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TODAY'S
ISSUE
Perimeter College graduates
hear from schools expert
By
Cathy Henson
Special to GwinnettForum.com
(Editor's note: the following is the gist of
the 2004 commencement address given May 15 at Georgia Perimeter
College recently. Ms. Henson is the president of the Georgia School
Council Institute.)
JUNE 11, 2004 -- Earlier this year, I was humbled to receive the
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian award from this college.
There is no greater honor than to receive an award for community
service than in the name of Dr. King. Today, I would like to talk
briefly about how meaningful it is to celebrate his dream by graduating
from college.
 If
you can think back to your freshman year in high school, I want
you to picture yourself with nine of your classmates. Of the ten
of you who started your freshman year of high school, only six of
you graduated four years later. Of the six high school graduates,
three of you went on to college, and only one - you - received a
college diploma. So I want you to fully savor this moment in time
and take satisfaction in a job well done.
Think about how many of your milestones up until now have been
educational:
- the day you entered kindergarten, middle school, and high school;
- the day you graduated from high school;
- the day you started college;
- and today, the day you graduate from college.
And even though for many of you your formal education may be over,
I hope you always remain curious enough to learn something every
day. Just like the body, the mind needs to be exercised daily.
.
The Georgia Perimeter fact book shows the average age of our graduates
to be around 24. What has happened since 1980?
Let me ask the graduates - how many of you have ever dialed a rotary
phone, typed on a typewriter, used a card catalogue or watched a
movie on a beta tape? Let me ask the parents - in 1980, how many
of you had a cell phone, had a computer at home, cooked in a microwave
or did your banking online? Let me ask the faculty - how many of
you had a PC on your desk, did research on the Internet, sent assignments
by e-mail or had an electronic grade book?
Technology has changed the world. And it will be these graduates
- the Class of 2004 - who will determine how much the world will
change in the next 24 years, when their children will be graduating
in the class of 2028. These graduates will be limited only by their
imaginations because they have the education to make any possibility
a reality.
I know commencement speakers are supposed to give you all sorts
of meaningful advice about life, like how your future is ahead of
you and your past is behind you and as my 20 year old son would
say, "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah."
Yet here are some lessons I have learned in my life, for what they
are worth.
First, have a positive orientation on life. Get up every morning
and focus on what you have rather than on what you don't have. Be
grateful. See the glass as two-thirds full. Give back more than
you take. Let that car get ahead of you in line. It is just as easy
to be positive as it is to be negative.
Second, strive for balance in your life. It's okay to value your
career as long as you value your personal relationships, particularly
those with your family. It's okay to value wealth as long as you
value community service.
Finally, plan long range, but live each day as if it were your
last. Some of us fail to enjoy life because we are waiting for tomorrow,
others can't improve the life they might live tomorrow because they
are too focused on today.
Today we celebrate your graduation and look forward with great
anticipation to your accomplishments of tomorrow. Good luck and
May the Force be with you.
ELLIOTT
BRACK
Check
out Georgia's seven wonders
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com
JUNE 11, 2004 -- You've heard of the Seven Wonders of the World,
right? Some slick public relations person back in Grecian times
came up with the idea, perhaps to spur tourism. And since the known
world was primarily the Middle East and Mediterranean Sea area,
guess what? Yep, you got it: that's where these Wonders are located.
 Since
that early time, we have seen other man-made and natural places
named as a "wonder." Mainly, it's boosterism.
Several years ago, we came up with a list of the Seven Natural
Wonders of Georgia. With our economy sputtering, perhaps it's a
good time to float that list again, in hopes that it might produce
some travel for a few people, and boost our state economically at
the same time.
So, once again, here is our list of the Seven Wonders of Georgia:
1. Okefenokee Swamp. It's vast, it's on shaky ground, and it's
spooky. And it's the home of thousands of creatures, including alligators
big enough to swallow us. And it is amazing. It's located near Waycross
in deep South Georgia, and is headwaters for the Suwanee River,
which flows south into Florida from here.
2. Stone Mountain. We are all familiar with it, located partially
within Gwinnett. This massive rock granite dome rises 650 feet above
the plain. Walk around the mountain and it's seven miles. A Confederate
memorial carved into the rock was completed in 1970.
3. Talluhah Gorge. It plunges 1,200 feet deep from Highway 441
south of Clayton, and includes a series of waterfalls. Land around
the site is now a state park, with several viewing locations. Under
the highway bridge is a dam which held back water which gave Georgia
some of its early electric power.
4. Providence Canyon. In southwest Georgia, near Lumpkin, the Canyon
is a study in nature's way of erosion. It's been called Georgia's
Little Grand Canyon, as water has eroded the soft soil to a depth
of more than 100 feet. The multi-colored layers can be clearly seen
in the 1,109 acre network of gorges.
5. Amicalola Falls. Near Dawsonville, this is the highest waterfall
in Georgia, dropping 729 feet. Aptly named from the Indian word
for "tumbling water." It is now one of the most popular
state parks, and the beginning of the approach trail to the beginning
of the Appalachian Trail.
6. Warm Springs. Near Pine Mountain in Meriwether County, about
100 miles from Gwinnett, the 88 degree temperature water has soothed
Indians, locals, and even a popular president of the United States,
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who built a retreat nearby. The waters
bubble up from some 2,800 feet underground.
7. Coastal Islands: These peaceful barrier islands of Georgia are
a major wildlife
habitat, stretching miles inland and are a chain of islands over
100 miles long.
The area is wonderful to visit, or to live on, and ever so pleasant.
Giant water
oaks, often hanging with moss, amid the tall pines, stretches of
marshgrass, all
amid the ever-changing pattern of life in a tidal environment add
up to a superb
marvel of nature.
That's our list. As you travel this state, visit them. We bet you
will be awed.
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McLEMORE'S
WORLD
6/11: How to get rid
of California
FEEDBACK
6/11: Duluth UGA grad
upset with stewardship of Dr. Adams
(Editor's Note: Duluth Resident Dick Daneke responded
to a message from the University of Georgia written by President
Michael Adams in this manner. GwinnettForum obtained permission
from Mr. Daneke to reprint his views. -eeb.)
Dear UGA:
Although this email to which I am replying is not from Dr. Michael
Adams, I would like to note my disappointment in his stewardship.
As an alumni and a proud Georgian, I find Dr. Adams' academic improvements
stale, delayed, and trite. For two years, the web page promoting
his vision and efforts on this front was not updated!
New buildings are on campus but entering students are still herded
into large classes led by Teaching Assistants. How much of the drop
in enrollment over the first two years could be attributed to poor
teaching and presentation?
Parking and transportation have worsened as large decks have been
added and roads eliminated.
Campus housing is being renovated - reducing available living space
- as policy dictates more students must reside on campus!
As for his efforts to elevate the school's reputation, his efforts
have dishonored our traditions, disappointed our supporters, and
discouraged our students athletes.
Could the Board of Regents move to sever University Foundation
help be a power play to maintain the funding and get rid of the
fundraisers?
I agree that traditional groups that have supported UGA have been
distracted by Dr. Adams. But, wouldn't it be easier to replace him
than to replace those that have disagreed with him - like the UGA
Foundation board, the supporting athletic community, the tenured
faculty, the dispirited alumni, etc.
-- Dick Daneke, Duluth
6/11: Says still need
for old medical books for Iraqi doctors
Editor, the Forum:
Last year, I passed along a message about a US military doctor
requesting English language medical books for Iraqi doctors. During
the past many years, they have been unable to update their medical
libraries.
As we all know, medical updates occur often. Meanwhile most Western
doctors update their libraries fairly often and then pitch the replaced
books, or at least they gather dust in hidden places.
Thanks to your help and of many other people, more than 2000 English
language medical books were sent to Iraq. They are now in a medical
library in the health services building in Kirkuk, serving the many
doctors in the hospitals and clinics in this city of some 500, 000
persons.
But the need for more books continues. The original medical doctor
has moved on, but his efforts have been taken over by another doctor.
If you can help or have friends and family in the medical profession
who can be of help with this, please send the books to:
- Col. Jack Zimmerly, 451 CA Battalion, APO AE 09347
Thanks.
-- Larry Zani, Kaiserlauten, Germany
6/11: Could UGA be
characterized as cloutful cash cow?
Editor, the Forum:
On hearing reports of the "banishment" of the UGA foundation
from its longtime working relationship, I am compelled to ask the
following:
(1) Could the UGA (or other large educational institutions) be
considered politically cloutful "CASH COWS?"
(2) Might there be reason for persons unscrupulous to want to control
same?
(3) Could large alumni associations be considered politically cloutful
"CASH COWS" with potentially large amounts of funding
available for discretionary use?
(4) Might there be reason for persons unscrupulous to want to control
same?
(5) Could Vince Dooley be employed as UGA President or made a member
of the Board of Regents (I will guarantee you he would have a badly
needed perspective to offer re such questions)?
Statement: I've heard of "foxes in the henhouse" before;
however, now it seems that they have developed a "bovine"
appetite. And that's no bull!
-- Randy Stephens, Duluth
CALENDAR
Suddreth to speak at
Duluth ribbon cutting on June 18
The City of Duluth invites readers to witness the ribbon cutting
of the newly improved intersection at Church Street and Washington
Street in Duluth. The event will be Friday, June 18 at 2 p.m. Mayor
Shirley Fanning-Lasseter will officiate. In conjunction with the
Community Development Block Grant Program, the completion of this
intersection represents the continued development efforts of the
City.
Ken Suddreth, director of the Planning & Development, will
be giving the featured address. Parking will be available at Friendship
Baptist Church. Visisors are asked to use the tree lined walkway
to the ceremony area.
Arts center needs throw-away
items for children's work
Save your large coffee cans, small peanut cans, paper tubes of
paper towels and toilet paper. Even save wrapping paper.
Why? The Gwinnett Center for the Arts at the Hudgens Children's
Art Center needs such material. They will help children build robot
marionettes. Such materials may be dropped off in the education
office of the Arts Center in Duluth.
The current exhibit includes Gwinnett's creative kids, panitings
by Waldo Vinces and photography by Ned Morgan
BOOK
RECOMMENDATION
6/8: From Dr. Jim Waits
Former dean of the Candler School of Theology
at Emory University
"I thoroughly enjoyed The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown,
popular and unbelievable at times, but a thoroughly absorbing book
to me. My favorite recent book, though, is P. D. James' The Murder
Room -- in my estimate James is the best contemporary mystery
writer there is! For sheer fun, the series by Alexander McCall Smith,
starting with The Ladies' Number One Detective Agency. Smith
writes in a delightful African naive vernacular, and the principal
character in the four earliest books, Mm. Ramotswe (the #1 detective),
is an original feminist brimming with self-confidence and worldly
wisdom.
"I'm currently reading Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling,
by Ross King (he's the one who wrote Brunelleschi's Dome,
about the building of the Duomo.) No theology books -- they pale
by comparison with these!"
- An invitation: What books have you enjoyed? Send us
your best recent book along with a short paragraph as to why you
liked it, plus what you plan to read next. --eeb
ENCYCLOPEDIA
TIDBIT
6/11: Mississippian
people were primarily horticulturalists
The Mississippian Period in the midwestern and southeastern United
States, which lasted from about A.D. 800 to 1600, saw the development
of some of the most complex societies that ever existed in North
America.
 Mississippian
people were horticulturalists. They grew much of their food in small
gardens using simple tools like stone axes, digging sticks, and
fire. Corn, beans, squash, sunflowers, goosefoot, sumpweed, and
other plants were cultivated. Wild plant and animal foods were also
eaten. They gathered nuts and fruits and hunted such game as deer,
turkeys, and other small animals. Mississippian people also collected
fish, shellfish, and turtles from rivers, streams, and ponds.
Unlike contemporary people, Mississippian people spent much of
their lives outdoors. Their houses were used mainly as shelter from
inclement weather, sleeping in cold months, and storage. These were
rectangular or circular pole structures; the poles were set in individual
holes or in continuous trenches. Walls were made by weaving saplings
and cane around the poles, and the outer surface of the walls was
sometimes covered with sun-baked clay or daub. Roofs were covered
with thatch, with a small hole left in the middle to allow smoke
to escape. Inside the houses the hearth dominated the center of
the living space. Low benches used for sleeping and storage ringed
the outer walls, while short partitions sometimes divided this outer
space into compartments. By today's standards Mississippian houses
were quite small, ranging from 12 feet to 30 feet on a side.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
No telling where you
will find creative descriptions
"The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks
don't."
-- Author Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)
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