GRADY CAPSTONE
Reporting from my Journalism Capstone Course
COPING WITH COVID-19: PANDEMIC SPURS WAVE OF ANIMAL ADOPTION AND FOSTERING
Lily Holmes
University of Georgia senior Cathryn Cordes returned from spring break to a different Athens. Among a cancelled graduation, online school, and a state-wide stay at home order, the remainder of college looked far more different than expected.
Another difference? Her foster dog, Lola.
In line with national trends, Athens area animal rescue organizations have seen a recent uptick in fosters and adoptions since COVID-19. Rescue facilities are closed to the public and employees are unable or not allowed to come in. With increased social isolation and downtime due to a statewide shelter in place order, however, the situation has proven mutually beneficial.
“I have been contemplating fostering for a while, but my biggest hold back was that I was never home because I was on campus or at work,” Cordes said. “Since classes have been moved to online, and I have to stay home it just seemed like the right time to give fostering a try.”
University of Georgia senior Bethany Sacks decided to foster her German Shepherd after realizing that with a mother working as a nurse and immunocompromised father in New York, returning home was not an option. With more time on her hands during quarantine, she decided this was the best possible time to foster.
“I’m home, like really, all the time so there is plenty of time to train her, get her adjusted, et cetera,” Sacks said. “My biggest issue was actually finding a dog to rescue as most of Athens was cleared out and many shelters are no longer allowing fosters during the pandemic.”
Caitlin Randberg, another University of Georgia senior who has fostered five dogs from Athens Clarke County Animal Shelter, said the shelter was cleared out within two weeks of closing to the public. She said, “when the virus began getting super serious, the shelter closed down and began asking for fosters through social media. Within two weeks, the shelter was almost completely cleared out.” Randberg decided to adopt her most recent foster, Finley.
“People want dogs. The demand is high,” said Rocy O’Keefe, who works with Castoff Rescue, an organization in Blairsville, GA. Her organization has seen a 30 percent reduction in animals in their shelter since COVID-19. In metro-Atlanta counties like Fulton and Dekalb have seen similar drops near 50 percent, according to O’Keefe.
Cordes, who also fostered through Athens Clarke County Animal Shelter, said not only has there been an increase in fostering, but also a relaxing in some criteria for fostering in depth interviews. Since no volunteers are allowed in the shelter, foster volunteers are needed to socialize and care for the dogs. In lieu of a typical at-home visit, Cordes submitted a video tour of her home to the shelter.
As animal adoptions have increased due to more time at home in shelter in place order, so too have health risks associated with social isolation and stress from growing economic uncertainty. According to the American Psychological Association, loneliness and social isolation can wreak havoc on one’s physiological and mental state, leading to stress, lack of sleep, depression, anxiety, and even weaker immunity.
Animals have been a long-time therapy tool for various mental and physical disabilities. A 2016 Human Animal Bond Research Institute survey suggested animals provide a sense of security and routine that provided emotional and social support.
“Overall, I feel more stressed than I normally do during the school year, which I’m sure is normal and being felt by many,” Randberg continued. “I’m someone who loves having a schedule, so this has been hard.”
According to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, nearly one in four Americans reported feeling lonely or isolated in 2018, with nearly every American under lockdown, this number is at risk of growing exponentially.
The same study by HABRI showed 74 percent of pet owners reporting mental health improvements from pet ownership.
“[I’m] so glad I did,” Sacks said. “Having a dog has definitely been the highlight of this whole coronavirus pandemic. She’s helped a lot with my loneliness, anxiety, and depression.”
Maritza Duran, a therapist at University of Georgia’s Center for Counseling and Personal Evaluation, said “having a dog, even if not trained as official support animals, help reduce anxiety and depression” in her experience with clients. “Animals provide connection and support, support, and often times physical touch that might not be given to folks as often as they need.”
O’Keefe, however, worries about the longevity of this mutually beneficial solution. While less dogs are being surrendered to animal services at the moment and more are being adopted, she is concerned that many dogs will end up in animal control once people return to work.
“Right now, we’re seeing an uptick because people are home and thinking, oh, a dog sounds great,” she said. “But we’re just not sure what to expect after everything starts going back to reality.”
UGA INNOVATION GATEWAY SEEKS DIVERSIFYING INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM
By Lily Holmes
The future of workspaces, products, and business models is undoubtedly changing. Companies like WeWork are bringing innovators together across cities and industries through collaborative work environments, and universities are increasingly following suit through startup accelerator and incubator programs.
In 2015, the University of Georgia combined its startup program and technology licensing practice to form Innovation Gateway, a network that connects technology developed by UGA faculty and students to the broader marketplace. Innovation Gateway includes I-Corps, the University’s short-term startup accelerator that provides co-working space, product development labs, and business mentoring. Additionally, Innovation Gateway supports faculty startups through its incubator, licensing program and rent-able lab space.
Now in its fifth year of operation, Innovation Gateway hopes to bring its diverse innovation ecosystem to Athens’ and Northeast Georgia’s economy as it develops its Innovation District, an area designed to encourage collaboration among budding entrepreneurs and researchers.
Currently, aside from things like rentable lab space and funding, these programs allow for more interaction among innovators. Diversity, transparency, and collaboration seem to be key factors in startup ecosystem’s success, according to Dr. Susan Cohen, a University of Georgia professor who researches startup incubator and accelerator programs similar to Innovation Gateway’s.
“It’s good to create more of a collaborative versus a competitive environment,” Cohen said of companies sharing rather than prioritizing privacy. “Breaking down those barriers between companies is really important.”
The expanding Innovation District will focus on space for startups, facilitate business development connections, and support project based, experiential learning opportunities for students and faculty – something Derek Eberhart, Innovation Gateway’s Director, says is necessary for adapting to the diverse requirements of the future workforce.
“College and universities are the training ground of the future workforce, and that means being comfortable with digital technology and data analytics,” Eberhart said. “The idea there is to make sure that everybody at UGA is able to participate in the innovation ecosystem – all disciplines, schools, but also, underrepresented groups.”
Eberhart said he hopes to see all schools and colleges participating in the district, and schools like Grady’s New Media Institute, Lamar Dodd, and the College of Environment and Design already have.
With a 90% failure rate for startups, university incubators and accelerators can “de-risk” companies early on by furthering them down the development pipeline, making them more attractive to investors.
Innovation Gateway can also connect more business-minded professionals to academic researchers hoping to push their technology into the commercial marketplace.
Infrared Rx CEO, Dr. Jonathan Murrow, who used Innovation Gateway’s I-Corps and incubator programs when starting up his medical biotechnology company, said of his fellow founders, “None of us have a business background, so it was important to have some idea of what is different about developing a business platform versus having a research platform.”
Investment in startups and technology by the university can also contribute to job growth in the Northeast Georgia area as these companies set up shop in Athens. It’s a reflection of how as technology automates away jobs, startups fueled by proper resources can create new ones.
UGA’s Innovation Gateway touts a $531 million contribution to the economy, with $322 million in the state of Georgia.
“Our first priority is to work with Georgia companies,” said Murrow. “Knowing that this is federal taxpayer money we’re using to build this company, we’re very much interested in being good stewards of it and making sure we use it towards adding value and using to create jobs here when we can.”
Infrared received grant funding from the National Institute of Health, and like many of Innovation Gateway’s startups, use federal grants to fund research and development.
“Their advice has made us more competitive for these grants, and that’s a key part of our company’s growth,” Murrow said.
Startup incubators and accelerators, however, don’t always help, and research on their overall efficacy has been mixed, according to Cohen. “There’s a lot of variants in accelerator’s ability to help startups, and quite a few actually don’t – so finding those matches can be really critical,” Cohen said.
Some also claim university incubators may have negative affects by diverting universities’ resources away from other academic endeavors. A 2016 study by the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal found a negative correlation with the establishment of an incubator and quality of the university’s innovation, as determined by patents.
However, UGA’s intellectual property and licensing pipeline has nearly doubled its total licensing income since starting Innovation Gateway, and the number of new products remains steady.
The Innovation District is currently underway, with their collaboration space located on Spring Street set to open later this year.
“We all work together around promoting entrepreneurship and innovation,” Eberhart said of UGA’s research and entrepreneurial communities. “Our three visions are education, research and service, and the Innovation District crosses all those missions.”
THE FUTURE OF WORK IN ATHENS: WHAT THE 2020 CANDIDATES FOR ACC COMMISSIONER HAVE TO SAY
Story by: Dito Montaña, Madison McColl, Anna Erickson, Lily Holmes, and Jessica Clayton
The election of new district commissioners within Athens-Clarke County (ACC) is set for May 19, 2020, and candidates are preparing their campaigns in order to appeal to the major concerns of voters.
The future of work in Athens is an element that carries a great deal of influence on the local scale. When considering how technology and automation are disrupting the workforce in ACC, candidates are taking a deep dive into identifying problems and solutions within their districts as well as state-wide.
Each candidate offers their perspective on topics such as the living wage in ACC, investment in local businesses, unions, affordable housing, the implementation of a job guarantee, transportation and other issues specific to their district.
By analyzing these issues and perspectives, voters can be more prepared for the upcoming election when considering the future of work in Athens and how it will affect them on a personal scale.
To find your district, commissioner, and voter information click here.
District 2
Mariah Parker
Running unopposed, Mariah Parker hopes to be re-elected for the second time in District 2 after her initial term started in May 2018. As a graduate teaching assistant and doctoral student at the University of Georgia, Parker’s progressive vibrancy has served her well in her role as commissioner.
Parker is passionate about bringing livable wage jobs into her district and supporting worker owned cooperative development so that the wealth that is created by small, locally owned businesses is democratically controlled by the very people who created that wealth. As described on her campaign website, Parker runs on the platform of “Progress for the People.”
During her most recent term in office, she voted yes to support Wayfair new customer support facility moving into Athens-Clarke County and providing more than 500 jobs for residents. Going forward, she hopes to continue working with the Athens Economic Justice Coalition and small business owners to encourage cooperative development to lead to higher wages for all.
District 4
Allison Wright
Allison Wright is running to be elected for the third time in District 4. A medical illustrator by trade, Wright has focused on issues like public transit, discrimination and affordable housing throughout her term.
While most businesses in District 4 are consumption based, UGA’s startup incubator is located in the district and hosts multiple biomedical and technology companies. Wright emphasized the need for access to stronger broadband and wifi in Athens for private sector companies to succeed– something that has deterred private businesses from setting up shop in places like downtown. Wright also hopes to bring larger businesses to Athens through use of tax incentives and investing in bringing a commercial airline to Athens by way of a recent federal grant given to the area.
Michael Stapor
Michael Stapor is challenging the incumbent, Allison Wright, for the commissioner position in the 4th District. Stapor is a recent graduate of the University of Georgia and his key areas of focus center around reducing the amount of poverty in Athens. He wishes to achieve this through improving the public transportation system, criminal justice reform, as well as increasing wages and accessibility to affordable housing.
Athens-Clarke county has a staggering amount of poverty at 32%, which is a surprise to some due to the city also having a low unemployment rate of 2.5%. Stapor relates this back to the fact that many businesses do not pay living wages and that citizens do not have adequate access to work training. In order to improve the quality of the future of work in this city, Stapor hopes to implement strategies that set up career resources for Athens residents. These include job training programs as well as collaboration with local businesses.
District 6
Jerry Nesmith
Jerry NeSmith has been the incumbent of District 6 since 2013 and as a retiree NeSmith dedicates all of his professional time to the commission, as shown on his website. He was a member of the Athens-Clarke County Planning Commission since 2003, and was also the founding director and treasurer of the Athens Farmers Market, LLC; he stepped back from both posts shortly before he was sworn in as commissioner. NeSmith previously worked in the private sector as an IT management and services expert, and was a founding co-director of the University of Georgia Research Computing Center in 2004.
During his time on the commission, NeSmith has looked to capitalize on opportunities such as growing tourism and big business ventures as a means of increasing the number of new jobs available to Athens-Clarke County residents. NeSmith is in support of working to provide employees across Athens with a living wage, as calculated by MIT.
He helped facilitate the relocation of the Caterpillar plant into part of his district, with the promise that Caterpillar would meet a minimum employment level in exchange for not paying any property tax for 10 years. According to NeSmith, the Caterpillar plant is incentivized by this property tax abatement to provide their employees a living wage that averages $32 an hour among its 1600 employees.
NeSmith has also expressed interest in revitalizing the largely abandoned Georgia Square Mall into a multi-use project that could include housing, retail, recreational, and office space. The Georgia Square Mall lot has a larger area than downtown Athens, and NeSmith has met with the owner of the mall to discuss potential ideas for the space that could bring in new jobs, although nothing has been decided yet.
Figure 2. Caterpillar is Athens’ third largest private employer, which is located partly in NeSmith’s district.
NeSmith is also supportive of the expansion of the classic center arena and the development of surrounding hotels and restaurants which he said will create about 600 new jobs, mostly in the hospitality and service sectors. Some have voiced concern for an alleged lack of public input in the project, and the expansion remains a topic of debate among Athenians.
Jesse Houle
Challenging the incumbent, Jesse Houle is campaigning for the commissioner position in the Sixth District. As an operations manager at Nuçi’s space, as well as a co-founder of the local progressive activist group Athens 4 Everyone, Houle dedicates all of their time to helping residents within the greater community. It is this experience that ultimately pushed Houle to run for county commissioner. On their campaign website, Houle outlines their initiatives to improve the city.
Regarding the future of work for Athens residents, Houle is passionate about implementing a few specific propositions. First, they would like to see a Food Service Workers Union established in town, where workers within different businesses can collaborate within a secure infrastructure to resolve any issues or obstacles that they might face.
Secondly, Houle wishes to establish non-discrimination leglislation that will protect the employment rights of all residents, regardless of sexual orientation, race, or gender. According to Houle, Athens-Clarke County currently does not have non-discrimination legislation that bars employers from firing their employee based on gender- and sexual-based discrimination. This is something that Houle is determined to introduce at the local level if elected commissioner.
Thirdly, while they acknowledge that major corporations like the Caterpillar plant do provide living wage jobs, Houle wants to narrow the job market focus on Athens residents’ own unique creativity.
They believe that this could be done by seeing local residents taking advantage of dead space locations, such as the Georgia Square Mall, and revitalizing those spaces in a way that builds economic trust in the community and encourages the growth of local businesses. The mall could potentially be renovated as a workers center. Additionally, Houle wishes to foster a culture within the community where the citizens and government work together to legislate.
District 8
There is no incumbent candidate running in the 8th District. This has resulted in the race to be between three new challengers; Andrea Farnham, Kamau Hall and Carol Myers.
Andrea Farnham
Andrea Farnham, a sex, marriage and family therapist, is a local to District 8 and the Athens-Clarke County community. She is the founder of Just Relationships LLC, a private therapy practice in Athens. Farnham is passionate about poverty reduction and advocating for employee representation and rights in local businesses.
Farnham’s professional experience as a therapist has allowed her to see the big picture when it comes to labor conditions and the political antecedents that affect the life of the average employee in Athens. “Everything is connected,” she said. Farnham stresses the importance of inclusion and a balance of power when it comes to board meetings that discuss decisions that ultimately affect more than developers and entrepreneurs, especially as the job climate begins to change.
When considering “the future of work in Athens,” Farnham said that there are jobs that the market isn’t providing, especially in the care-taking and community centered realm of labor. She believes that the solution to the beginning of automation of jobs in Athens is to create a job program that “pays people to do the work that needs to be done in communities,” not only in Athens but across the state of Georgia.
Farnham has noticed the effects of automation at the grocery stores in her district through the implementation of self check-out, and wonders how technology will affect the many educators and schools in her district in the near future. Farnham also said that we need to prepare for automated trucking to become prevalent, as that will create a shift in the demand for jobs in that industry.
Farnham said that ultimately, in order for District 8 and Athens Clarke county to make steps towards reducing poverty and handling the automation of local jobs, it will take a collaboration between both county commissioners as well as state legislators.
Kamau Hull
As a native resident of District 8, Kamau Hall has dedicated his life to serving the Athens-Clarke County community. He, alongside his wife Nicole, are both attorneys and founded The Hull Firm, LLC, located off of Atlanta Highway. As described on his campaign website, Hull specializes in multiple areas of law, ranging from legal matters in familial disputes to those influencing business operations.
Regarding the future of work for Athens residents, Hull argues that the major employers in this area are bottom heavy, meaning most of the jobs available are grounds people jobs, which typically only offer minimum wage level pay.
In the instance a job is available that does provide a living wage, Hull notes that it typically requires a resume including post-secondary education, such as those of professors or lawyers. To combat this issue, Hull has specified a few key areas of interest where things can be improved. These areas include job creation in infrastructure and development, small business, healthcare and tech related fields. He notes the necessity to create incentives for industries to want to move to Athens to conduct business, as well as the need to remove barriers that prevent local businesses from operating more efficiently.
Additionally, Hull highlights the necessity to build on resources that already exist for the purpose of job training and skill advancement. He mentions the Career Academy and the vocational programs offered by Athens Tech, which were both founded with the intent to propel students forward in the professional arena.
The ability for individuals to be aware of as well as have access to these resources after graduation, is what Hull believes should be implemented and improved upon by the government.
Carol Myers
Carol Myers, the former Dean of General Education at Athens Tech, has been an Athens local for 35 years, including 24 in District 8 specifically. She spent her time at Athens Tech as both a teacher and an administrator and currently serves as the chairperson of the Athens in Motion Commision, a program to improve ACC’s bike and pedestrian infrastructure. Myers blogs about her experiences in the Athens community on her campaign website.
Myers has gained insight into the many processes and elements that fuel job trends in regards to education as well as what exactly goes into the creation of a new program at a college that will equip the future workforce.
Myers said that the automation trends that we may experience in the workforce are similar to shifts that we’ve seen in history; such as women working in textile mills who lost their jobs due to the globalization of the textile industry, or industrial companies eventually requiring workers to have “soft skills” such as math and writing.
Myers sees the future of work in Athens as being affected by the gig economy that has already caused shifts in job trends with establishments such as Uber and AirBnB. She said it’s changed the way that people get around and has the potential to provide a positive impact, especially in regards to transportation.
Myers said that there are low income neighborhoods in her district where people are struggling because they are paying too much for rent and working low-income jobs. She said she would like to see the minimum wage raised to $15 an hour, and wants to come up with creative solutions such as “tiny home developments” for those who are homeless and impoverished in Athens to give them a chance at living more dignified lives.
District 10
Mike Hamby
District 10’s Democratic commissioner since 2009, Mike Hamby is running against challenger Devon Spiva this election.
An owner of a small office cleaning business in the city, Hamby serves as an ex-officio member of the Athens Development Authority, which has recently discussed offering development incentives to small startup businesses. The Downtown Development Authority has worked to improve brick-and-mortar businesses downtown through facade and marketing grants, which renovate storefronts and fund marketing costs as well as transitions to e-commerce, respectively. Hamby also hopes apprenticeships within his school district can offer alternative educational pathways for students and recent graduates hoping to learn a trade.
Devon Spiva
Running against incumbent Mike Hamby, Devon Spiva is a candidate for the tenth district.
Spiva is a junior at the University of Georgia, however he took a leave of absence from his studies this semester in order to focus on his campaign for commissioner. On Spiva’s campaign website, he details his main areas of concern for Athens-Clarke county. Regarding the future of employment in the area, he is mostly focused on creating affordable housing plans, education, as well as initiating job growth as a whole.
(Devon Spiva)
(Photo: Eduardo Montaña III; em40427@uga.edu)
This audio will be embedded in the photo: https://soundcloud.com/essicaarie/devon-spiva-cut-1
Like a few other candidates in this election, Spiva is keen on the creation of resource centers that would aid residents in skill development. However, Spiva wants to work directly with the community to foster a culture that provides a baseline for individual success, rather than just achieving this through government policy. He believes that this can be achieved through various forms of collaboration between institutions and the government. He particularly details how the University of Georgia could serve as an option; not only providing resources but additionally improving the relationship between the school and the community. He touches upon this when discussing education and job training programs.
The University of Georgia is Athens’ largest employer, more than tripling the number of employees Athens’ largest private sector employer has. Public employers make up 56% of jobs in Athens, leaving private employers with 46%.
(Audio here: https://soundcloud.com/essicaarie/devon-spiva-cut-2)
Ultimately, Spiva hopes to promote transparency among commissioners in how they operate within the greater Athens-Clarke community. He plans to accomplish this by having town halls that allow for residents voices to be heard, especially regarding job growth and innovation. He will update community members of such meetings through various forms of communication, but primarily through online and social media announcements.
Preparing to Vote
The automation of jobs and implementation of technology on a local scale is a topic that has many political predecessors, such as those discussed above by the candidates running in the 2020 election.
Athens locals can take into account the variety of perspectives and ideas offered by each candidate while considering the unique needs of their district. By examining the trends in labor on a local scale, voters can work together with commissioners to help influence the future of work in Athens.
These races will be decided on May 19, 2020. Click here to check and see if you’re registered to vote. If you aren’t registered to vote, the Georgia Online Voter Registration website is easy to use and has all of the information needed to find a polling place near you.