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Tuesday. November 30, aoio | The Red a Black
Enthusiastic professor dives into reef research
By RYAN PRIOR
Fo The Red & Black
On an average day in lecture.
Janies Porter paces back and
forth along a stage at the head of
a vast auditorium, gesturing dra
matically, waving his hand pre
cisely to underline each essential
point, and in the process inspires
multitudes of University students
to care deeply about the earth.
He may well be the only
University professor that stu
dents faithfully applaud at the
close of every passionate lecture.
All of that passion coupled with
his well-known mixture of grace
and goodwill enables him to
reach students who would have
been skeptical of the need to
protect the environment.
At RateMyProfessors.com, a
website known for its often blunt
critiques of instructors. Porter’s
reviews come in by the boatload,
and are uniformly glowing. A typ
ical student response reads:
‘This is a course that every
student at UOA should take. It
opened my eyes to environmen
tal issues that affect everyone, to
be specific, global warming. Even
as a Republican (and anti-tree
hugger), global warming has
become an issue that is one of
the most important to me
because of this course. Porter
will make you want to come to
class.”
A recipient of the Josiah Meigs
Distinguished Teaching
Professorship, the highest teach
ing award at the University,
Porter has established himself
not just as a superb teacher in
the Odum School of Ecology, but
also as a leading researcher in
the nation on coral reef decline.
His enthusiasm for environ
mental issues —and his uncanny
ability to communicate it has
earned him some unusual oppor
tunities to serve as an ambassa
dor for ecology to the general
public.
He has testified before
Congress multiple times, and
from 2007 to 2008 served as presi
dent of Sigma Xi, a prominent
national society for scientists.
This position earned him a spot
on a committee that chose
President Obama’s science advis
er and the heads of many govern
ment agencies, including the
National Oceanographic and
Atmospheric Administration.
Porter and his multi-disciplin
ary team recently received a five
year, $2.1 million grant from the
CRIME NOTEBOOK
Grab-and-run theft reported in Sanford
An unknown individual reportedly
stole a handful of S2O bills from a
Sanford Stadium concession stand dur
ing Saturday's football game against
Georgia Tech.
When police responded, they were
told the offender reached over the coun
ter and grabbed money before fleeing on
foot, according to the University Police
report.
The exact amount stolen is unknown,
but is believed to be around $l6O.
Tate Center arrest leads to cocaine
charges
An Athens resident is facing charges
of possession of cocaine after he was
arrested in the Tate Center Saturday.
Guillermo Ore, 40, was initially placed
under arrest at 9:13 p.m. for criminal
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COORTUT Jamu Porr**
▲ Professor James Porter works with elkhorn coral infected by white pox disease near
the Florida Keys. About 88 percent of die coral has been destroyed by the disease.
National Institutes of Health to
study white pox disease, an epi
demic first described in 1996 that
has devastated vast swaths of
coral reefs near the Florida Keys,
destroying an estimated 88 per
cent of elkhorn coral, according
to a recent study.
Porter said this Caribbean
exclusive coral is “the iconic
branching shallow water coral
that gives reefs their magnificent
structure.” Furthermore, “the
disease has been partially respon
sible for destroying so much elk
hom coral that it has gone from
ONLINE
Police Documents
trespass after it was discovered he was
violating a barring notice from all
University property, according to the
University Police report.
As Ore was booked into Clarke
County Jail, a “folded paper penny
wrapper" was found in his wallet. The
wrapper contained “a quantity of white
powder,” according to the report.
The powder later tested positive for
cocaine and Ore was charged according
ly.
Because he violated the previous bar
ring notice. Ore has also been barred
from campus for an additional two
years, according to the report.
—Compiled by Jacob Demmitt
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NEWS
the commonest coral in the
Caribbean to being on the endan
gered species list.”
He has lead expeditions to the
Florida Keys National Marine
Sanctuary for decades, and in
1996 began studying white pox.
Fieldwork consists of four
annual two-week trips. With
most field research taking place
in the wanner summer months,
and laboratory analysis occur
ring in the winter, the project will
be a year-round affair through
2015.
Besides being what Porter
BEER: Students save on drinks
>• From Page 1
only days of the year when
that beer outsells our craft
beer.”
Craig Hayes, a junior
from Conyers, came to Five
Points to follow his typical
pre-game tradition.
“Pretty much every
other weekend I think I go
to the liquor store,” he said.
“Tonight I’m just drinking
with some friends; just got
back from Thanksgiving
break so I’m just hanging
out.”
Hayes said drinking at
home or at a friend’s house
usually tops going out.
“Often we’ll start out at
somebody's house and
then end up downtown or
just drink at home and get
a little lost in that,” he said.
“It's a cost-wise thing and I
just like making my own
drinks. Going downtown, I
just feel like everything is
overpriced for the amount
compared to what I could
get at home.”
Jennifer Lee, a graduate
student from Fayetteville,
was also at Five Points to
pre-game.
“We’re prepping for tail-
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terms "science in action to save
an endangered species and a
threatened ecosystem," the proj
ect beckons scientists to surge
forward to the frontiers of knowl
edge, handing them a vital
chance to study the rare case of
“reverse zoonosis,” in which a
human pathogen is transmitted
to an animal. The same pathogen
that causes white pox in elkhorn
coral also causes the human dis
ease serratiosis, a condition simi
lar to staph infection that is a
constant burden in hospitals.
Examples of diseases that
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▲ Charlie Meers stocks shelves at Five Points
Bottle Shop, a popular Athens liquor store.
gating tomorrow,” she said.
“The boys are picking up
beer and we’re tagging
along. They’re trying to
decide if they want one or
two kegs.”
Lee said buying kegs
wasn’t necessarily a tradi
tion this season, however.
“Since we’ve had so
many noon games we
haven’t been keg discuss
ing, so we’ll just come in
and pick up a six-pack and
leave.” she said.
Daniel Saucedo has
worked at Five Points for
about three months, and
said that particular Friday
night crowd had been an
unusual mix of people, as
both students and out-of
town relatives were visit
ing.
However; even the visi
tors to Athens have their
favorite Classic City liquor
stores.
Tim Hand was in Athens
to visit friends when he
stopped by Five Points.
“For me, it depends on
what I’m wanting to buy,”
he said of his liquor store
choices in his hometown.
“If I'm wanting to buy wine,
I have a store for that. If
I’m wanting to buy beer, I
have a different store for
that, and If I'm wanting to
buy liquor there’s a differ
ent store for that.”
He said this philosophy
holds true when he comes
to Athens he said he
goes to Village Wine and
Spirits on the Eastside for
wine and said he thought
Five Points had decent
selections of beer and
liquor.
spread from animals to humans
are common think avian flu,
swine flu, malaria and Lyme dis
ease —but examples of the
reverse are far more rare.
According to a 2002 paper co
authored by Porter, “This is the
first time, to our knowledge, that
a bacterial species associated
with the human gut has been
shown to be a marine inverte
brate pathogen.”
What is even more surprising
is that the disease has accom
plished what Porter dubs a "tri
ple Jump,” transitioning mysteri
ously from a “vertebrate to an
invertebrate, from terrestrial to
marine, and from aerc v .ic to
anaerobic.”
Discerning the steps that lead
from the human stomach to the
bottom of the sea demands solu
tions crossing a range of scientif
ic disciplines.
Besides being an expedition
to save fragile ecosystems, it’s an
investigation of infectious dis
ease that can shed light on trans
mission and an exercise in genet
ics as the researchers harness
the top facilities at the
University’s Georgia Genomics
Facility.
This multi-pronged approach
to science is invaluable because
it illustrates how advancements
in one field genetics empow
er other fields ecology and
infectious diseases.
The generous funding and
extensive support is a reward for
a decade of piggybacking this
vital research off of regular reef
monitoring work, a period in
which the team discovered the
bacterial cause of white pox by a
happy accident.
“Science advances through
mistakes as fast as it does
through success. I truly believe
that,” Porter said. “A lot of good
science is swimming upstream
when you believe in your work
but the research dollars to prove
it are hard to come by.”
In a recent lecture at the
University, Porter echoed the
theme of pushing boundaries in
pursuit of knowledge, presenting
a point-by-point critique of many
political leaders’ inability to lis
ten to scientific fact.
In the final moments, his voice
rose to a thunderous crescendo,
“If this class is about nothing
else, it is about speaking truth to
power. Whatever field you are in,
you must stand up for the facts.
You must let the truth be
heard.”
Hand said cost didn’t
play too much into his alco
hol purchasing.
“Really for me it’s about
selection. Even if they cost
a little bit more. I’ll go
there because I just know
there’s a better selection,”
he said.
Lee echoed Hand's com
ments about Five Points’
beer selection, but said she
primarily came to this store
because of its central loca
tion and typical customer.
“Here, they don’t accept
fake IDs. Like, they just
don’t fly,” she said. “So you
have a lot of older crowd in
here versus some of the
other liquor stores, which
are known as being less
stringent. But you also pay
for less variety there and
it’s usually not as nice a
place as here.”
Lee said one reason she
prefers to drink at home is
because of the typical
downtown patron.
“Since I’ve gotten older
I probably stay at peoples’
houses more,” she said.
“And I live downtown so If
we end up downtown we
Just walk ... Even when we
do go out, we go to quieter
bars, not the ‘go dance it
up’ kind of bars."
Saucedo said people
come to liquor stores so
they can plan some chill
time with friends.
“I think people like to go
downtown for the camara
derie. You get the service
and the atmosphere and
everything," Saucedo said.
“But you gotta have some
thing when you get home,
don’t you?”