-- Elaine Fuerst, Norcross
3/25:
Questions about Sunday sports
and quality of life
Editor, the Forum:
Thank you for sharing your
thoughts on Brigham Young University
not allowing its athletes to
participate in intercollegiate
sports on the Sabbath Day with
your readers. During the time
period when our children were
engaged in various sports and
cultural activities it was seldom
necessary to make a decision
regarding events on Sunday.
I remember only one occasion
in which we had to make a decision
about participating on Sunday
and fortunately when the Varsity
Basketball Coach realized that
Lee Gibson was not coming to
the Sunday practice it was canceled.
I'm sure that now it would be
considered very juvenile to
even voice an objection much
less not participate.
Sometimes I question just how
much progress we are making
in enhancing the "quality
of life" of which we seem
to be constantly seeking. I
suppose as we age there is,
predictably, a longing for the
patterns of our youth, but I
readily admit I miss quiet Sundays
at home with our family after
Church services, stores closing
at noon on Wednesday and Saturday
movie double-headers with a
cartoon in between.
Thankfully there are some institutions
like BYU where the almighty
dollar is not enough to purchase
character or values.
-- Janet Gibson, Lawrenceville
3/25:
Liked comments about Chamber
of Commerce president
Editor, the Forum:
Your story recently on Richard
Tucker was great. A nice tribute
to him and to you for recognizing
it. Proud of you.
-- Andy Miller, Lawrenceville
3/18:
Retired teachers disappointed
in school names
Editor, the Forum:
We are disappointed that none
of the names submitted and were
on the final list from the committees
that were chosen by Mr. Alvin
Wilbanks. He stated that policy
of the Gwinnett County School
System would not allow choosing
a name of a living person for
a school.
There appears to have been
a breakdown in communication
within the system concerning
the information available to
the community on the naming
policy. From previous experience,
our group had been under the
understanding that schools would
not be named for living persons.
However, that policy was not
applied when naming a school
for former superintendents,
Dr. Alton Crews, B. B. Harris
and J. W. Benefield; as well
as current school board member,
Ms. Louise Radloff. This led
us to believe that the policy
had been changed. We contacted
support staff in charge of receiving
the submissions for the school
names and were informed that
there was not a policy that
restricted school names to regional/landmark
names or to persons that are
deceased.
It would be helpful to the
community to explain the school
naming policy for the Gwinnett
County Schools.
-
What exactly
is the policy and where is
it written?
-
Should it
be clearly defined in the
announcement at the beginning
of the push to name the schools?
-
Should the
support staff at the county
office and the committees
who review all submissions
for school names before submission
to the superintendent have
the full information on the
school name policy?
-
What other
exceptions are in the policy?
-
Is the final
decision in the hands of one
person?
The community would certainly
be better prepared for the process
with full disclosure of the
policy.
These are questions that should
be answered before the next
round of school naming. It is
an honor to have one's name
pass the committee review and
become a finalist in the process.
It would be high praise for
the educators of Gwinnett County
to name a school for a deserving
living educator.
Each time we see news of a
Van Gogh painting being auctioned
for millions of dollars we are
saddened to think that a man
who never sold a painting in
his lifetime would have gone
to his grave perhaps thinking
that no one appreciated his
art. Why must some die before
we say how valuable they have
been to the community and what
a difference they made to our
lives and to the world.
-- Ralph Greene, president,
Gwinnett County Retired Educators'
Association
3/14:
Eliminating world tyrants is priceless
cost
Editor the Forum;
"Getting the troops to the
war zone and back.... $25 billion;
fighting the war....$8-10 billion;
occupying a nation once it's defeated....$12-48
billion; rebuilding the nation....
billions."
Ensuring that our sons and daughters
are never faced with a world tyrant
that has the capability of destroying
all Americans and our way of life....priceless!
Ask yourself this when you're
tallying up the costs of war,
"What is the cost of not
going to war?"
-- Craig Heighton, Buford
3/14: Credible use of force enables
diplomacy to work
Editor, the Forum:
Thanks for making the point that
the threat of credible use of
force enables diplomacy to have
a chance to work with the like
of SH. Some people seem to miss
that point entirely.
-- M. Nichols, Suwanee
3/14:
Better idea: eliminate FBI, GBI
and local police units
Editor, the Forum:
Regarding your latest opinion
on "There are many more costs
than fighting the cost of war.
" Like our great President
Bush says (Good people disagree)
and I happen to disagree with
this opinion.
While you're eliminating the cost
for the soldiers, tanks, planes,
bullets, bombs, missiles and the
cost of being the freest country
in the world,,,here is a better
idea, let's look at this in another
perspective, lets start right
here at home. Let's eliminate
the F.B.I., G.B.I., police departments
across the nation.
That's the country I want my six
and two year old to live in.
-- Joe McVay, Loganville
3/11:
Feels conclusion on Gateway was
made in error
Editor, the Forum:
Your conclusion in "Gateway
test worked well" is disputed
by facts in your own article.
The first Gateway was administered
in grades 4 and 7 in 2000 (not
1999). The earliest effect would
be seen in 8th graders in the
2000-01year and 9th graders in
the 2001-02 year.
Your trends attesting to the
success of GCPS students (SAT
and HSG scores etc.) relate to
students promoted using classroom
grades. "Gateway" students
aren't old enough to have affected
these statistics.
Your facts demonstrate the success
of the previous promotion policy,
and indicate the Gateway was never
needed. Your opinion demonstrates
you ignored the facts.
-- Larry Major, Dacula
(EDITOR'S NOTE:
Dear Mr. Major: My information
is different from yours. The first
Gateway tests were given in 1998
to all 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th and
10th graders. Students were not
required to pass these for promotion
and graduation until 2000, because
1998 and 1999 were pilot years.
Scores were reported to parents
and teachers even in the pilot
years. So, beginning in 1996 all
students knew that they would
be held accountable for learning
the new curriculum and that the
Gateways were going to be used
to measure that. For example,
students who took the SAT in 2001-2002
(Gwinnett's highest score ever)
started learning the AKS in 7th
grade. They took the pilot 8th
grade writing Gateway. They were
required to pass the 10th grade
Gateway in 2000 and they took
the SAT as seniors.---eeb)
3/11:
Not hate, but heritage on the
flag question
Editor, the Forum:
In response to Connie Catalano's
comments on the raging flag issue:
I note that she is not a native
Georgian.
It's not about hate, it's about
heritage.
You will remember that before
the November elections, I told
you that the people in South Georgia
were as mad as a nest of hornets
about the "new" flag
was rammed down the voters throats,
and was a bigger issue than Barnes
thought it was. Looks like I was
right. He's not the governor anymore.
All we wanted was a chance to
vote on a flag change. I personally
like the pre-1956 better than
the "Stars and bars"
flag, and would like to see the
state flag so adopted.
-- David Earl Tyre, Jesup
3/11:
Prefers for athletes merely to
graduate
Editor, the Forum:
I disagree with Wayne Sikes about
paying the so-called "student
athletes". Seems to me the
answer is in making them "students".
If my recollection is correct,
the famous Georgia Tech football
coach Bobby Dodd required that
all his players graduate college,
and all did.
I also expect that they didn't
have a for-credit course in "football
field striping". I hear that
the Harricks teach a course of
that nature but relating to basketball.
-- Elmore Stuart, Norcross
3/7:
Explains legal process in eviction
cases
Editor, the Forum:
While evictions are undignified,
state law mandates that the items
be placed on the public right-of-way.
In order to better understand the
eviction process, one must acknowledge
that the renter has failed to pay
any rent for an average of a 2-3
month period by the time they are
evicted.
Once the renter fails to pay, the
owner files a Dispossessory with
the courts. Once filed, the Sheriff's
Department, or Marshall, must serve
this order. Once served, the renter
has seven days to file a response.
If the defendant fails to respond,
a Writ of Possession is issued and
the eviction can move forward.
If the renter responds they are
permitted a court hearing to argue
their case. By the time their belongings
are place on the right-of-way, the
truly undignified act is that the
owner has lost a substantial amount
of money, time and effort to merely
recover what was his in the first
place. I have seen horror cases
where the owner was denied his property
for years because the renter is
a "professional squatter."
-- Melinda Allen, Gainesville
3/7: Other programs had to give
way for Mr. Rogers
Editor, the Forum:
I felt like a member of our family
had died with the news of Mr. Rogers.
Sesame Street, which started in
1970 the year I entered grade school,
was a staple in our house, as was
Mr. Rogers, who drew a little fire
at our house. We only had one TV
set, unlike today. Ultraman, Speedracer
and the afternoon movie had to wait
when Mr. Rogers was on.
-- Kelly Herndon, Grayson
3/7:
Other factors also contributed to
Gateway success
Editor, the Forum:
While what you have stated is true
I fear you may have overlooked a
couple of other factors that could
well be attributed to the success
of Gwinnett County students.
The amount of money being spent
every year. Our current cost is
over $9,000 a year per student.
This actually exceeds the cost to
provide a private education at many
of our local private schools. Which,
by the way, seem to historically
outscore public schools.
The success of outside tutoring
programs like Sylvan indicates to
me that the school is not only failing
but failing miserably.
I find your spin on the Drop out
numbers interesting as well. With
increasing enrollment one could
look at the lower percentages through
rose-colored glasses. However, the
reality is that these numbers are
based on students at least 16 years
old. These are high school aged
students. What happened to the help
you contend they received three
years ago while in middle school?
What happened to no social promotion?
Most importantly why the sudden
increase in drop outs if the program
is working? And what happens to
your percentages if these students
had remained?
One comment from your article I
can not deny "mostly from a
small minority of parents".
I, sir, pride myself as being a
member of that minority. Of being
an involved parent and voter, of
having the foresight to see down
the road we are being led and the
courage to speak out. Making me
a member of the "Vocal Minority"
Minorities are what founded this
great country. They are its backbone.
I pray they never cease to exist
and that they never fail to speak
out against what they perceive as
an injustice.
-- Jim Dumond, Buford
3/7: Maybe black and white flag
idea is not so bad
Editor, the Forum:
After reading the article from
Willis
on the flag, I think he has a great
suggestion. I am a new resident
to Georgia and have tried not to
get involved in this issue but since
this is now my home state, I feel
it is chasing me.
There is a big part of me that wants
to say "what a bunch of junk"!
We are trying so hard to please
everyone and Willis is right, we
will never accomplish that. If every
individual started demanding their
feelings be taken care of we would
be spinning our wheels and going
no where. This was started because
a small group of people looked at
the flag and to them it represented
wrong doings.
Why didn't we sit down with those
people and help them with their
feelings and really dialogue what
this was all about. I want to understand
the differences here in the South
but it's so hard. I see a state
that has very successful humans
of all races and colors. And I see
them get along better then up North!
I travel all over the area and I'm
confused where the conflict is?
Or should I say I'm confused on
how many people actually have this
flag conflict? It seems like only
a few if you measure it with our
population.
Someone needs to take the role of
leadership and decide if this conflict
is going to continue, if so, Willis
is right, take the toy away from
both of them and make the flag black
and white with letters......what
color should the letters be??? That
could start a whole new issue.
-- Connie Catalano, Lawrenceville
3/4:
Comes up with new design for black
and white flag
Editor, the Forum:
Ross Willis's piece last week proposing
a black and white state flag has
inspired me to write after a long
absence.
I agree that a black and white
flag would appear on the surface
to appease the two factions of black
and white, but just as important
as the colors is the design.
I have long proposed the color
be black and white and white and
black (whew! that covered the political
correctness). Each color would have
the exact equal representation without
regard to any population percentage
so we won't have to address square
inch ratios following each ten-year
census count.
If the color and design is properly
done one could easily pick it out
of a mass of flags and be proud
to be a Georgian, seeing our state
flag proudly wave. It should be
one that even former Georgians could
take pride in and wherever they
may roam across this great land
and even abroad.
Possibly people in other lands
might think it so beautiful that
they will promote the land of "wisdom,
justice, moderation" without
even knowing it, waving it in their
own countries on special occasions
such as certain sporting events.
It should reflect our past, present,
and future and contain no verbiage
(especially English since State
of Georgia will be Estat de Jorgia
in the near future).
I give you the new state flag:
the black and white and white and
black-checkered flag waved at the
end of every motor race.
I just can't find PC in my life
unless it's a PC, onion rings, and
two dogs walkin' at The Varsity.
-- Howard N. Williams Jr., Snellville
3/4:
No rush for new flag, but let's
do it right
Editor, the Forum:
I read someone's suggestion that
we should all note that the first
flag signifying this state was a
solid white background with a royal
blue square with Georgia emblem
-wisdom, justice and moderation.
I have not checked authenticity.
I believe DAR uses this - I'm sure
that a historian of that organization
would clarify quickly.
Georgia was the 13th and last colony.
What could be better? Can some get
this idea to Governor Perdue? While
we are changing we should adopt
something that is truly Georgia's
from 1733.
Whatever we do, let's do with it
with thought reverence and dignity.
There's no rush.
-- Loretta Roberts, Suwanee
3/4:
Says system educating children in
fine style
Editor, the Forum:
Thank you for stepping up to the
plate and advocating for the good
job that Gwinnett County Public
School system does in educating
our children. If I remember local
issues correctly, a few years ago
these Board members were elected
because parents wanted accountability
in our schools. The school system
staff as done this and done it well.
Now the rest of the state is doing
the same.
-- Elleene Jones Morgan, Snellville
3/4:
Wants better labeling in organic
food products
Editor, the Forum::
I was disheartened to read Section
771 of the 2003 Agriculture Appropriations
Act, introduced by Rep. Nathan Deal.
This provision, at its core, encourages
deceptive labeling of supposedly
organically produced food products.
Only producers who find our nation's
existing laws to be financially
inconvenient can stand to benefit.
I certainly hope similar provisions
are not put in place for automobile
safety features. Imagine General
Motors and Ford deciding to label
all cars as having airbags while
actually supplying only some cars
with this feature.
I take the rationale embodied in
Section 771 as yet another sign
of the increasing venality of our
society. I can feel only outrage
and embarrassment when I consider
that a supposedly God-fearing individual
who is entrusted with the well being
of my fellow citizens introduced
such a measure.
-- Mike Todd, Oakland, Calif
