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Issue 9.23 | Friday, June 19, 2009 | Forward to your friends! |
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McLEMORE'S
WORLD ARCHIVE FEEDBACK UPCOMING NOTABLE ALSO INSIDE _::
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Meet a sponsor |
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TODAY'S
FOCUS
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga., June 19, 2009 -- When my mother was 80 years old, I found her in the back yard ceremoniously burning a brand new beautifully framed picture of the Administration Building of the University of Iowa.
"Can you imagine the nerve," she commented coldly as she stirred the ashes with a stick. "Sending me a picture of the very building that caused me so much grief." It turned out the University of Iowa had called her a few weeks earlier. They had discovered, in going over their records, that she was their first woman graduate in science, a fact she was totally unaware of until the call, and the university wanted her to come to Iowa City to attend a "ceremony" of their role in educating women. She turned them down, stating they had "put every obstacle they could think of in my way at the time and it was a little late to make up for it now." My mother had transferred to the University of Iowa about 1930 to get the science courses she needed to complete a degree in bacteriology. Once there, she quickly found out neither the professors nor the other students (all male) in those science classes welcomed a woman in their midst. Two professors were so upset that they instructed her to sit at the back of the class ("at least six rows in back in the male students"), and never to "interrupt" the class with a question. Early on, she learned she would never be asked to contribute to a class discussion. Unlike any other student in her classes, she was never assigned a lab partner so had to do all the laboratory exercises by herself. She was allowed, however, to take notes and take examinations, no matter how lonely her position.
One professor refused to even talk to her after class or during his office hours, and the others avoided her whenever possible. Science was a man's world, she was told in no uncertain terms, and women didn't belong there. But my mother persevered and two years later, at the age of 26, she had a science diploma. It was then that she found out that her professors and classmates were nothing compared to the working world. Although America was short of scientists at that time, there seemingly was no room for a woman bacteriologist. Despite every effort, no jobs could be found in Des Moines, the larger market of Iowa, or even in Chicago. The available jobs always seemed to go to a man, often a man with lesser lower grades or no degree at all. The only job she was able to find was in the Ozark Mountains of southwest Missouri where a "water tester" was being sought for the City of Joplin. This time, she applied as F. Landon, hiding her gender, and was invited to be interviewed for the job. It was a long train trip from Des Moines to Joplin but she made it, only to run into a dismayed interviewer whose opening remark was "But you're a woman!" Although testing water wasn't a bacteriologist's dream job, it was better than nothing, and she proceeded to convince them she could do the job and do it well. Finally, the man in charge conceded she was qualified and, since her lab was well away from public view, "perhaps no one would discover a woman was testing their water" and therefore, he could escape their wrath. My mother took the job upon promising she wouldn't advertise where she was working or what she was doing. She was Joplin's water tester for a number of years. This story has a happier ending: it was in Joplin, she that met my father! ELLIOTT
BRACK JUNE 19, 2009 -- Today you, the reader, get a chance to air your views on life in Gwinnett.
Through the efforts of The Marketing Workshop of Norcross, below you will find a short survey asking your opinion on different aspects about life in Gwinnett. The survey results will be compiled and a report prepared, with the names of those responding kept anonymous. We'll print the results of this survey in a coming edition of the Forum. Your participation in the survey will give local leaders input on how you view current life in Gwinnett.
The survey is only aimed at readers of GwinnettForum, and is only available online. To take the survey, which will take less than three minutes, simply click here. * * * * * If you haven't been to a Gwinnett Braves game at the new stadium so far this year, you're in for a treat. The action is close up; the parking is easy; and the players give good efforts. It makes for a good outing. So far this year, some 201,999 people have walked past the turnstiles at the stadium. If you are a baseball fan, the Gwinnett Braves web site has a wealth of information. To check out other attendance figures round the league, go here. * * * * * Congratulations to Rudy Bowen of Gwinnett, who won election as vice chairman of the State Transportation Board this week. He represents the Seventh District on the board. Bill Kuhlke, Jr., of Augusta, was re-elected chairman. Their terms begin July 1. The State Transportation Board determines policy and exercises general governance of Georgia's Department of Transportation. The Board's 13 members, representing each of the state's congressional districts, serve staggered, five-year terms. Board members are elected by those state senators and representatives whose legislative districts fall within all or part of the relevant congressional district. * * * * * By the time you read this, a business delegation from Gwinnett will be winging their way to Asia searching for industry on a two-week recruitment mission for Gwinnett. This high-level group is funded in part by the Partnership Gwinnett initiative. The tour will visit both China and South Korea. The business recruitment mission begins in China, arriving on June 19 in Shanghai. The group will be in Sjuzhou on June 21, and in Beijing on June 23. Beijing. The group will travel to Qingdao Province on June 26. The next stop on this two-week recruitment trip will be to Gwinnett's sister community in Seoul, Korea, the District of Gangnam, arriving June 28. Following meetings with business and government leaders in Gangnam, the delegation will head to Wuxi and then the city of Pohang. The tour returns home from Seoul on July 2. Gwinnett is home to more than 439 international businesses and organizations, 25 percent of which have Asian roots.
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today we welcome a new underwriter. It is Garden Plaza at Lawrenceville, one of Gwinnett County's newest retirement communities. The 150-unit community boasts a full range of amenities, including an indoor swimming pool, spa facilities, fitness center, beauty/barber shop, Internet café, courtyard gardens and separate garages. The apartment homes (studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom) are leased on a monthly basis to senior adults 55 and older. The team at Garden Plaza is committed to providing extraordinary customer service. We believe our programs and services are operated at a level of excellence that exceeds our residents' needs and expectations. The action-packed recreational calendar includes outdoor excursions, as well as anything from movie matinees and shopping trips to educational seminars and live performances. Visit the web site at www.lawrencevilleretirement.com.
McLEMORE'S
WORLD ARCHIVE
FEEDBACK Editor,
the Forum: I admit,
I was in denial until a few weeks ago. While I didn't support President
Obama, I still had the hope that he wouldn't be as radical as the friends
he kept or his legislative record indicated. I hoped reality and the rule
of law would, at least, temper him. I was wrong.
President Obama is crafting the systematic dismantling of America's financial
engine which allows us to prosper and remain free. It allowed us to come
to the aid of the free world -- stopping genocide and creating democracies.
This is all slipping away. President Obama knows what to say to divert your attention from his real goals. He says he supports the Second Amendment and won't pursue gun control. But in April 2009, he asked the Senate to ratify the Inter American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials or CIFTA. In essence,
this would ban and control firearms in excess of what most gun control
fanatics desire- registration of all guns, ammunition, components and
"any attachments that could be mounted on a weapon." Detailed
records…."your papers, please…", all available to
foreign countries. Attachments (a scope or grips) and hobby reloading,
without a manufacturing license, would be prohibited. This is more than just a "gun" issue. This is about freedom, liberty and self determination. Does a treaty trump our basic freedoms deemed to be individual rights that were PRE EXISTING prior to the formation of America? It is Fascism. Oops, there I did it I used the "f" word. But, am I not correct? Webster's defines fascism as: "...a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition."
UPCOMING The Georgia
Transplant Foundation will transform the Duluth Amphitheater into a tropical
party for their inaugural "Sunset in the Park" event on Friday,
June 26 starting at 7 p.m.
The evening
will feature live music by the Jimmy Buffet Tribute Band "A1A"
and Grammy award nominee and MTV Video Award Winner Miss Nadirah Shakoor.
There will be food and fun for the whole family. Beer, wine, and food will be available for purchase. Tickets to "Sunset in the Park" are $20 for general admission and $5 for kids ten-years-old and under. Tables for eight are also available for $200 and include valet parking and a pre-event meet-and-greet with the band. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Georgia Transplant Foundation. For more information about this event, please visit www.gatransplant.org or contact Kristin Stanley at 678.514.1187 or kstanley@gatransplant.org. Gwinnett Ham radio operators plan field day June 27-28 Gwinnett ham radio operators will join with thousands of Amateur Radio operators who will be showing off their emergency capabilities June 27-28. The Gwinnett Amateur Radio Society and Gwinnett Amateur Radio Emergency Services will be demonstrating Amateur Radio at Rhodes Jordan Park, Lawrenceville. They invite the public to come and see ham radio's new capabilities and learn how to get their own FCC radio license before the next disaster strikes.
Over the past year, the news has been full of reports of ham radio operators providing critical communications during unexpected emergencies in towns across America including the California wildfires, winter storms, tornadoes and other events world-wide. During Hurricane Katrina, Amateur Radio - often called "Ham radio" - was often the ONLY way people could communicate, and hundreds of volunteer "hams" traveled south to save lives and property.. This annual event is called "Field Day." Using only emergency power supplies, ham operators will construct emergency stations in parks, shopping malls, schools and back yards around the country. There are
over 650,000 Amateur Radio licensees in the US, and more than 2.5 million
around the world. Through the ARRL's Amateur Radio Emergency Services
program, ham volunteers provide emergency communications for thousands
of state and local emergency response agencies, all for free. To learn
more about Amateur Radio, go to www.emergency-radio.org. NOTABLE The City of Lilburn is switching waste hauling companies. It recently chose Advanced Disposal, through a competitive bid process, to provide sanitation services. Advanced Disposal will begin sanitation service in the city on July 1, 2009. Delivery of new trash carts and recycling bins to residents will begin on June 16. Residents should store the new carts and bins until July 1. The information tag hanging on the new trash cart will contain important information about pick up days, so residents are asked to keep the tag. Robertson Sanitation, the previous waste hauler, will collect residents' old trash carts and recycling bins on June 29 and 30. Residents should continue using the old carts and bins until they are collected. Advanced Disposal will also begin delivering new dumpsters to commercial businesses over the next few weeks. Advanced Disposal offers commercial businesses a waste audit and enhanced recycling. More information,
including a map detailing pick up days and a complete list of recyclables
is available on the City of Lilburn website, www.CityofLilburn.com. Gwinnett County is getting a $10 million loan and subsidy to finance three sewer projects. The work is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Announcement of the work comes from the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA). Its executive director, Phil Foil, says that the county won approval of a Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) loan of $6 million and a CWSRF subsidy of $4 million. The funds will help finance phase three construction of a sewer tunnel to store and convey wastewater to the site of the future No Business Creek Regional Pump Station. Federal
water and sewer programs administered by GEFA assist local governments
with improving their environmental infrastructure. Regents approve three more programs at GGC campus The Board
of Regents of the University System of Georgia has approved a significant
expansion of academic programs for Georgia Gwinnett College, acknowledging
increased demand by students and impressive enrollment growth of the state's
newest four-year public institution. The new majors were approved by the
Regents pending initial accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges
and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS) later this month.
The Regents
approved a Bachelor of Arts in English, a Bachelor of Arts in history
and a Bachelor of Science in mathematics. Each of these majors will include
a concentration in teacher certification as will the college's existing
biology major, which also was approved by the Board today. RECOMMENDED
"This is a biography of Cornelius Vanderbilt, telling you how and why "Commodore" Vanderbilt amassed the first tremendous American fortune. At his death, his holdings equaled one-ninth of all the combined money in the entire United States. Vanderbilt got his start in piloting sailing ships, then dominated the steamboat world when they came along, and later amalgamated his fortune in railroads, with the New York Central as the key route. Stiles gives amazing detail of Vanderbilt's many ventures. The book is also a documentary of the somewhat stormy life between Vanderbilt, his children and his extended family. Later in life he contributed $1 million to form a new university in the South, though he never visited the campus. Today it is known as Vanderbilt University, with that school getting its unusual nickname from what people called Vanderbilt, the 'Commodore'." -- eeb
GEORGIA
ENCYCLOPEDIA (Continued from previous edition.) From 1912 to 1951 naturalist and folklore collector Francis Harper documented the traditions of European Americans living in and around the Okefenokee, including the region's distinctive folk speech, tales, music, customs, home remedies, and beliefs. Harper's work with the "Okefinokee folk" (the spelling harks back to early maps) was completed by his widow, Jean, and folklorist Delma Presley with the publication of Okefinokee Album (1981). The Harpers were instrumental in the establishment of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in 1937, which ultimately resulted in the relocation of the swamp's human inhabitants and ironically marked the end of the historic period of Okefenokee folklore that Harper had worked so hard to record.
Although people no longer live in the swamp, many Okefenokee folk traditions continue in nearby communities. Fishermen and hunters, for example, serve up "duck rice" and fried fish at camps and reminisce about the days of alligator hunting and frog gigging in what is now a federal wildlife refuge. A few individuals still make the traditional poled boats, suited to maneuvering in tight water. Okefenokee
families for years have taken advantage of the mild climate and large
expanse of "honey plants" such as gallberry and tupelo gum to
keep bees for honey. The counties surrounding the Okefenokee are now home
to the state's largest commercial honey operations. Beekeepers usually
apprentice with other beekeepers, developing a keen knowledge of the woods,
the habits of bees, and the rhythm of the seasons. Georgia's best-known traditional storyteller was fishing guide Lem Griffis. Griffis, who died in 1968, entertained visitors to his fish camp outside Fargo with well-honed whoppers such as this tale, called "Odd Insects," told to Kay L. Cothran: "See that honey a-sittin' up there on the shelf? Well, I crossed my bees with lightnin' bugs so they could see how t' work at night, an' they make a double crop o' honey every year." Stories
about hunting and fishing, colorful characters of the past, and memories
of growing up on one of the "islands" in the Okefenokee still
abound in the region. In recent years, persons whose families had connections
to Billy's Island, for example, gather for an annual potluck and exchange
memories at the Stephen Foster State Park outside Fargo. The Chesser Homestead on Chessers Island (outside Folkston) and other historic sites, such as Traders Hill (Folkston) and Obediahs Okefenok (Waycross), are focal points for family reunions and special community events. At the annual Chesser Open House, for example, Chesser family descendants and neighbors gather to talk, eat a simple meal cooked on the homestead's wood-burning stove, and share with visitors customs associated with life on Chessers Island. Some demonstrations, such as making lye soap and washing clothes with a "battlin' stick," are nostalgic re-creations of past folkways. Others, such as quilting, palmetto broom making, turpentining, and Sacred Harp singing, are still practiced in the surrounding area. (To Be Continued) CREDITS GwinnettForum is provided to you at no charge every Tuesday and Friday. If you would like to serve as an underwriter, click here to learn more. Send
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© 2009, Gwinnett Forum.com. Gwinnett Forum is an online community commentary for exploring pragmatic and sensible social, political and economic approaches to improve life in Gwinnett County, Ga. USA. |
TODAY'S
QUOTE "The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth."
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with more than 4,000 names in the index, and 10,000 names in the appendix. Here are some other good reads that you might want to consider reading:
FOR CHARITY. You can give "A Gift of Laughter," a great book of cartoons by Bill McLemore, to help raise money for Rainbow Village. At just $20, it's a fun way to help. To order, call 770 840 1003, or 770 446 3800, or email to info@gwinnettforum.com. SISTER PUBLICATIONS We encourage you to check out our sister publications:
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