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Editor's Note: Thanksgiving will be observed by GwinnettForum, with no edition set for November 28. The next edition will be published on December 2, 2003. -eeb.

TODAY'S ISSUE
Raises questions about those who offer financial advice
By Suzanne Boas
President
Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Atlanta
Special to GwinnettForum.com

NOV. 25, 2003 - - Even as the economy improves, layoffs and cutbacks have led many consumers to seek help from credit counselors.

Everyone knows someone who has been laid off or cut back at work. A United Way partner, Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Atlanta (CCCS Atlanta) offers free budget counseling and has been helping financially stressed families throughout north Georgia since 1964.

The National Foundation for Credit Counseling (www.nfcc.org) has named CCCS Atlanta the nation's outstanding agency for four straight years. All NFCC-member agencies are accredited and offer comprehensive counseling by certified counselors.

Credit counseling can be a real salvation for overextended consumers - but it is very important to choose a reputable, accredited agency, we always stress. Our agency urges debt-weary consumers to take a deep breath and cast a critical eye when seeking help for financial problems.

… What is the cost? The initial counseling session should be free or low cost and should include a complete overview of the consumer's finances. For consumers who choose a debt management plan, monthly charges are limited by law to 7.5 percent of the consumer's monthly payment to creditors (CCCS Atlanta charges less). Requiring a fee or "contribution" to start a debt management plan is no longer legal in Georgia.

… Is it comprehensive? A holistic approach empowers consumers, offering more than a debt management plan. Through face-to-face, telephone and online credit counseling, budget planning and educational programs, CCCS encourages consumers to seek help with their finances before they become a problem. Two-thirds of consumers who contact CCCS receive counseling and education to handle their problems on their own or are referred to other agencies for help. After a thorough counseling session, only the remaining third elect to enter a debt management plan.

… Who is responsible? A community-based Board of Directors representing local business, community and civic interests, guides CCCS, keeping a focus on the financial health of consumers and the community. CCCS Atlanta's Board of community leaders includes Barry Reid, former administrator of the Governor's Office of Consumer Affairs. Consumer advocate Clark Howard is now a director emeritus, having served on the CCCS board for 16 years.

… Is it certified? Certification means agency counselors must pass rigorous tests measuring experience and knowledge.

… Is it accredited? Accreditation signifies the appropriate checks and balances to protect you. Consumer Credit Counseling Service is accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Services for Families and Children Inc.

Consumer Credit Counseling Service offers a dynamic community education program, featuring seminars on budgeting and money management as well as homebuyer workshops and housing counseling. A member of the Better Business Bureau, CCCS Atlanta is funded by creditors, clients and grants from foundations, business and government.

The Gwinnett office of CCCS is at 6000 Live Oak Parkway, Suite 113 in Norcross and a new Hall County office just opened near the Square in Gainesville.

Counseling is also available by phone or online. Contact CCCS at 1-800-251-CCCS (2227) or www.cccsinc.org. CCCS also offers service in Spanish at 1-866-616-3717 or www.CCCSenEspanol.org.

ELLIOTT BRACK
The setting moon speaks of solidity of changes in life
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com

NOV. 25, 2003 -- Walking back on our driveway from picking up the newspapers a recent clear morning, we looked up and noticed the moon in the northeast in its first quarter. While we could distinguish the hum of early morning traffic, generally it was a quiet stillness that greeted us, a certain calmness at the beginning of a new day. It told us in reassuring physical terms that the world was going about its routines of seasonal change, as it is meant to be.

Noticing the moon was reassuring, as were the abundant leaves along the driveway, which predictably fall each year from the trees. Meanwhile, several slowly-turning Burning Bush plants nearby gave even more evidence of these continuing changes that serve always to reassure us.

You see this ever-changing world as the rivers continue to seep out of the earth's crust, run their always-downhill path, bringing us the water of life, seasonally rising and falling, but always flowing, even constant.

All this tells us of some enormous spirit guiding our universe, some total control by a power greater than anything in all creation, allowing us to have breathe and thrive, the seasons to change, and the world move along.

It speaks of a world that is not capricious nor vengeful, but one which gave us enormous ranges of norms, yet always has a predictable changing of seasons, summers following a springs, falls preceding winters. This power always allowed the moisture and the dry spells, the bountiful years and the meager ones, the sweet and the bitter.

Yes, all this was reassuring, looking up at that moon. The headlines of the newspapers spoke much of destruction, wars, conflict and hatred. The news spoke of nation pitted against nation, of people attacking one another, of people even taking steps against their own bodies.

Yet that is only one side of the world. Yes, much of what is happening is bad, sinister, vengeful, even folly. But there is another side, where people show caring in their assistance of others, their deeds for one another, their innate goodness. You hear of people willing to risk their lives for others, without caring of danger to themselves.

The same moon was shining all around the world, routinely rising and setting each day with this message of constancy and change. Perhaps in another part of the world, it spoke to others in an early morning, in its first quarter, headed for another full moon, only to wane and rise again. It represented the changes that come in this universe, which assure us all, whether it is the sun rising, the streams flowing, the leaves falling, or the moon setting.

As we enter this season of Thanksgiving, we are assured by the ever-changing seasons of the existence of a greater power, one we call God, in this life we live, in this world we are privileged to be in. These changing seasons tell us so much if we listen carefully.

COMING NEXT: Another chapter in the saga of the smaller telephone books!-eeb

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Editor, the Forum;

Not to put too fine a point on it, but the City of Dacula has prohibited smoking in public places, with certain exceptions, since August 1998. Glad the other areas are catching up.

-- Jimmy Wilbanks, mayor of Dacula

11/25: Feels banning smoking is not government's job

Editor, the Forum:

While everything in your article about banning smoking is possibly true (November 21), I think there are much larger questions at hand in regard to Gwinnett's proposed smoking ban.

Do we really want government dictating these type of issues? Shouldn't the laws of supply and demand dictate what property owners offer their patrons?

I personally believe the latter. Strong arguments can be made either way but, it occurs to me that smokers and non-smokers alike could easily speak with their pocket books, patronizing entities that provide an atmosphere conducive to the desires of the public they serve. We are not forced to enter any facility we find offensive now so why should government even be involved? I think it may be because many people don't have the fortitude to stand by their convictions, so they turn to government to enforce bans on things that they may personally find offensive or politically incorrect.

I can't help but wonder if those calling for a smoking ban today won't be calling for bans on such things as religious freedoms tomorrow. Where does it stop? When do we as a nation once again place a higher value on our freedom of choice rather than turning to government to impose our will? When do we again place a higher value on others right to choose?

You have mentioned that the majority of the public is non-smoking. I commend that majority but am seriously concerned that we are fast becoming a nation of majority rule, majority imposing their will over the minorities. I find this disconcerting when I reflect back just a few short years ago and realize that had it been this way then, Blacks,Women, Latinos and yes even people of some religious affiliations would have no rights today, that decisions affecting all of us would be being made by Caucasian males.

Many people will think I'm over the top on this issue but it seems to me that if a business has a demand, it will meet that demand or face the loss of revenues. I have no problem with a business offering a smoke free environment but honestly believe that business should have the right to offer smoking environments as well and let the public speak with their money. If the demand for smoke free environments is there business will meet that need without the intervention of government. A simple solution would be to allow business owners to be either a smoke free business or a totally smoking business and stop trying to split hairs by offering both in buildings that really don't have the ventilation needed to actually remove smoke before it penetrates invisible barriers currently offered in most establishments.

That being said, I have no issues with Government imposing such a ban in truly public areas, properties being owned by the public. I do take issue when privately owned property is considered to be public domain.

-- Jim Dumond, Buford

11/25: Shiloh coach Roberrt Matthews' character is showing

Editor, the Forum:

The sports pages sometimes don't do justice to the good things that are exhibited there. Will Hammock of the Gwinnett Daily Post recently wrote about the somewhat surprising accomplishments of Robert Matthews, the 25 year old head football coach at Shiloh High School.

I say surprising only to repeat what he has said in the article. To those of us who have known this extraordinary young man for many years--not so! Robert has, since his youth, exhibited the finest character and leadership possible. He played football at Duluth High, and as a walk-on at the University of Georgia, not as a superstar, but always with enthusiasm and character.

Good people can become good coaches and I for one am glad that Robert gets the publicity that he deserves. One coach pointed out that leadership is not a matter of age, but of maturity and character--which Robert has in abundance. Look for even greater things from him and his program and don't be suprised if he turns out more "young" men like himself!

-- Charles Summerour, Duluth

PS- Robert is married to Laura Henderson Matthews, a former golfer at UGA and now an assistant golf coach there. Robert and Laura are great role models and leaders of young people!--CS

CALENDAR
Gwinnett author Jack Riggs sets library talks

Gwinnett Author Jack Riggs will read from and sign copies of new book, "When the Finch Rises," on successive Mondays at two Gwinnett libraries.

He will speak at 7 p.m. on December 1 at the Collins Branch at 455 Camp Perrin in Road, and speaks also on December 8 at 7 p.m. at the Five Forks Branch at 2780 Five Forks Trickum Road.

"When the Finch Rises" is the story of redemption and grace, forgiveness and hope, set in a small North Carolina town in the 1960's.

JACK RIGGS has been published in The Crescent Review, The Chattahoochee Review, The Habersham Review, and Writing, Making It Real (Addison Wesley Longman). In April 2000 he was selected as an "Emerging New Southern Voice" at the Millennial Gathering of Writers of the New South at Vanderbilt University. He has been a finalist in the Glimmer Train Fiction Contest as well as nominated for a Pushcart. He teaches at Georgia Perimeter College.

Please see www.gwinnettpl.org for more information. Chapter 11 Books will be selling copies of the book at each program.