GGC TOUR: New buildings are getting to be routine at Georgia Gwinnett College. Three new facilities open this week: the Library, part of the Student Center and first-time dorms for the college. This is a photo of the new Student Center. A group of students, staff and guests listen as Maurice Blount, GGC's director of facilities, describes the potential functions of the Large Venue Interactive Space in the Student Center. This room will seat up to 650 and can be divided into five smaller spaces, providing a versatile facility for conferences, meetings and other activities.

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TODAY'S FOCUS
Doing a little sharing makes the trip even more worthwhile
By BRIAN MOCK
Special to GwinnettForum.com

(Editor’s Note: The following column was submitted after Brian Mock qualified to run for the Georgia House of Representative. We thought it imprudent to run while he was a candidate. However, the basic premise gives good insights, and we now present his thoughts. –eeb)

NORCROSS, Ga., Aug. 10, 2010 – Having been in the hotel business for more than 20 years, I have been afforded the opportunity to travel quite a bit. Meetings and conferences have taken me to many parts of the country that I would probably never have gone otherwise.

Mock

My trips always start the same, with a call to my mom in Alabama, who is pushing 70, and has spent her entire life in Alabama. The farthest she has ever been was a trip to the Florida coast more than 30 years ago. She would never consider getting on an airplane and has limited her travel by car.

When I travel, she always gets more excited than I do. “Take lots of pictures” and “don’t forget my souvenir,” she always says.

When I arrived in LA, peers who lived there met me. On the way to our hotel, I noticed how dark the sky appeared, even though the sun was out. “It’s just smog” my friend said, “You learn to live with it.” The roads were bumpy, with pothole after pothole, and debris was scattered along the roadside. “We’re pretty much bankrupt here in Cali,” my friend said, “You learn to live with it.”

Before I ever reached my hotel, I was thinking to myself, ‘I’m ready to turn around and get back to Norcross. I don’t want to ‘live with it.’”

Each evening, we would stop for coffee at a Starbuck’s a couple of blocks from the Walk of Fame. I began to notice a group of young people who would come in every evening and order one cup of coffee. They would sit in the corner and share it between the five or six of them.

Eventually I asked the Starbucks manager why they were doing that. She told me there was a homeless shelter not too far away and these young people resided there. They had come to Hollywood to make it big and ended up on the streets.

One in particular caught my eye. He was probably 19 or 20 years old, and as he sat over in the corner, he would write. His notepad was completely full, front and back, and he was now writing in the corners or wherever he could find a blank spot.

On my last evening there, I ran into an office supply store and bought a leather binder with extra note pads and a set of pens. When I handed it to the young man, his eyes got large and he wasn’t sure what to think or to say. He smiled really big and said “Thank you.” As I left I wished him well and told him not to give up. For the price of $50, I left that day feeling like a million.

Upon returning home, I took my mother her souvenirs. For less than $75, I left my mom’s that day feeling like a million.

Folks, the moral to my story: whether you are traveling near or far, and whether it is family or a complete stranger, take time to do something nice for someone. It doesn’t cost a lot of money to make someone’s day a little better, and I promise you it will leave you feeling like a million.

EEB PERSPECTIVE
Georgia Gwinnett College opens new facilities
By ELLIOTT BRACK
Editor and publisher

AUG. 10, 2010 – It's particularly exciting for the anticipated August 23 opening of a new semester at Georgia Gwinnett College this year. Two new buildings will be ready, plus another in a short time. The college will have both its new library and student housing ready as the semester starts, followed by the anticipated October complete opening of its Student Center. (However, the first meal at the Student Center will be on August 18 at the dining hall.)

Brack

Friday we got a personal tour of the new facilities from Maurice Blount, director of facilities. Excitement was building as the construction moved toward punch-lists and a deadline in two weeks. Blount said: "They're working every weekend, both days, to get everything ready for the students coming,"

Indeed, there were people finalizing the library for opening, while construction crews were everywhere in the Student Center. Over at the new dorms, parents and students were checking out the rooms. The dorms have 1,029 beds in the brick-four-story buildings toward the back of the current land use. Students are housed in suites from two to 12 students per suites, each in a private room. Rates go from $585 per month to $725 per month. The dorms are funded through a public-private initiative, not by the state of Georgia. Each suite has a kitchen with refrigerator, microwave, sink and dishwater, plus commons area with flat-screen television. The rental cost includes phones, cable, utilities and Internet. There is an adjacent parking lot for 750 automobiles. (The college sits on 212 acres, but is using only about 43 acres at present.)

Another excitement of Friday was the anticipation on that day that GGC would register its 5,000th student. (Final figures on enrollment are expected soon, well over the 5,000 mark.)

Meanwhile, over at the 90,883 square foot Library, the 60,000 books are already shelved. Eventually, some 300,000 items will be in the four-story building, which includes 37 "study rooms" for student collaboration. Total cost of the library is $29 million, funded by the Board of Regents. The Library sits opposite the round "Signature" building. Slaping ground between the two buildings makes the area a grassed amphitheater. This area will be an open "Quad," with the current parking lot east of the grassed area eventually anticipated as another major building.

The Library will become a Silver LEED certified building, with all components either indigenous to the area, or recycled. The metal re-bar in the building, for instance, is from recycled automobiles.

Adjacent to the Library is the Student Center, 79,000 square feet, which will be completely open in October. This building is funded by anticipated student fees, through bonds.

It's a place with ground-floor cafeteria for dining for 700 at a time, the college post office, and an "LVIS" (Large venue interactive space) room for anything from lectures to plays, which can seat 650 persons. Another feature is a ground-floor Game Room, some 2,000+ square feet where students can relax, shoot pool and play games, or just horse around. (By the way, students on the meal plan use a card to swipe for their meals, and are offered all they can eat each day they use the card, which is standard in many colleges.)

All in all, there’s a big bundle of excitement going on at Georgia Gwinnett College since it opened Aug. 18, 2006. There’s little doubt that this excitement, with fast enrollment growth, will be a hallmark of the new college for years to come. It is truly “Go, Grizzlies!”

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Send us your thoughts

We encourage readers to submit feedback or letters to the editor. Send your thoughts to editor at elliott@brack.net. We will edit for length and clarity. Make sure to include your name and city where you live. Submission of a comment grants permission to us to reprint. Please keep your comment to 200 words or less. However, if you write 500 words, we'll consider it for Today's Focus.

UPCOMING
McGinnis project has lane closures on I-85 this week

Construction on the extension of McGinnis Ferry Road project will require lane closures and traffic pacing on Interstate 85 this week.
 
Crews will work overnight as weather permits August 10-13 setting bridge beams over the interstate. Work will begin at 8:30 p.m. and continue overnight until 2 p.m. the next afternoon. A total of 15 beams will be set over the northbound I-85 lanes Tuesday and Wednesday.
 
Thursday and Friday, beam setting will move over the southbound lanes of I-85. A total of 15 beams will be set over I-85 south Thursday and Friday.
  
The new McGinnis Ferry Bridge over I-85 has a total of 60 beams in four section or spans. The outside two spans can be set without any lane closures as these spans cross the grassy shoulder and not the lanes of traffic.
 
The project will build a 2.67 mile long four lane divided highway from the current end of McGinnis Ferry Road across Interstate 85 to Lawrenceville Suwanee Road.
 
The estimated construction cost is $20.4 million. The project is 31% complete and on schedule for the completion date of September 30, 2011. E. R. Snell Contractor, Inc of Snellville is the projects contractor.

Lawrenceville Rotary plans Cuba presentation

The Lawrenceville Rotary Club will hear Frank Norton Jr. of Gainesville on Monday, Aug. 16, at Garden Plaza in Lawrenceville. Norton will present a program on his recent visit to Cuba. The program is a combination of history and personal stories about Cuba since Fidel Castro came to power and what is happening there today.

Norton

“Just as kidnappers shape the long-term victim's relationship with the captor, Cuban leadership has used starvation, deprivation and indoctrination, to forge an alliance with its citizens. Any thought of running away is buried deep in the dark recesses of the victims' mind…Today, the Cuban people have lost all personal freedom, lost all personal property and now occupy government-owned, rotting, worn-out buildings that are crumbling around them. There is no pride of ownership, little pride of country; the communist government has taken much of this away from the once thriving Garden of Eden. Alas, poor Babylon.”

-- From “Cuba Today: Communism is a Failure” by Frank Norton, Jr. for the Gainesville Times, May 16, 2010.

The club is extending an invitation to the community to attend the lunch and presentation. For advance tickets please contact David Freeman at 404-314-4718 or at davidfreeman@bellsouth.net. This event is a regularly scheduled meeting for the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville. The cost is $15 per person and includes lunch. RSVP's are important as the club can only accommodate 120 people. Lunch will begin at 11:45 and the meeting will end at1 p.m.

Wheeler Kolb announces changes, new name

Several changes are underway at what has been known as Wheeler Kolb Management Company. In addition, the firm is changing its name.

After over 25 years of achievements, Executive Vice President and Director of Leasing Services Tom Kolb is retiring from Wheeler Kolb Management Company.

In addition, Steve Lam will be the new director of leasing. Previously, Lam was a partner at North American Properties; worked in the real estate department at Home Depot; and was at Simon Properties in their leasing department.

Lam is a native of Pennsylvania, and moved to Atlanta in 1993. He is a graduate of Penn State. He and his wife, Danielle, have two children now in college. He and his wife live in Cobb County.

Wheeler Kolb also welcome a new partner, Brand Partners, LP, which will be acquiring a minority interest in the Company. Brand Morgan will replace Tom Kolb on the board of directors

As a result of the above changes, the company will début a new compound name “Wheeler/Brand Management Company” at the November 8-10 at the International Council of Shopping Center convention in Atlanta

NOTABLE
GGC teams with Technology Association

Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) and the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) have formed a strategic alliance to greatly enhance the educational experience for the college’s students through access to TAG’s technology-focused programming, resources and networking opportunities.

The alliance is the first of its kind in Georgia, and thought to be the first in the nation. It willcreate a wide variety of opportunities for students seeking a technology-based career in a broad spectrum of industries. This partnership supports efforts to develop and retain a qualified workforce to meet high demands for Georgia’s fastest-growing and most dynamic range of disciplines, impacting virtually all industries.

Lonnie Harvel, GGC’s vice president of educational technology, says: “By partnering with TAG, our students will have access to a rich resource that will add tremendous value to their educational program, expand their exposure to professional  environments, and give them a jump start on their career. TAG’s programming will extend our students’ learning opportunities beyond the classroom, and increase the marketability of their degrees.”

TAG is a 10,000-member industry advancement organization dedicated to educating, uniting, and informing the Georgia technology community. With nearly 30 profession-specific societies and special interest groups, as well as large award programs like the Georgia Technology Summit and the Excalibur Awards, TAG recognizes and works with companies using innovation to gain a competitive advantage. It also has technology-focused initiatives in government relations, and K-12 education.

Key to the partnership is the automatic membership in TAG for all GGC students and employees. With membership comes access to all TAG meetings and members-only events, and discounts on all TAG training programs.
TAG has roughly 150 meetings and educational programs each year, and its societies represent industries ranging from manufacturing and health care to software and entertainment, and functions ranging from finance and international business to product management and information security. As part of the partnership, some of TAG’s programs will be held on the GGC campus.

County OKs projects in Lilburn CID, along Berkeley Lake Road

The stretch of U.S. 29/Lawrenceville Highway that runs through Lilburn from Jimmy Carter Boulevard to Ronald Reagan Parkway will be the subject of a new transportation study jointly funded by Gwinnett County and the new Lilburn Community Improvement District.
 
Gwinnett commissioners have approved an agreement with the CID that calls for the County to provide $100,000 from 2009 SPLOST transportation planning funds toward the study. The Lilburn CID will provide any additional funds necessary to hire a qualified planning and engineering firm and complete the project. The study will examine transportation issues, potential land uses and revitalization opportunities to support improved transportation through the corridor.  

* * * * *

Sidewalks, curb and gutter, guardrail, drainage improvements, paving and traffic calming devices are coming soon to North Berkeley Lake Road. Gwinnett commissioners have approved a $373,654 contract that will use funds from the 2001 SPLOST program. The contractor will be Atlanta Demolition and Grading LLC of Suwanee, the lowest of six bidders on the project.
 
The work zone will cover about a mile from Peachtree Industrial Boulevard to 1,200 feet west of Lakeshore Drive Boulevard for the next several months. This work combined with a future project will extend sidewalks from Peachtree Industrial to Bush Road at Berkeley Lake City Hall and connect to the Western Gwinnett Bikeway.

RECOMMENDED
Read any good books lately?

• An invitation: What Web sites, books or restaurants have you enjoyed? Send us your best recent visit to a restaurant or most recent book you have read along with a short paragraph as to why you liked it, plus what book you plan to read next. --eeb

GEORGIA ENCYCLOPEDIA
Georgian Kathryn Byer poet-in-residence at WCU

Poet and essayist Kathryn Stripling Byer is a native of Georgia but has set most of her poems in the mountains of North Carolina. Creating an identity that is both distinct and in line with the concerns of southern culture, Byer reclaims in her poetry the traditions, customs, and voices of past Appalachian women. In doing so, she defines herself as an artist and, at the same time, addresses the concerns of women in today's South.

Byer

Byer was born in Camilla in 1944 to C. M. Stripling, a farmer, and Bernice Campbell Stripling, a homemaker. She attended Wesleyan College in Macon and attained an M.F.A. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. There Byer studied with Allen Tate, Fred Chappell, and Robert Watson and won the Academy of American Poets Student Prize. While at UNC-G, Byer decided to make the North Carolina mountains her home, in large part, she says, because the mountains were "the place my grandmother had wanted to be when she died."

Byer has served as poet-in-residence at Western Carolina University (1988-98), UNC-G (1995), and Lenoir-Rhyne College (1999). Her work has appeared in prestigious poetry and scholarly journals, including Poetry, Georgia Review, Southern Review, and Hudson Review. She has published numerous essays, including the autobiographical "Deep Water" in Bloodroot: Reflections on Place by Appalachian Women Writers (1998) and "Turning the Windlass at the Well: Fred Chappell's Early Poetry," which was published in Dream Garden: The Poetic Vision of Fred Chappell (1997). She has received numerous awards, including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the North Carolina Arts Council. Her second volume, Wildwood Flower  (1992), received the Lamont Prize for the best second book by an American poet. In 2005 Byer was named poet laureate of North Carolina.

Byer focuses on the power and liabilities of the solitude she finds in the mountains. In her essay "Deep Water," she addresses that solitude and what it has meant, historically, to women:

Byer's fourth volume of poetry, Catching Light (2002), deals with the experience of aging from a woman's perspective. In 2003 she published Wake, a chapbook reflecting on the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. Coming to Rest (2006), her fifth volume of poetry, investigates the experience of homecoming. Byer lives in Cullowhee, N.C. and is married to Jim Byer, a professor of 19th-century literature aat Western Carolina University. They have one daughter, Corinna Lynette.

• Click here to access the Georgia Encyclopedia

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© 2010, 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
Why you should be on the lookout for male adult bores

“A healthy male adult bore consumes each year one and a half times his own weight in other people's patience.”

– Author John Updike

CANDIDATE PROFILES (runoff)

Here are the simplified profiles for the August 10 runoff primary in Georgia. This information first appeared here prior to the July 20 election.

For the 2010 primary season, GwinnettForum asked all candidates facing primary opposition in Gwinnett County to provide answers to a few questions. You can read their answers below by clicking on the links.

PROFILE KEY

• (DNR) indicates a candidate did not respond to our survey
• (+) indicates a candidate has received GwinnettForum's endorsement.

SAMPLE BALLOT FOR YOUR PRECINCT

You should eventually be able to see a sample ballot for your particular precinct online at this site:

http://www.sos.georgia.gov/MVP/Login.aspx

2010 FEDERAL CANDIDATES

U.S. Congress, District 7

Republicans

• Jody Hice
  
• Rob Woodall (+)

2010 STATEWIDE CANDIDATES

Georgia Governor

Republicans

• Nathan Deal (+)
  
• Karen Handel
  

Georgia Attorney General

Republicans

• Sam Olens (+)
  
• Preston W. Smith
  

Georgia Commissioner of Insurance

Republicans

• Ralph Hudgens (+)
  
• Maria Sheffield

Georgia Secretary of State

Democrats

• Gail Buckner
  
• Georganna Sinkfield (+)\

Georgia Public Service Commission

Republicans

• Joey Brush (DNR)
  
• John Douglas
  
• Tim Echols (+)

2010 LEGISLATIVE CANDIDATES

State Representative, District 95

Democrats

• Toney Collins (DNR)
  
• Pam Dickerson (+)

State Representative, District 102

Republicans

• Linda Carsten (+)
  
• B.J. Pak (DNR)
  

2010 GWINNETT COUNTY CANDIDATES

Gwinnett County Commissioner, District 2

Republicans

• Lynette Howard (+)
  
• Keith Shewbert

Gwinnett County Commissioner, District 4

Republicans

• John Heard
  
• Tim Sullivan (+)
  

MORE EEB PERSPECTIVE

	8/10: GGC opens new facilities
	8/6: Sophisticated scam
	8/3: Howington celebrates
	7/30: Humor in books
	7/27: Runoff endorsements
	7/23: Looking beyond primaries
	7/20: What price freedom?
	7/16: Early voting concerns
	7/13: UGA headline-maker
	7/9: On Bannister incident
	7/6: On classic movies
	7/2: Malcolm Gwinnett
	6/29: State legislative picks
	6/25: Statewide candidate picks
	6/22: Congressional endorsements
	6/18: Voters get big changes
	6/15: Do rigid candidates listen?
	6/11: Interviewing candidates
	6/8: Westmorelands' legacy
	6/4: Parade for Guard unit
	6/2: California voting proposition
	EEB index of columns

MORE RECENT COMMENTARY

	8/10: Mock: Sharing worthwhile
	8/6: Sherman: Opp zone
	8/3: Morrison: Brenau's plans
	7/30: Heaven: Federal tax info
	7/27: Nelems: Media surveys
	7/23: Urrutia: Fish vaccines
	7/20: Paul: Norcross group
	7/16: Stilo: Aurora's 15th season
	7/13: Jackson: PCOM's new school
	7/9: Jones: Energy audit
	7/6: Callina: Vacation rentals
	7/2: Williams: Gwinnett Place
	6/18: Olson: Korean pottery
	6/15: Nelson: Enviro Center
	6/11: Sherman: Far East mission
	6/8: A. Brack: BetterGulf.org site
	6/4: Sorenson: Waste plan to start
	6/2: Fincher: GACS-Rwanda ties
	COMMENTARY INDEX

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