Issue 12.03 | Tuesday, April 10, 2012

TODAY'S FOCUS
:: Inaugural Arch Chamber Music Festival

ELLIOTT BRACK'S PERSPECTIVE
:: The crassness of failing to open emails

FEEDBACK
:: Share your thoughts

UPCOMING
:: Housing fair, free concert

NOTABLE
:: Property assessments, Young at GGC

ALSO INSIDE

IN THE SPOTLIGHT
:: Gainesville State College

GEORGIA TIDBIT
:: Soybeans here for three centuries

LAGNIAPPE
:: Proud cardinal looks at world

GWINNETT CALENDAR
:: Lots of events on tap

TODAY'S QUOTE
:: Eisenhower on Washington

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TODAY'S FOCUS
Inaugural Arch Chamber Music Festival in Athens April 14-15
By BOBBY TYLER
Special to GwinnettForum

ATHENS, Ga., April 10, 2012 -- The University of Georgia Performing Arts Center will inaugurate the Arch Chamber Music Festival, a weekend of world-class music with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, on April 14 at 8 p.m. and April 15 at 3 p.m. Both concerts will take place in Hodgson Concert Hall in the Performing Arts Center.

The April 14 program will include chamber music by Mozart, Brahms and Ernõ Dohnányi; and the April 15 program will showcase the music of Beethoven and Schumann.

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is America's premier repertory company for chamber music, with a roster of the world's leading instrumentalists. Six of Lincoln Center's outstanding artists will perform in Athens for the Arch Chamber Music Festival, including pianist Wu Han, violinists Yura Lee and Arnaud Sussmann, violist Paul Neubauer, cellist Nicholas Canellakis and flutist Tara Helen O'Connor.

Han

Han serves as co-artistic director of the Chamber Music Society and ranks among the most esteemed and influential classical musicians in the world today. Along with her husband, cellist David Finckel, she launched ArtistLed, classical music's first musician-directed and Internet-based recording company, whose catalogue of 13 albums has won widespread critical acclaim, including BBC Music Magazine's Editor's Choice Award. They also are the founding artistic directors of Music@Menlo, a chamber music festival and institute in Silicon Valley, and were named the 2012 Musicians of the Year by Musical America.

Lee was the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2007 and has won numerous international prizes, including first prize and the audience prize at the 2006 Leopold Mozart Competition.

Sussmann, also an Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, American Symphony Orchestra, Monaco Chamber Orchestra, Nice Orchestra, Orchestre des Pays de la Loire, El Salvador National Symphony Orchestra and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, among others.

Neubauer was appointed principal violist of the New York Philharmonic at age 21. He serves as the chamber music director of the OK Mozart Festival in Oklahoma and artistic director of the Chamber Music Extravaganza in Curaçao. He is a two-time Grammy nominee.

Canellakis was a founding member of the Vertigo String Quartet, which received first prize in the Musicatri International Competition in Italy in 2006. Flutist Tara Helen O'Connor is another Avery Fisher Career Grant winner and two-time Grammy nominee.

Tickets for each concert are $37, with special discounts for UGA students. Tickets can be purchased online at pac.uga.edu or by calling the Performing Arts Center box office at 706/542-4400 or toll free at 888/289-8497. The underwriter for the performance is the Franklin Chamber Music Society.

ELLIOTT BRACK
This guy's got 10,000 emails unread in the computer? Crazy!
By ELLIOTT BRACK
Editor and publisher

APRIL 10, 2012 -- There are books on etiquette, specifically, telephone etiquette.

Brack

Someone needs to define precisely the good manners in this new world of email. Some people just do not understand the propriety of these "electronic messages."

The other day I heard of one person who had 10,000 emails stacked up in the computer…….all unread!

Yes, this otherwise qualified corporate official had given out the email address to others, only to disregard what anyone sent in an email transmission.

Why in the world, first, would you give anyone your email if you did not plan to read what the other person was sending to you in a direct-to-you-only (give or take a few spam messages) in an email? Such an action is crass, insensitive, stupid and ridiculous. Really, in effect, if you give someone your email, you have an unwritten virtual "contract" to at least open up the email to see what they say. Whether you "answer" is another subject.

Let's examine this situation.

Most people recognize right off the bat that an email transmission is to impart information and thoughts. You send it to someone with the anticipation that they will open the email, and read it.
We're talking about common courtesy here among friends (not spam messages.) How can there be communications if the recipient never opens the email to begin with?

What is this person thinking? Why does this person have an email account to begin with, only to tease poor, unsuspecting souls when they send this person an email? Little do they know that it not only won't be read, but that it will be disregarded entirely.

OK, we recognize that for some people, other means of communicating might be best. In this day of emails, fewer and fewer telephone calls are being made. It is obvious that the best way to contact this person with 10,000 emails is obviously not with emails. The telephone might be better.

We heard of another person recently who did not respond to direct emails much, but who would respond immediately if you sent an "instant message." No telling how many emails are stacked up in that account!

Then there are perhaps other, old-timey ways to reach the person with the written word. We can think of at least three:

• "Snail Mail." Yes, the old-fashioned and nearly outmoded U.S. Postal Service is another way to contact this person. (Oops. We may have made an assumption that this person would actually open this form of mail. But they must, else their utility bills would never get paid, and they would be cold (or hot) plus sitting in the dark.)
  
  
• Telegram. Not used much any more, still it would have the benefit of being distinctive when it arrived.
  
  
• Go see them. Of course, by now, knowing about this person will not open emails, you may be so upset with this person that you want to mark this person off your list of acquaintances (note, not "friends") because of unsavory and weird personality characteristics!

Those who are required to work with this person must be frustrated beyond belief because of the unmitigated gall at lack of email courtesy.

Cross such persons off your email address book. You may want to disregard them entirely. Such crass conduct is not only unbecoming, it's downright wrong. Heaven help those who have to communicate with such a person.

ABOUT OUR SPONSORS
Gainesville State College

The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Gainesville State College has been educating the citizens of Northeast Georgia since 1966 and has an enrollment approaching 9,000. With 1,296 students during the fall of 2011, Gwinnett County is second only to Hall County in the number of students who attend GSC. The College awarded 892 degrees during 2010-2011, students from Gwinnett County earned 202 of the degrees (22.6 percent). At GSC, students engage in a challenging learning experience in a supportive and nurturing environment. GSC offers associate of arts, associate of science, associate of applied science, certificates, and a limited number of bachelor degrees. Gainesville State College integrates academic and extra-curricular activities in order to emphasize development of the "whole person." GSC is a "student-focused, learning centered" commuter college where students can enjoy the "total college experience" by participating in student activities such as: intramurals, clubs and organizations, bands, chorus, publications, cultural affairs programs, fine arts offerings including theatre, extended orientation, and international-intercultural studies programs. The Gainesville Campus is located just off of Interstate-985 in Oakwood, and the Oconee Campus is located in Watkinsville. To learn more about GSC, visit www.gsc.edu.

FEEDBACK
Share your thoughts

• We welcome your letters and thoughts. Our policy: We encourage readers to submit feedback (or letters to the editor). Send your thoughts to the editor at elliott@brack.net. We will edit for length and clarity. Make sure to include your name and the city where you live. Submission of a comment grants permission for us to reprint. Please keep your comments to 300 words or less. However, we will consider longer articles (no more than 500 words) for featuring in Today's Focus as space allows.
  

UPCOMING
Impact! Group, HUD, to offer free housing seminar May 3

The IMPACT! Group is partnering with HUD and Gwinnett County Government to offer a day of free housing education and counseling to the public. The event will be May 3 from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Gwinnett Justice and Administrative Building in Lawrenceville. Learn about the tools available for foreclosure prevention and home retention and how to avoid scams, predatory lending practices, and mortgage fraud. Know your rights under the Fair Housing Act.

Housing counselors from The IMPACT! Group will be available. If you would like to speak with a housing counselor, please tell us when you register and provide your contact information so that we can follow up with you.

Topics under discussion will include:

• Foreclosure prevention;
  
• Loss mitigation;
  
• The role of housing counselors;
  
• Fair housing;
  
• Housing choice voucher program; and
  
• Gwinnett County's role in housing.

LDS Choir, Community Band plan free concerts April 28-29

The 50-voice Sugar Hill LDS Choir of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be joined by the 55-member Gwinnett Community Band for their seventh annual free, two-day community concert themed "America, Home Sweet Home." The multi-media performance will be held at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 28 and Sunday, April 29. It will be at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Sugar Hill Stake Center at 4833 Suwanee Dam Road. in Suwanee near North Gwinnett High School.

In addition to paying tribute to the armed forces, the evening will include a variety of musical favorites from Broadway to patriotic to folk songs such as Bring Him Home from Les Miserables, Irving Berlin's America, Georgia On My Mind, A Poor Wayfaring Stranger, and the Battle Hymn of the Republic. No tickets are needed.

Both groups have performed for major venues and events throughout metro Atlanta. Established in 1984, the Gwinnett Community Band is a non-profit group of volunteer, metro-Atlanta adult amateur volunteer musicians. The Sugar Hill LDS Choir draws its volunteer members from Dawson, Hall, Gwinnett and Forsyth Counties and was named by local media as one of the best church choirs in the county.

Most recently, the choir was extended an invite by the mayor of Washington, D.C. to sing at the 2012 and 2013 National Day Memorial Choral Festivals held at the Kennedy Center. For additional information contact 404-375-7882 or visit The Gwinnett Community Band's website at www.gwinnettband.org.

NOTABLE
Property assessments drop for 22% of Gwinnett residents

Gwinnett County property owners will get the official assessment of their property's value soon. Chief Appraiser Steve Pruitt said the County mailed approximately 257,000 residential and 14,000 commercial annual notices of current assessment on April 6.

Overall, approximately 80,000 of the residential notices will show a decrease in value, with an average decrease of 22 percent. The sum of these downward adjustments total $2.5 billion of residential market value. The general review of commercial properties resulted in more than 300 properties receiving increases in value totaling almost $625 million in market value. New property growth, fairly equally split between residential and commercial property, totaled approximately $400 million in market value.

The County planned for an 8.3 percent decrease equaling $2.1 billion of taxable value for both residential and commercial property when the 2012 budget was adopted. Officials remain cautiously optimistic that this projection will align with the actual results of these residential adjustments, plus any additional changes occurring from residential and commercial appeals. Every drop in assessed value reduces the homeowner's property tax bill, but also reduces the amount of property tax revenue available to fund County operations.

Property owners have 45 days from the date of the notice to file an appeal by using the statewide uniform appeal form (PT311A). The deadline for appeals is May 21. People who choose to appeal may submit appeals by U.S. mail or in person. Appeal information, interactive appeal forms and FAQs are located on the Tax Assessor's website at www.gwinnett-assessor.com.

Taxpayers also can track the status of their appeal online this year.
The Tax Assessor's Office is prepared to answer questions about the notices or the appeal process through e-mail at assessor@gwinnettcounty.com, by phone at (770) 822-7200 or in person at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center in Lawrenceville.

Ambassador Young, GGC president, discuss global issues

Young, left, and Kaufman

As part of Georgia Gwinnett College's second annual International Week, the Honorable Ambassador Andrew Young discussed a variety of global issues as well as his many experiences during a conversational forum with GGC President Daniel J. Kaufman recently. About 300 students, faculty, staff and guests attended the forum.

During the forum, Ambassador Young discussed the many decisions and personal crossroads he encountered during the course of his career. In addition, Ambassador Young made a special presentation Tuesday to a group of political science students and faculty about his experiences as a leader in the civil rights movement. GGC's International Week is an annual series of events offered in collaboration by various GGC departments and student organizations. The festivities include activities that are both academic and fun, reflecting the richness of different cultures, as well as the depth of issues facing the global community. This year's theme, "GGC Talks Asia," set the tone of the week, which began with a Chinese Lion Dance demonstration on the college's central lawn.

Gwinnett UGA student wins one of 80 Udall scholarships

Three University of Georgia Honors students -- a record number -- were among 80 students nationally who were awarded 2012 Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation Scholarships. One of the students is from Gwinnett. The $5,000 scholarships are awarded annually to outstanding sophomores and juniors pursuing careers with an environmental or Native American public policy focus.

Hatzenbuhler

The recipients bring the university's total of Udall Scholars to 10 since 2003. This year's winners are:

• Heather Hatzenbuhler, a junior from Lawrenceville, who is pursuing a bachelor's degree in environmental ethics and management;
  
  
• Malavika Rajeev, a junior from Tifton, who is pursuing a joint bachelor's/master's degree in ecology; and
  
  
• Theresa Stratmann, a junior from Irmo, S.C., who is pursuing a bachelor's degree in ecology.

Juniors Ian Karra of Roswell and Rosemary Gay of Douglasville each received honorable mentions in the national scholarship competition. Karra is pursuing bachelor's degrees in economics and Spanish, and Gay is pursuing a bachelor's degree in agroecology and sustainable development (Honors interdisciplinary studies).

Hatzenbuhler has taken advantage of her academic experiences at UGA to help prepare her for a public service career in environmental justice. Last fall, a public policy proposal she wrote addressing clean energy improvements, especially for residential homes, led to her current involvement with the Athens Department of Housing and Economic Development to implement her recommendations.

Hatzenbuhler has participated in the Honors Internship Program in Washington, D.C., working for the TV to Africa division of Voice of America, a multimedia international public broadcasting company. She founded the Sierra Student Coalition at UGA and has led the UGA Beyond Coal campaign, which advocates the use of alternative energy sources by institutions of higher education. She also is the co-chair of the Go-Green Alliance, a coalition of campus environmental groups. For more information on the Udall Scholarship, see http://www.udall.gov.

RECOMMENDED
Miss Dimple Rallies to the Cause
By Mignon Ballard

"What fun to read books that take place on our homeground! Mignon Ballard's Miss Dimple series is based in Milledgeville during World War II and includes visits to Atlanta, Winder, Athens and the surrounding countryside. These are well written and entertaining, while providing a glimpse of life as it was in our area during the early '40s."

-- Genevieve Williams, Snellville

• 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
Soybeans introduced in Georgia first in the 18th century

Soybeans, introduced to Georgia in the 18th century, are raised today in the state as a source of cooking oil and animal feed. Researchers at the University of Georgia (UGA) are also examining the crop's potential for the production of biofuel and as a more palatable foodstuff.

Originating in China, the soybean is a major crop worldwide. The first soybean crop raised in America is thought to have been planted in Georgia by Samuel Bowen in 1765. After the East India Company ship on which Bowen was employed arrived in the American colonies from China, Bowen declined to return aboard and instead settled in Savannah, where he planted and harvested a soybean crop.

With encouragement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, farmers in the southern states began planting soybeans as forage for their livestock. In 1904 agricultural scientist George Washington Carver of Tuskegee University in Alabama discovered that soybeans were a valuable source of protein and oil. He also discovered that soybeans worked well as a cover crop, which is a crop planted to enrich the soil after the major crop is harvested.

Soybean production in the United States has increased continually since the 19th century. Today, the nation's farmers plant nearly 77 million acres of soybeans and rely on the crop for animal feed. Livestock in the United States consume about 25 million tons of soybean meal annually. Soybean farmers in Georgia plant an average of 180,000 acres each year, significantly less than other crops. For example, farmers in the state devote 1.3 million acres to cotton and 755,000 acres to peanuts.

Soybeans present unique challenges for Georgia farmers. Traditional varieties, grown primarily in the Midwest, are very susceptible to drought in the sandy soils of Georgia's coastal plain. According to soybean specialists, the potential for drought in Georgia makes soybeans less economically feasible than other crops. Also, Georgia farmers use their irrigated acres for such higher-value crops as cotton, peanuts, and vegetables because they are generally paid less for soybeans than are midwestern growers.

Georgia farmers who plant soybeans grow them primarily as an oilseed crop-the beans are harvested and crushed to produce oil for cooking. The meal produced by crushing the beans is used as animal feed and as a food ingredient. Soybean oil can also be used to produce biodiesel, a fuel made from such renewable materials as vegetable oils or animal fats. Scientists with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences are conducting biodiesel feasibility studies and biotechnology research on several crops, including soybeans.

• Click here to access the Georgia Encyclopedia

LAGNIAPPE
Alert cardinal

Looking at the world with an alert, commanding and proud presence, this male cardinal sitting on this limb was shot by Photographer Frank Sharp recently. He captures the dignity, the pride and self esteem of this member of the bird family. Looks like the bird is also enjoying this early spring!

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© 2012, 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
Dwight Eisenhower knew what was wrong in Washington

"There are a number of things wrong with Washington. One of them is that everyone is too far from home."

-- The 34th president of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969).

MORE COPIES AVAILABLE
Gwinnett history book in second printing

Previously out of print, Elliott Brack's 850-page history, "Gwinnett: A Little Above Atlanta," is now available again. Since its original publication, the book was declared the winner of the 2010 Award of Excellence for documenting Georgia history by the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Board. It is also the winner of the Gwinnett Historical Society's Whitworth-Flanigan Award for 2011 for preserving the history of Gwinnett County.

The book includes 143 demographic and historic tables, with more than 4,000 names in the index, and 10,000 names in the appendix.

Two versions of the book are available. The hardback edition is priced at $75, while a softback edition is $40. Books are available at:

• Atlanta History Center, Atlanta
• Books for Less, Buford
  
• Gwinnett Historical Society, Lawrenceville
  
• Parsons Gifts and Cards, Duluth
  
• Vargas and Harbin Gallery, Norcross

You can also order books through the Internet. To do that, go to www.elliottbrack.com to place your order. For mail orders, there is a $5 shipping and handling fee. Purchases are also subject to the 6 percent Georgia sales tax.

SEARCH GWINNETT FORUM

GWINNETT CALENDAR

IN THE COMING WEEK

(NEW) April After Hours of the Buford Business Alliance: 5:30 p.m., April 10, Biscardi Creative Media, 4850 Golden Parkway, Suite B-26, in Buford. Information about the upcoming Historic Buford Spring Festival will be available.

Show extended: The well-received musical, Clyde ‘n Bonnie: A Folktale, has been extended at the Aurora Theatre through April 15. Many performances are sold out. For tickets, order by phone 678-226-6222 or at boxoffice@auroratheatre.com.

Safe driving course: 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., April 12, provided by Suwanee Police Department, at 373 Buford Highway. Registration is required. Visit www.suwanee.com to enroll.

Plein air painting event in Buford, April 13-14. A reception highlighting the two days of artists' work will be April 14 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Tannery Row Artist's Gallery. Paintings will be for sale, including a Live Auction on April 15 at 7:30 p.m.

The Old Snellville School will be the topic of the Snellville Historical Society meeting: 2:30 p.m., April 15, Snellville City Hall. Clark Britt will host the program, which will have several class members talking about the past. Class photographs will also be on display.

SOON AND ONGOING

SMTA Expo: 9:30 a.m. To 4 p.m., April 19, Gwinnett Civic Center in Duluth, open from 9:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. This is the electronics industry’s Surface Mount Technology Association free annual trade show and presentation. For more information, go online to this page.

Ribbon-cutting and blessing of new building of Rainbow Village: Noon, April 20, at 3427 Highway 120 in Duluth. An open house of the new facilities will continue until 7 p.m. A complimentary lunch will be provided by Sandra and Clyde Strickland.

(NEW) Car Show at Vines Botanical Gardens: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., May 5. This is the second annual show sponsored by St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Snellville. There will be a Kids' Zone, vendors, and unique crafts and products from local artisans. Admission is free. Visit www.stmattscarshow.com for more details.

(NEW) Snellville Days Festival: May 5-6, T.W. Briscoe Park on Lenora Church Road in Snellville. The annual parade will start from Wisteria Drive on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. For more details, visit www.snellvilledays.com.

Beauty and the Beast Ballet, presented by Northeast Atlanta Ballet at Gwinnett Center in Duluth: 7:30 p.m., May 18, and 3 p.m., May 20.

MORE EEB PERSPECTIVE

6/19: Solution to KKK flap 6/15: Founders' Day 6/12: Honesty, ethics are key 6/8: Endorsements to come 6/5: On bad government 6/1: Gwinnett Dems active 5/30: Ballot surprises 5/25: Question for ballot 5/22: GOP and ethics 5/18: Favorite books 5/15: Non-partisan elections needed 5/11: Norcross adds smoking ban 5/8: How many traffic slgnals are there? 5/4: Beautiful Crystal Bridges Museum 5/1: Afghanistan to tongue-twisters 4/27: Remembering Vic Nickelson 4/24: T-SPLOST vote ahead 4/20: Waffle House founder 4/17: Briscoe Field update 4/13: Casino gambling here? 4/10: 10,000 unread emails 4/6: Primerica's 2 co-CEOs 4/3: E-SPLOST funding fight 3/27: Corrections proposal 3/23: Two theatres 3/20: P'tree Corners boundaries 3/16: How government protects 3/13: Springtime, gas taxes 3/9: Bigger might not be better 3/6: New business association 3/2: Peachtree Corners' boundaries EEB index of columns

FOCUS ARCHIVES

6/19: Townsend: Cars for teens 6/15: Godfrey: Seashore's pull 6/12: Ramey: GGC transforming 6/8: Myers: Fire responders 6/5: Olson: New at Hudgens 6/1: Henry: On school measure 5/30: Fowler: Greater Norcross 5/25: Stinson: Ptree Crs budget 5/22: Durant: Baldwin's service 5/18: Olson: Hudgens' art camps 5/15: Beck: More 10-minute plays 5/11: Morris: Fink championed democracy 5/8: Morriss: Honor Flight 5/4: McBrayer: Sugar Hill's new digs 5/1: Wilson: 1st Relay for Life 4/27: Stephens: Briscoe study 4/24: Gerstein: Remembering King 4/20: Summerour: Taiwan trip 4/13: Warbington: Romania 4/10: Tyler: Chamber music 4/6: Cerjan: Relay for Life 4/3: Tucker: Pug prance 3/27: Duke: Lilburn scholar 3/23: Calmes: Duluth festival 3/20: Anderson: Grant winner 3/16: Hunter: Empowering girls 3/13: Bass: Schools' training 3/9: Collins: NC casino 3/6: Stilo: Clyde 'n Bonnie to open 3/2: Stout: Unitarian minister COMMENTARY INDEX

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