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TODAY'S ISSUE
Brand Bank offers deposit service from computer desktop
By Bartow Morgan
President
Brand Banking Company
Special to GwinnettForum.com

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA. June 1, 2005 -- Businesses no longer have to rush to the bank or wait in line to get their deposits made on time. In fact, they will never have to leave their desks at all, thanks to a revolutionary new service offered by The Brand Banking Company (Brand Bank), a local community bank serving Gwinnett and surrounding areas.

With the aid of a simple check scanner by RDM and a secure web-based software by Goldleaf Technologies, Brand Bank can now eliminate the time, effort and costs that businesses typically incur manually transporting and depositing paper checks every day. With the new service, checks are scanned and submitted electronically right from the business' desktop, freeing employees to spend their time where it's most needed instead of en route to or from the bank to make deposits.

Missy Johnson, who handles client relations at Brand Bank, says: "We're excited about being able to provide our business clients with this new technology." The service is possible because of "Check 21 legislation" that was passed into law last October, which paved the way for this new electronic initiative that is re-inventing the way checks are handled, processed and cleared.

Johnson says: "While Check 21 did not mandate electronic imaging of checks, it did clear the way for banks to exchange images, making check processing more efficient. Offering remote deposit extends these efficiencies to businesses so that they too can take advantage of the cost reductions and time savings," she added.

Businesses already using the service are raving. Beth Martin, vice president of Action Concrete Inc., in Buford, and Janet Volion, office manager of Cotter Moss, LLC, in Snellville, both appreciate the time savings that Brand Bank's service affords each day. "The fact that it's easy to use and allows us to submit deposits right away into different accounts are both tremendous benefits," says Volion.

"Brand Bank, the oldest locally owned bank in Gwinnett County, is the first community bank in the area to offer the new technology," says Johnson. Brand Bank operates six branches - five in Gwinnett County and one in Hall County.

Brand Banking Company is the oldest locally owned bank in Gwinnett and Hall Counties. The oldest branch of the bank has been on the courthouse square in downtown Lawrenceville since 1905. The bank prides itself on offering customers old fashioned service while also providing its patrons every modern banking convenience. For more information about the company, and its products and services, visit www.thebrandbank.com.

ELLIOTT BRACK
Being in the middle seat makes for tight, unhappy passenger
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com

JUNE 1, 2005 -- Bet you are like most people: you seek to avoid the middle seat on airliners. After all, you know that any flight these days will probably be crowded, and you just hope that either you have the aisle, and if not that, the window seat. You dread finding yourself in the middle seat, or if on longer flights on wide-bodied planes, in any of the several middle seats.

Perhaps, ever so slightly, there is hope. It comes from another transportation mode, the railroad industry of this country.

Train operators are finding that people will often stand, or even sit on the floor, to avoid taking a middle seat on rail trains, even if it is a trip of only an hour. People, and especially women, are apprehensive about being pressed in on each side by strangers.

(European trains traditionally have compartments, with two facing long seats for three people each. Bad part of this configuration, when crowded, is where to place your feet so that you don't end up stepping on someone's toes.)

What the rail lines have announced is that they are ordering new coaches with two-by-two seating, which means the elimination of the three-across seating. Long Island Railroad and Jersey Transit, have ordered double-decker coaches, with two seats on each side of the aisle. Other railroads in San Diego, Seattle, Virginia and Maryland are going to the two-by-two arrangement.

Passengers will applaud these moves. And it should make rail lines happy, for often their trains have seats left, but the middle ones unoccupied. The new seating arrangement could lead to a more efficient operation of many trains with all seats taken.

So….if one industry involved with moving people, takes this approach, could it possibly follow that airlines might try this?

Airlines offer all sorts of seat configurations. Sometimes, of course, it is the luck of the draw (and when booked) on seat arrangements. And these days, with pre-selection of flights and seating selection, you can check to see what type of airplane flies that route

The new short-hop commuter jets often have a capacity of less than 100, usually in two-by-two seating.. On Delta flights out of Atlanta, some people prefer the MD-88 airplane, which has two seats on one side, though three seats on the other.

The Boeing 767 class of airliners has two seats on each side, with three seats in the middle, as does the Airbus 300 series.

The MD-11, one of Delta Air's big planes, has two seats on each aisle, but FIVE across in the middle. Ugh!

There may be no hope for airlines on the largest jets, since they seek to shoehorn people in apparently as tight as humanly possible. And with rising fuel costs, airlines are wanting to gain the most revenue possible from each flight, so luxury in space in coach seating may be gone forever.

But what if a savvy airline, such as Southwest has proven to be, realizes that people want more elbow room….and started promoting two-by-two seating as an advantage? Would a copycat reaction set in? Could airline passengers ever show strength in selection of not just price, but space, too?

We wonder. And we hope. Unfortunately, that will probably not be enough. We may need a whole lot of good luck, too. Thanks, railroad, for showing at least the way.

The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today's featured sponsor is the Gwinnett Center whose slogan is "The right environment for a world of possibilities." With the addition of the Thomas P. "Tommy" Hughes Grand Ballroom and the 13,000 seat Arena, the possibilities truly are endless. Whether a comfortable and convenient venue for your entertainment pleasure, or the perfect location for your next event, the campus of Gwinnett Center offers just the right environment. Preston Williams is General Manager. Visit our web site at www.gwinnettcenter.com.

I'm responding to your commentary in the May 13 issue of Gwinnett Forum:

Have you tried Rib Country restaurants in Blairsville Ga. and Hayesville NC? It's my favorite place for ribs. They have good pork barbecue too, though not as good as Sprayberry's and Fresh Air. I haven't been to the others you mentioned, but I'll put them on my "to do" list.

-- Al Swint, Buford

With the recent termination of Larry Neace at Dacula High School, how is it possible that so many other teachers in the Gwinnett County School system can continue to use grades as discipline on a daily basis?

We have many teachers at Collins Hill High School that hand out zero's daily for students who put their heads down in class, causing "A" students to end up with B's and C's. Most of the students who do this have completed their required work and are completely bored in class.

Why is this practice allowed? And why are all teachers not disciplined equally? I do not agree with Mr. Neace's termination but I do agree with the excessive use of zero's for bored---not defiant---students. If a student is truly defiant that is another matter and should be handled appropriately.

-- Bette Shaia, Lawrenceville

I just wanted to thank Roger Hagen for a well written, well thought out letter (GwinnettForum, May 27, 2005). I totally agree. I like Danny Porter, but I do believe this issue is just "snowballing" into a life of its own.

Please, folks, let's leave this woman alone. She did not want to face a "huge" wedding. Now she faces not just 600 people, but the whole world.

Even Time Magazine had a spoof on her. Are we hurting so bad for news that we must ruin a persons life? We have all made mistakes in our lives. But, few of us have had to have those mistakes make the network news.

Be prepared to laugh: Chicago's Second City improv ensemble will be the featured performer at the City of Suwanee's Arts in the Park program on Saturday, June 4. A national comedic treasure, the Second City has launched the careers of John Belushi, Mike Myers, Bill Murray and Gilda Radner, to name a few. The ensemble, which comes to Suwanee straight from the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, will perform at Town Center Park at 9 p.m. Admission is free.

Suwanee's Arts in the Park line-up is designed to offer something for everyone in the family. Magician Bill Packard and Lionheart Theatre Company's performance of "That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles" are sure to please the young at heart. Dance enthusiasts will be particularly taken with the Gwinnett Ballet's presentation, and teens will rock to the tunes of Battle of the Bands winner Silas. The Showman Band will have everyone on their feet dancing.

Finally, The Second City performance is especially for adults. Please note that while Second City ensemble members avoid much of the adult language frequently associated with comedians, the performance should be considered a "PG-13"
rating at minimum.

On-stage performances begin at 4:30 p.m. Arts in the Park fun begins at Suwanee Town Center Park at 4 p.m. with an artists market, which will feature art-in-process demonstrations by a potter, wood worker, copper sculptor, and glass artist, for example, as well as interactive stations, where participants can create paper hats, paint tiles, plant seedlings, and make birdhouses.

Bring lawn chairs, blankets, friends, and neighbors to Arts in the Park, but no alcohol please. You may bring your own food or purchase dinner or snacks from on-site vendors, including Boomer's Ice Cream, Ippolito's, Log Cabin BBQ, Subway, and Tropical Breeze Shaved Ice. More information: www.suwanee.com or 770/945-8996.

"Zinn's latest work is an autobiographical account of the life of historian, activist & author of A People's History of The United States. The book follows Zinn's life from early childhood in the slums of New York City. The child of immigrants, Zinn worked in shipyards and docks during the 1930's and got involved in organizing workers.

"In the 40's he met his wife and joined the Air Force as a bombardier. Zinn took part in the bombing of a small enclave of German soldiers trapped on the coast of France near the end of World War II. It was an event that would shape his views on war and politics for ever.

"He moved his family to Atlanta to teach at Spelman College and during the early part of the Civil Rights movement challenged the leaders in both the black and the white communities in the South, as well as the FBI. In the 60's at Boston University he led students in protesting the Vietnam War and flew to Vietnam on a peace mission where he negotiated the return of American servicemen from the North Vietnamese. You Can't Be Neutral is being made into a motion picture and should also be released later this summer."

ENCYCLOPEDIA TIDBIT
6/1: Sapelo Island, once owned by magnates, mostly state-owned

Sapelo Island, situated about 60 miles south of Savannah, lies in the center of coastal Georgia's well-defined chain of barrier islands. The 16,500-acre island is Georgia's fourth largest and, excepting the 434-acre African American community of Hog Hammock, is entirely state owned and managed. The island comprises various entities in addition to Hog Hammock, including the University of Georgia Marine Institute, the Richard J. Reynolds Wildlife Management Area, and the Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve.

The name Sapelo is of Indian origin, being adapted to Zapala by Spanish missionaries, who established themselves on the island from about 1573 to 1686.

In 1912 Detroit automotive engineer Howard Coffin (1873-1937) consolidated the various holdings on Sapelo and bought the entire island, except for the black communities, for $150,000. Coffin owned Sapelo for 22 years. Between 1922 and 1925 he rebuilt the south-end mansion-a tabby-stucco structure originally built by Spalding in 1810-into one of the most palatial homes on the coast. Coffin engaged in large-scale agriculture, sawmilling, and seafood harvesting. He also built roads, drilled artesian wells, and added other improvements to the island.

Many distinguished visitors were guests of the Coffins on Sapelo, including presidents Calvin Coolidge (1928) and Herbert Hoover (1932), and aviator Charles A. Lindbergh (1929). During this period Coffin and his young cousin Alfred W. Jones established the Cloister resort on nearby Sea Island.

In 1934, due to financial reversals brought on by the depression, Coffin sold Sapelo to North Carolina tobacco heir Richard J. Reynolds Jr. (1906-1964). Reynolds utilized the island as a part-time residence for 30 years. During this time, he consolidated the black holdings on the island into one community at Hog Hammock. Reynolds's most important contribution was establishing the Sapelo Island Research Foundation and providing facilities and other support for the University of Georgia Marine Institute, begun in 1954. His widow, Annemarie Schmidt Reynolds, sold Sapelo to the state of Georgia in two separate transactions in 1969 and 1976.

Approximately 115 people now reside on Sapelo, either permanently or temporarily, with the majority of them at Hog Hammock. That community still consists primarily of descendants of slaves, and their diminishing numbers are a source of concern. Cornelia Walker Bailey, the most prominent spokesperson for the community, has long been a champion of preserving the rich West African heritage, from spiritual beliefs and folkways to the Geechee dialect once spoken by the island's African American residents. In 2000 Bailey published a "cultural memoir" of her life and the struggle to preserve these traditions, God, Dr. Buzzard, and the Bolito Man.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY
You enjoy relief from sun because of someone coming before

"Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago."

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