Fight and Possible Shots Fired Sunday

According to the Monday Athens-Clarke County Police Department media release, Police responded Sunday to a report of a fight with possible shots fired.

On Sunday the ACCPD received a call reporting the fight and possible shots fired at 150 Hickman Drive.  Police arrived at 2:30 p.m., but no arrests were made. The incident is currently under investigation.

The report also listed a burglary from a house on Glendale Heights where nothing was taken and a theft valued at approximately $1100 from an unlocked vehicle on Virginia Lane.

Report any dangerous, damaging, or suspicious incidents to the ACCPD by calling 911 or 706-613-3345.

Switching from Journalism to Public Relations

In a University of Georgia journalism class split between journalism majors and public relations majors Merritt Melancon said her career switch from journalism to public relations had not been a big problem.

Merritt Melancon

Melancon had worked as a journalist since 2003 for a number of Georgia papers - the Eatonton Messenger, the Union-Recorder in Milledgeville, and the Athens Banner-Herald - until this past year when she made a career switch and began doing public relations for the College of Agriculture at the University of Georgia. 

“There’s not been much of a learning curve going into this office and this branch of PR” Melancon said “because a lot of what I’m doing is pushing public information out there.”  She said that the change in work environment was more of a shock than the change in work itself. 

Melancon said she made the switch because she didn’t feel that she and her husband could both sustain working at the Athens Banner-Herald where they were both putting in 12-hour days.

Melancon didn’t think she would work as a journalist again. “Once you make that leap you cannot really go back effectively,” Melancon said “I kind of feel like I would be tainted.”

Graduate Student Confident He Will Find Work.

Greg Boike, a graduate student at the University of Georgia, is confident he will find a job when he graduates despite having read about the lower-than-expected job growth this past March.

“As long as I’m willing to put some time and effort into it I should be able to find something” Greg said.

Greg, who will graduate in May of 2014 with a master’s in public administration with a concentration on local government, said he decided to pursue another degree because his undergraduate majors of political science and geography left him without a clear career path. Greg said his graduate studies have helped him understand that he wants to be involved in city management.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the unemployment rate had dropped nominally from 7.7 percent in February to 7.6 percent in March, but the number of jobs created in March was considerably smaller at 88,000 than it had been previously in January at 148,000 and February at 268,000.

Graphs published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics

But Greg is confident he will find a job. “I don’t think it’ll be easy,” Greg said, “but UGA’s program is one of the best in the country and its graduates have had a very high success rate in the past of finding jobs.”

Greg said that when he finished undergrad last year most of his friends had decided to take an extra year in undergraduate studies, attend graduate school, or attend law school; very few of them had even tried to enter the workforce.

UGA Tennis Team Recruiting Goals

Will Glen, Assistant Head Coach for UGA Tennis Team

Will Glen, Assistant Head Coach for the University of Georgia’s Tennis Team, tells a journalism class at UGA that the team recruits students with talent, character, and work ethic.

Glenn said that summer was a big recruiting season for UGA.  They look for players at the top of the United States Tennis Association.

“We watch a lot of matches. Long days just watching matches. Cause you need to see them lose matches and win matches” said Glenn.

Glenn said the team looks for players who have the skill, but also the character for the game.  Glenn said the coaches spend time with current UGA Tennis players working on poise and control during the matches.

Glenn said the team also wants players who can balance academics with the sport because it shows work ethic. He said we “watch them and see who handles stress the best” because “that’s part of the talent.”