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TODAY'S ISSUE
Once spotted, stray Sheltie stays with Snellville couple
By Kathy Gestar
Special to GwinnettForum.com

A lady from our subdivision saw a Sheltie leaving our subdivision. Thinking it belonged to someone in the subdivision, she picked the dog, a female, up.

She then came to our house, because we have a Sheltie, and thought perhaps it was our dog. Though it was late, about 6:15 p.m. I called my vet, who were nice enough to stay till the lady got there to see if the dog had a microchip. The dog did not.

Afterward, I called the Sheltie breeder where I purchased my Sheltie and she gave me the number for the Sheltie Rescue of Georgia, Inc. But before contacting them, we drove around our area looking for missing dog signs and also checked the newspaper. After all, this dog did not have a collar, and there wasn't any information that would match with the dog we had.

Later on my husband and I drove to Dawsonville and met the lady from the Sheltie Rescue and gave her the dog. Then we drove home.

By the time we got home, my husband, Ed, said to me: "I think we made a mistake." You see, we had fallen in love with this dog. So, we let the shelter know that we wanted to adopt the dog.

She is such a loving dog. She wants to be in your lap or touching you all the time. And such a nice disposition, just like the other Sheltie we already have.

The lady who originally picked up the dog was named "Sara," and a dear friend now deceased was "Sarakay." Therefore, we named the dog in memory of Sarakay.

When we got the Sheltie, she was "skin and bones" but now she’s fattening up, and has a lot of spunk about her. The vet said Sarakay is healthy but needs some meat on her bones.

Shelties are such a comfort companion. Their disposition and attitude are two of their
greatest assets, for they are such loving dogs.

Anyone who is interested in adopting a Sheltie should call the Sheltie Rescue at 770-926-2001.

ELLIOTT BRACK
Smaller phone book means BellSouth didn't listen
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com

What has happened, you see, is that you have picked up the new Gwinnettt BellSouth Yellow Pages. It's far smaller than its predecessor.

BellSouth didn't learn its lesson earlier, when it reduced the column and type size in the white pages. It did so by adding another column of phone numbers to its white pages, though not increasing the page size. The protest from subscribers was loud, since it made reading the telephone book numbers (and names and addresses) far more difficult for the average person.

The change might have saved BellSouth money. But in the long run, it earned the displeasure of its customers. Who knows? For many, they may have tossed the BellSouth telephone books, and started using one of the alternate telephone books that have been springing up since de-regulation of the phone business.

BellSouth customers are now finding delivered to them the 2003-04 edition of the Greater Gwinnett County "Real Yellow Pages." What once measured 9 x 10.75 inches has shrunk. Boy! Has it shrunk!

The new "Real Yellow Pages" from BellSouth measures 6.75 by 5.125 inches. Yep, you got it right, about one-third of its former self. (From 96.75 to 34.593 square inches. That's a whopping 179 percent loss in size!)

Here’s how that is bad. While a full size page has been greatly reduced, what really hurts are the individual listings, by category. Where the columns of last year’s Gwinnett book were two inches wide, now the listing columns of the new book are---can you believe this?---a mere one inch wide! Will you guess what has happened to the size of type in these column listings? Yep, it has been reduced too.

Being familiar with type sizes, I submit that the type has gone from six points to four points or less. One thing for sure: if you had trouble reading the type before, you can forget reading it now. It's tiny.

Consider buying a magnifying glass, if you use the BellSouth Real Yellow Pages. You'll need it.

BellSouth has found new competition on several fronts in its business since de-regulation. One of these new competitors are the many companies that also produce telephone directories. All these BellSouth competitors have been greatly enhanced by the decision of BellSouth to make its "Real Yellow Pages" more profitable---and smaller.

By making the directories harder to read may mean more so-called efficiency and improvement for BellSouth. It's not an improvement customers will appreciate. BellSouth may have chased away one segment of its business.

Learn, BellSouth. Learn that you can’t routinely make arbitrary bad decisions and expect your customers won’t rebel, or leave you. The uproar last year about the shrinking type of the white pages (because of adding a column to each page) should have been a warning.

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Bravo to Snellville! Many travelers refer to Atlanta as "a city in a forest." I think this is a beautiful way to describe our area. Efforts such as those underway in communities such as Snellville are helping to perpetuate the description. I only hope that many area communities will follow the lead by, if not hiring an arborist, at least using community (capable and knowledgeable citizens) and area (Educational and Governmental) resources to protect trees and wooded areas.

On the subject of leaving Iraq, I, too, am concerned by mounting casualties. Although I might feel differently if I had a spouse or child there, I sense, from news reports an undercurrent of progress in nation-building there that one would hope make our efforts worthwhile and that would justify our continued efforts to create long term stability in the area. I admit, though, that the human losses make it tough to stick with a "wait and see" attitude
towards the situation.

-- Randy Stephens, Duluth

11/18: War, North Slope oil, and what to say to Saudis

Editor, the Forum:

Don't start this with me! I saw what the press did here in the states during the Vietnam years and I also saw what the press did in Vietnam during "My Vietnam year".

General William T. Sherman, the first individual to recognize the need to impose "urban renewal" on Atlanta, said "War is hell". I say it's only hell to those who have to endure it.

To the rest, it is lucrative; therefore, pleasing. This includes the press.

Whether we were/are right being in Iraq, let's do the job, then talk about getting out. Forget the debate on the Alaska North Slope oil and whether we should inconvenience some caribou who will adapt when we now own Iraqi.

Why send billions to the country to rebuild it for them, when we now own it? We can rebuild Iraq through it's combined economy and ours and "save" our environment by rebuilding Iraq's oil production and buying exclusively "from ourselves"; thereby helping our own economy in the short and long runs.

America should tell the rest of the world to go jump, and tell Saudi Arabia "get it together or you are next." Let Israel and whomever they wish to fight now or next to get it on, since we have our hands full. After all, taking care of number one in our own best interest, and "if you're not part of the solution, you're probably part of the problem."

-- Howard N. Williams, Jr., Snellville

P.S. One more thing, new topic; where was Jessica when they denuded the two parcels of land on the Georgia Highway 124 south of the Snellville city limits to put in two subdivisions? Was it annexed after the fact? Was she just the "Marshal" then? ---Howard.

CALENDAR
Suwanee mayor to address Chamber on Nov. 21

Nick Masino, mayor of Suwanee and president of the Gwinnett Municipal Association, will be the guest speaker for the Governmental Affairs Meeting November 21 at the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. The meeting will be held at 8 a.m. at the Chamber building at 6500 Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth.

Mayor Masino will discuss "Municipal Happenings in Gwinnett."

Gwinnett County's youngest mayor, Mayor Masino has served Suwanee since January 2000. A Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce board member, he is a member of the Georgia Municipal Association, where he chairs the Community Development Policy Committee and is a member of the Legislative Policy Committee. A graduate of The Ohio State University, he also is a founding board member of the North Gwinnett Schools Foundation, member of the Gwinnett County Schools Superintendent's Community Advisory Board, and member of Saint Monica's Catholic Church.

There is no RSVP necessary to attend the meeting. For more information, contact Suzanne Adams at 770-232-8801 or suzanne@gwinnettchamber.org.

Safari Club meets Wednesday to host milliner of hatts

The Safari Club will meet Wednesday, November 19 at 12:30 in the Rotunda Room of the Hudgens Center for the Arts.

This month’s Safari Club will be extra special, featuring an extra special lady: Lylia Giraldo. A native of Columbia, South America, she now lives in Decatur. Her art is unique: she is a milliner, and her hats are flights of the imagination!

She will be creating a hat while the group has lunch. She will show she makes it, and she will talk about the incredible trims and embellishments she uses to decorate her hats and other accessories. Her trims and flowers come from all over the world!

Safari Club costs only $15 which covers lunch and beverages including wine. Space is limited, so reservations are necessary. Please call 770-623-6002 to reserve your space. Bring a friend!