting the student-athletes but all students who want
to come here. We want to do our part to make sure we are
the first choice, and athletics can be the one to exemplify
everything good about KSU.
What are some of the biggest challenges you face as a
new athletic director, and how will your experiences at
UConn help you meet them?
I believe that many opportunities exist for Kennesaw State
University, not challenges. The sooner I get to know all my
new KSU family, the sooner we can all get to work on the task
at hand to be champions in the classroom, champions in the
community, champions of character and champions on the field.
You were the project manager for all aspects of UConn’s
athletic capital projects — including a new practice
football facility and a track/field hockey/lacrosse facility —
overseeing a total of $53 million in capital projects for the
Huskies. How will that experience help you here?
I know facilities and I know brick and mortar. We’re going
to have a master plan for KSU athletics to let us know what
the future holds. We’re going to have football and yet we still
have infrastructure challenges, regardless of football. If there
is a need for additional sports, we will need to add facilities for
them as well. The challenge is doing things the right way and
to be the best in the Atlantic Sun. I know project management
and I can help our people know how to fast track things and
save money. We are going to pinpoint someone to do capital
projects. Scott Whitlock is serving in that capacity because
he has done it with the Bailey Athletic Complex. He has the
knowledge and network on this campus. He is very thorough,
very detail-oriented.
Why did you want to come to KSU?
Kennesaw State offers the opportunity to utilize everything
I have learned throughout my career. It was a great fit because
of the goals and aspirations of the university. Everyone I met
from President Papp to the staff and faculty, to the studentathletes,
were very supportive. Dr. Papp has a grand vision of
where the university is going and how athletics can be utilized
to attain these goals. There is energy and excitement. We’re
reaching for the stars.
You acted quickly to select KSU’s men’s basketball coach.
What qualifications were most important?
First, we wanted someone who understood the mission of
the university and the desire for our student-athletes who play
basketball to be more than basketball players. Coach (Lewis)
Preston comes to us with tremendous character and integrity
and he is a great teacher. We have a lot of coaches that are
teachers like him. He wants the best for our students as
people; then we can play some basketball. And we are going to
do it the right way.
How will the new Kennesaw State Athletic Association
help with our plans for football?
It gives us a way to operate more efficiently. It will help our
coaches who must travel and recruit and mentor the studentathletes.
That is going to give us flexibility to raise funds like
we never have. It will help with our plans for football because
we are gearing up for a lot more student-athletes, coaches
and staff, which helps us better serve our department. Vince
Dooley has definitely been a great help to us. The football
study he chaired was a tremendous effort and yielded a lot of
good information. I’m looking forward to coach Dooley being
a great adviser along with others in the KSU community, our
alumni and board of trustees.
What are you looking for in a football coach?
We are going to build a solid foundation, so we need a
team builder, a team player, a coach with integrity, a highcharacter
individual that understands our KSU mission of
developing outstanding students to their full potential. We
need someone just like all the great coaches we have already
at KSU — an outstanding person, who is an outstanding
communicator, who has an outstanding work ethic.
How will you grow Owl athletics’ presence at the Division
I level?
Our first goal is to achieve academic excellence. We
want to be No. 1 in the Atlantic Sun Conference. We want
to dominate in every athletic component. When people say
Atlantic Sun, we want them to say Kennesaw State. We
want to be of service to the community like we did to help the
tornado victims in Ringgold. We want people to say, “They do
it first class; they do it in the classroom; they lead everywhere
and in the community.”
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011
37

classnotes
1970s
James C. Childers (Business Administration ’72), founder and owner of To Your
Success Inc., was featured in the Marietta Daily Journal for the success of his familyowned
business. He lives in Kennesaw with his wife, Olive.
Michael Paris (Business Administration ’72) is the president and chief executive of
the Council for Quality Growth and was recently interviewed by the Gwinnett Business
Journal. He lives in Marietta.
1980s
Jodi Hewatt (Nursing ’89) was nominated for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s 6th
Annual Nursing Excellence Awards for “going above and beyond the call of duty” to
make a significant impact on her patients.
Scott C. Smith (Management ’83) was recently hired by Grubb and Ellis as the senior
vice president of facilities management. He is also senior adviser to the board of
CoreNet Global’s Atlanta chapter. He lives in Cumming.
Nancy Sexton (Nursing ’85) was nominated for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s
6th Annual Nursing Excellence Awards for “going above and beyond the call of duty” to
make a significant impact on her patients.
1990s
Emanuel “Man” Martin’s (M.A.P.W. ’98) second novel, “Paradise Dogs,” was published
in early June. The book received great reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly.
Man also won the Georgia Author of the Year award in 2008 for his first novel, “Days of
the Endless Corvette.” He lives in Atlanta with his wife, Nancy.
Shane McDonald (Art ’92) created the website and collateral materials design for the
Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art’s Art & Design Showhouse 2011.
G. W. “Walt” Murray (Communication ’92) is a licensed private investigator, and the vice
president of the MIS Group, an Atlanta-based investigations company offering a wide
range of investigative services throughout the U.S., and in various locations around the
world. He lives with his wife, Amy, in Woodstock.
Virginia Rogers (Visual Communication ’99) accepted a position as the creative manager
for the Office of Alumni Affairs at Kennesaw State. She has worked for KSU for the past
11 years as senior designer for the Office of University Relations. She lives in Acworth.
Patricia Walden (Nursing ’95) was nominated for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s
6th Annual Nursing Excellence Awards for “going above and beyond the call of duty” to
make a significant impact on her patients.
38
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011

classnotes
Christopher Ward (Political Science ’95, M.A.P.W. ’11) recently published his new
volume of poetry, “Man Poems: From Beers to Gears to Grills and Gears,” available
exclusively through Amazon.com and his website, www.manpoems.net. He lives in
Marietta with his wife, Michelle.
Karen Winkle (Nursing ’99) was nominated for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s
6th Annual Nursing Excellence Awards for “going above and beyond the call of duty” to
make a significant impact on her patients.
Seward Clayton Worley (Spanish ’94) accepted an offer to become director of global IT
at Dell, Inc. He lives in Round Rock, Texas.
2000s
2001
Kate Cargill (MBA ’01) is one of eight candidates running for West Deptford’s board of
education. She lives in Thorofare, N.J., with her husband and three daughters.
Eric Nejedly (Health and Sport Science ’01) was nominated for the Atlanta Journal-
Constitution’s 6th Annual Nursing Excellence Awards for “going above and beyond the
call of duty” to make a significant impact on his patients.
2002
Ojinika Godwin-Offor (Nursing ’02) was nominated for the Atlanta Journal-
Constitution’s 6th Annual Nursing Excellence Awards for “going above and beyond the
call of duty” to make a significant impact on his patients.
2003
Stacie Barrow (Human Services ’03) accepted a position as senior director of
development for Young Harris College. She lives in Marietta.
Tammy Green (Nursing ’03) was nominated for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s
6th Annual Nursing Excellence Awards for “going above and beyond the call of duty” to
make a significant impact on her patients.
Brittani Hawk (Nursing ’03) was nominated for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s
6th Annual Nursing Excellence Awards for “going above and beyond the call of duty” to
make a significant impact on her patients.
Marko Horn (Management ’01, MBA ’03) completed his doctorate in strategic
management at Florida State University and accepted a position as assistant professor
at Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss. He lives in Madison, Miss.
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011 39

classnotes
2004
Jeremy Benbrooks (Political Science ’04) completed a
doctorate in theology from Piedmont Baptist College in Winston
Salem, N.C. He is a missionary pilot with Baptist International
Missions preparing to work in Togo, West Africa.
Jennifer Goad Cuthbertson (M.A.P.W. ’04) published a book,
“Images of America: Historic Grant Park,” with her husband,
Philip. The book was published by Arcadia Publishing. The
Cuthbertsons live in Atlanta.
2005
Christopher Chappell (Political Science ’05) received the
Judge Sebe Dale Memorial Scholarship Award for academic
excellence from Mississippi College School of Law during its
annual Law Day ceremony. He lives in Kennesaw with his wife,
Kristin.
Sarah Fisher (Nursing ’05) was nominated for the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution’s 6th Annual Nursing Excellence Awards
for “going above and beyond the call of duty” to make a
significant impact on her patients.
Miriam Rohlfs (Nursing ’05) was nominated for the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution’s 6th Annual Nursing Excellence Awards
for “going above and beyond the call of duty” to make a
significant impact on her patients.
2006
John Berry (Marketing ’06) was selected as a member of the
Leadership Atlanta class of 2012. He is the CEO and executive
director of St. Vincent de Paul and lives in Marietta.
Aaron Blowers (Theatre and Performance Studies ’06) began
a new job as a systems engineer with Amazon. He is also the
CEO of the Creative IT Consultancy, AIO Consulting Group
and performs around Atlanta with the band Audiopeep. He lives
in Kennesaw, Ga.
William Cash (Art ’06) is featured in the book “100 Artists
of the Male Form: A Contemporary Anthology of Painting,
Drawing, and Sculpture” by E. Gibbons, which was published
in January 2011.
Sara Keeley (Nursing ’06) was nominated for the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution’s 6th Annual Nursing Excellence Awards
for “going above and beyond the call of duty” to make a
significant impact on her patients.
Sara Sanders (Nursing ‘06) was nominated for the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution’s 6th Annual Nursing Excellence Awards
for “going above and beyond the call of duty” to make a
significant impact on her patients.
2007
Marilyn Camp (Nursing ’07) was nominated for the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution’s 6th Annual Nursing Excellence Awards
for “going above and beyond the call of duty” to make a
significant impact on her patients.
Daniel Matthew Fox (M.Ed. Educational Leadership ’07) was
named Teacher of the Year for Sonoraville Middle School in
Gordon County. He lives in Calhoun.
Nicole Lassiter (Nursing ’07) accepted a position with The
Children’s Hospital in Aurora, Colo. and works in the neonatal
intensive care unit. She lives in Aurora.
Ben Rice (Music Education ’07) accepted a position at Mill
Creek Middle School in Woodstock as the orchestra and chorus
director and the assistant band director. He lives in Woodstock.
2008
Matt Lewis (Theatre and Performance Studies ’08) and wife,
Madlon, welcomed a new son, Thomas Kirk. They live in
Tuscaloosa Ala. where Matt is working on his MFA in acting at
the University of Alabama.
2009
Nick Ayers (Political Science ’09), was hired as presidential
campaign exploratory committee manager for former
Minnesota governor, Tim Pawlenty. Prior to working for
Pawlenty, he was the executive director of the Republican
Governors Association. He recently moved to Minneapolis.
Erica Parks (Human Services ’09) graduated from the
University of Georgia with a master’s in public health.
Kathryn Powers (Nursing ’09) was nominated for the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution’s 6th Annual Nursing Excellence Awards
for “going above and beyond the call of duty” to make a
significant impact on her patients.
40
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011

campusbriefs
classnotes
2010
Dustin Baker (Art ’10) is serving as an
interpretive ranger and resident sculptor
at Mount Rushmore National Park this
summer. He previously worked as an
intern naturalist at Red Top Mountain
State Park in Georgia, where he was able
to use his iron casting skills.
Amy Johnson (M.A.T. ’10) is teaching art
at Cooper Middle School in Cobb County.
Angela J. Lands (Geography ’10) is
a graduate research assistant in the
University of Alabama’s department of
geography. She lives in Douglasville, Ga.
Angelica Walton (Psychology ’10)
graduated from the U.S. Navy’s Officer
Candidate School. She is stationed
aboard the USS Chosen in Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii.
Brad Wilson (Communication ’10)
accepted a position with 13WMAZ
Television, a Gannett-owned company
and CBS affiliate, in Macon, Ga. He is a
multimedia producer and produces the
midday newscast Wednesday through
Friday and weekend morning shows. He
lives in Macon.
2011
Melinda McPherson (Art ’11) married
Chris Golden on May 14.
Daniel Rice (Marketing ’11) is moving to
Japan in December to be a missionary.
He will live in Tokyo for two years
ministering to university students.
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011 41

Neale Martin is considered
a leading scholar in the field
of consumer behavior.
BY AIxA M. PASCUAL
Neale Martin has a Ph.D. in marketing and has consulted
with top technology and consumer products companies.
But his keen insights into how consumers behave have
their origins elsewhere: his years working as a rehab counselor.
Early in his career, while working at an alcohol and
drug treatment center, Martin became acquainted with the
neurological underpinnings of addictions. He was mystified
by why addicts used drugs and alcohol again and again
even as they were conscious that these addictions led to bad
outcomes, such as losing their jobs or their families. The role of
the unconscious mind and habits in human behavior stuck with
Martin even as he changed careers.
“It was much easier for me to understand how behavior
can occur outside of conscious awareness, even sabotaging
people’s intentions,” says Martin, a resident scholar in the
Department of Management & Entrepreneurship at the Coles
College of Business. “I had always been fascinated by brain
physiology and neuroscience, and learning about addiction gave
me insights into how consumers unconsciously form habits.”
By bringing together insights from the fields of
neuroscience, psychology, behavioral economics and
neuromarketing, Martin has emerged as a leading scholar in
the field of consumer behavior. Recent research into how the
brain works, he argues, suggests that most human behavior is
under the sway of unconscious habits and not the conscious,
cognitive brain.
Martin’s provocative views are rapidly going mainstream.
His 2008 book “Habit: The 95% of Behavior Marketers Ignore,”
is now in its second paperback printing in the U.S. and has
been published in the United Kingdom and India and translated
into Chinese, Korean and Portuguese. Martin’s unorthodox
ideas have caught the attention of marketing execs at blue chip
companies such as Verizon, P&G, Campbell Soup Company
and Eli Lilly. The Coles College of Business has developed
42 Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011

TheZen
of Marketing
Coles College professor’s insights
into consumer behavior challenge
marketing canons
a six-day, executive education certification program in habitbased
marketing based on Martin’s ideas aimed at marketing
and product development specialists.
“Professor Martin’s pioneering work has actually
challenged some of the most fundamental tenets of marketing
and product development,” says Mike Salvador, director
of Executive Education Programs at the Coles College of
Business. “He has redefined the principles of what drives
consumer behavior.”
Martin’s eclectic background –– besides psychiatric
health care, he has had jobs in hospital administration,
journalism, technology and strategic consulting –– has
contributed to shaping his views on consumer behavior. His
graduate studies analyzing consumer behavior crystallized
some of his casual observations on habitual behavior. As a
Ph.D. student at Georgia Tech, he designed an experiment
to analyze the relationship between a product and its retail
environment to see how attitudes toward the brand and the
store affected each other.
His aha! moment came as he watched his teenage
daughter, sitting on a couch next to the phone at home, pick
up her cell phone to make a call. Martin observed that she
used her cell phone out of habit, not thinking that the landline
provided better quality for free. That led to a presentation in
front of telcom execs reiterating how they need to become their
customers’ habit instead of their choice. Further reading on
new research on the influence of habitual behavior provided
more ammunition for his ideas. “Marketing can now be updated
with this new understanding of the consumer mind,” Martin
explains. “The long-held concept that habits automate behavior
out of conscious awareness explained much of what had
puzzled marketers for years, such as customer satisfaction not
predicting future behavior. There is a huge disconnect between
what people say the will do and what they actually do.”
Kennesaw State University Magazine | SUMMER 2011
43

KSU Symphony Orchestra performs
in Beijing, Xi’an p.18
Mobile Education
Distance learning program
expansion p.20
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