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That time of year: Politics and religion a dangerous mix
By Ed Buckner
Special to GwinnettForum.com

ROSWELL, Ga., Nov. 3, 2006 -- Religious decisions are too important to let any government make them for Georgians. That, and the desire of religious organizations to keep tax breaks afforded no other organizations, combine to make one thing crucial throughout Georgia, especially this week: churches, temples, and mosques should carefully avoid partisan politics.

The Georgia chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State (a local chapter of a national group) is working to inform Georgia churches about federal tax law forbidding partisan politicking by tax-exempt groups.

AU, the national group, mailed a special election-year alert to all houses of worship in 11 states, reminding them that intervention in partisan political campaigns is a violation of the Internal Revenue Service Code. The Georgia chapter, thanks primarily to the efforts of two stalwart members (Debbie Parks--of Gwinnett--and Charles Powell of Cherokee County) has supplemented the national campaign by sending the same letter as the thousands sent out by the national office to 500 Georgia churches. The 500 were chosen based on geography (concentrating in metro Atlanta but with some from across Georgia) and size (churches large enough to have a Web-page showing their address were more likely to be included, for example).

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, AU executive director, says: "Dragging churches into partisan politics is just plain wrong. It violates tax law, it damages the integrity of religion, and it harms our democracy." Lynn, who is a United Church of Christ minister, warned pastors to be wary of political overtures back in September. Georgia President Jeff Selman (of Cobb County), adds that "Religious leaders need to be especially wary of voter guides, since the IRS has warned churches about distributing voter guides produced by outside groups."

"Biased voter guides have no place in houses of worship, period," Lynn said earlier.

Neither religious organizations nor the government is well served when houses of worship abuse their tax-exempt status. Religious leaders should not ignore this. Houses of worship that get drawn into political machines, of any party or political philosophy, could emerge with their tax-exempt status severely mangled.

In clear cases of violations of federal tax law, AU will not hesitate to ask the IRS to intervene. Georgia members will be referring observed violations here to AU.

Lynn noted that the IRS is paying special attention to tax code violations by non-profit groups this year. The agency formed a "Political Activity Compliance Initiative" and has vowed to respond swiftly to violations.

IRS Commissioner Mark Everson noted that the very integrity of tax-exempt entities is at stake. His comments followed a report by the tax agency showing that many of the non-profits being investigated for violations during the last election cycle are churches.

AU's Web site (www.au.org) features materials on church-based politicking prepared by Marcus Owens of the Washington, DC, firm of Caplin & Drysdale. Owens is the former director of the Exempt Organizations Division of the IRS.

AU's 75,000 members nationwide were given a copy of the letter to religious leaders and asked to copy and mail it to houses of worship in their community--and that was exactly what Georgia members did.

Tremendous growth in sales tax collections helps schools
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com

NOV. 3, 2006 -- While citizens of all sorts have a natural aversion to taxes, still some taxes are more acceptable than others. Judging from the way Georgians have adopted the Special Purpose Local Optional Tax throughout the state, it's a fairly popular tax.

After all, 155 of the 159 counties in the state voted to impose this tax on themselves. Best guess we can make is that people don't mind paying one per cent of each retail sales if it going to a purpose they realize they might be taxed for in another way.

Here in Gwinnett, voters might have even another reason for supporting special purpose local taxes, for everyone knows that Gwinnett is something of a shopping mecca for people from other counties. Therefore, the thinking goes, if people from other counties come in here in great numbers (and they do), collecting a penny for each dollar of sales for them to support our roads and schools, is better than taxing local residents. These out-of-countians don't seem to mind paying, perhaps because they cannot shop for items in their own county like they can in Gwinnett, with our thriving retail activity, including three major malls.

We hope Gwinnett citizens see the sense in paying for infrastructure for education by voting to continue the Educational SPLOST for another term when they go to the polls on Tuesday. It's a smart way to collect money for the big projects needed, like the continual need for more schools, coming out of the constant movement of more people into Gwinnett.

We also came across some evidence to show what a robust growth the sales tax collection can have in Gwinnett.

The first E-SPLOST was voted in by Gwinnett taxpayers on March 18, 1997. That year, Gwinnett had a population of 516,032 people. And the first year that tax was collected, Gwinnett schools averaged getting $6.9 million a month from the penny sales tax.

But take a look at this. During the year 2005, Gwinnett County schools found that the penny sales tax had grown considerably, with the growing population and robust county sales. During 2005, the schools gained $11 million per month from the E-SPOST!

Then during the first six months of 2006, the schools are collecting $13.1 million a month from the E-SPLOST! Why that's an 89 per cent increase in collections during a 10 year period! That's virtually unheard of growth in Georgia sales tax collections. And it helps relieve the pressure of funding the expanding need for more classrooms and schools in Gwinnett.

All this is possible because (1) the voters approved such a measure; and (2) have subsequently agreed to expand it a second time. Add to this the very healthy, vibrant and diversified Gwinnett economy, and you have a ticket for continued funding of school buildings in a far painless way than some taxing methods.

One more tidbit: the 1997 five year E-SPLOST-1 brought in $529 million , while the second E-SPLOST is expected to bring in by next June $665 million. Projections show that if voters approve the third E-SPLOST Tuesday, it could bring in over $1.1 billion in the next five years.

Those are compelling reasons to vote "Yes" on extending the E-SPLOST in Gwinnett County, compared to finding other way to tax for the ever-expanding school system.

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Mid-term elections are near and we are bombarded with campaign ads filled with distortions. Unfortunately, October has been the worst month so far this year for the Iraqi citizens and American soldiers alike.

Many scholars have suggested that al-Qaeda is a master of the media. If al-Qaeda wants the Republicans to win and America to stay bogged down in Iraq, they will be active and release another video. If they think they're ready for the Americans to leave Iraq, they'll stay quiet.

Whenever America seems like it might withdraw from Iraq, Osama bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri pops up to remind us that if we do then al-Qaeda will triumph in their wake, thus goading us to remain. This predictably silences those reasonable voices calling for withdrawal, who are even accused of national treason, and strengthens the voices of stupidity.

There should be no doubt; the continuing occupation of Iraq is bad for U.S. security and good for al-Qaeda.

I am not saying that Americans should vote for Democrats because al-Qaeda wants the Republicans to win. That would be as stupid as saying that Americans should vote for Republicans because al-Qaeda wants Democrats to win.

We need our leadership to start thinking a lot more intelligently about what we're doing in the world, and in order for that to happen we're going to need the public debate to start looking at the facts and not the political ads.

Gwinnett County's Quality of Life program will begin its fall activities by focusing on the Jackson Township subdivision just outside Lawrenceville off Georgia Highway 120 between Riverside Parkway and Sever Road.

A neighborhood sweep by code enforcement and Gwinnett Police officers will begin on today, November 3. A kickoff ceremony will be held beginning at 9 a.m. in the parking lot of the River Exchange Shopping Center at the corner of Riverside Parkway and Highway 120.

Gwinnett Police Chief Charlie Walters said, "neighborhoods are getting cleaner and safer as a result of the County's new emphasis on enforcing existing codes and regulations." He said the enforcement program targets specific areas based on criminal activity and property maintenance violations.

Officers sweep various neighborhoods looking for illegal storage, junk cars, trash violations, parking on the lawn, overcrowding, and other violations of legal community standards. The Notice of Violation they issue is a warning to fix the problem by a certain date. A citation to appear in court is the next step if the property owner doesn't clear up the violation on time.

The clean-up program, started about 18 months ago by the Board of Commissioners, was originally called "Operation Fixing Broken Windows." The idea is to reduce crime and bigger problems by fixing little things before they get out of hand. The program also hopes to protect property values and public safety by encouraging residents to take pride in their community.

On November 10 the CEO and chairman of The Brand Banking Company, Bartow Morgan, will be the speaker at the Chamber of Commerce "secrets to success" breakfast.

The meeting will be Friday, November 10 at 7:45 a.m. at the Sugarloaf Country Club in Duluth. Cost is $45 for Chamber members; $55 for non-Chamber members. Registration deadline is November 7, 2006.

The Brand Bank was chartered in 1905 after county officials told E.M. Brand that he could no longer loan money on the courthouse steps. He did not move far. He built his bank on the courthouse square. Today, that bank is referred to as the "main office" where E.M. Brand's great-great-grandson lends money.

Beyond running one of Gwinnett's oldest locally owned banks in Gwinnett, Mr. Morgan serves on many local boards, Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Northeast Georgia Community Foundation, and he is on th eGeorgia Ports Authority.

A discussion on the battle flags within the Georgia Capitol Museum will be the subject of the Button Gwinnett Society meeting on Wednesday, November 8. Site of the meeting is the 1818 Club at the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce building in Duluth.

Speaker will be Dorothy Olson, director of the Georgia Capitol Museum. She also directs tours of the capitol, and will discuss the more than 80 historic battle flags at the Capitol, and their history.

Members of the pubic are invited to the meetings of the Society, which are held quarterly to discuss arts and cultural affairs. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. and is finished at 7:30 p.m.

Ms. Olson is a native Georgian, who graduated from LaGrange College, a master's from the University of Georgia and additional postgraduate work at Michigan State. Among her duties is the restoration and car of the state's collection of historic flags. She is a recipient of the Governor's Humanities Award; the Personal Women of Achievement; and the Shackelford Distinguished Alumnus Award of LaGrange College.

For further information on the Button Gwinnett Society, call 770 840 1003.

Technology Forum to hear CEO of CAB Inc. on Nov. 21

If you're interested in learning from metro Atlanta's technology leaders, plan to attend the Gwinnett Technology Forum on November 21 featuring Terri Jondahl, CEO of CAB Inc.

Jondahl is CEO of CAB Incorporated, which is a $35 million, importer/distributor and manufacturer of pipe flanges. Over the past 25 years CAB Incorporated has grown to become a preeminent leader in providing full service solutions in the supply of steel pipe flanges primarily for the waterworks market and specialty industrial market. It also has wind tower flanges for utility scale wind farms, and machined and un-machined cast and forged iron and steel components in a variety of industries in the North American market.

The meeting will be at 7:30 a.m. at the Scientific Atlanta Auditorium of the Busbee Center at Gwinnett Technical College. There is no charge to attend, though RSVP is required. To respond, email Jo Anne Wymer at Joanne@gwinnettchamber.org. The breakfast sponsor is ASK Staffing, Inc.

Beginning January, 2007, Spring Hill Atlanta will offer most undergraduate courses in a five week format. Over the past 10 years accelerated, adult programs have moved increasingly to this format. The passage of time has allowed a substantial body of research to be accumulated on the effectiveness of the shorter terms.

The evidence is that students perform better in the concentrated course than in the same course taught in a traditional 15-16 week semester. When students from the same university were tested at the end of their five week and traditional semester length courses, the accelerated students consistently outperformed the traditional students.

In the five week format the focus is on learning rather than teaching. Students typically take one class at a time and spend 10-15 hours out of class for every four hours in the class. The responsibility lies squarely with the student in the accelerated course. The instructor's role is to clear up confusion and ensure that students have mastered the concepts and can apply them.

Dr. Suzanne Erickson, executive director of Spring Hill College Atlanta, says: "We are excited to offer this opportunity in Atlanta. The shorter term will allow us to offer nine terms per year which will cut the time to degree completion nearly in half. This will allow our students to accomplish their goals sooner."

For more information on this or any other course offered at Spring Hill College call 678-924-1919 or visit www.shc.edu/atlanta.

Eugene Pleasants Odum (1913-2002), called "the father of modern ecology," brought the word ecosystem into common parlance by making it the organizing concept in his 1953 "Fundamentals of Ecology." Through that textbook, which was translated into 12 languages, and through his many other books and articles, he led the way toward the study of nature in terms of ecosystems.

Odum was born in Newport, N. H., on September 17, 1913. His parents, Anna Louise Kranz and Howard Washington Odum, were vacationing there to escape the summer heat of Athens, where the senior Odum served on the faculty of the University of Georgia.

He obtained his A.B. and A.M. in zoology from the University of North Carolina in 1934 and 1936, respectively, and his Ph.D. in zoology, with a major in ecology, from the University of Illinois in 1939. He married Martha Ann Huff in 1939. He joined the Department of Zoology at the University of Georgia in the fall of 1940.

In 1964, as president of the Ecological Society of America, Odum announced in the journal BioScience the establishment of a "new ecology," a "systems ecology" that dealt with the world as a whole, bringing all of the ecosystem sciences together. In the article he laid out the discipline's fundamental assumptions: that the ecosystem is the basic unit of nature; that biological diversity increases ecosystem stability; that "homeostasis" is important at all levels of the biological spectrum; that "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts"; and that therefore reductionist scientific methods cannot adequately explain living systems.

In 1970, the year Americans celebrated the first Earth Day, when environmentalism was capturing the public's imagination, Odum obtained national notice in the media-in Time, Newsweek, and other popular publications-as one of the world's leading ecologists.

Odum retired from the University of Georgia in 1984, leaving his position as director of the Institute of Ecology, Alumni Foundation Distinguished Professor of Zoology, and Callaway Professor of Ecology. He had been instrumental in the founding of the university's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia Marine Institute on Sapelo Island, and the Institute of Ecology.

"I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much."

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