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Duluth plans memorial at new city hall
for living veterans
By
Chris Jarrett
Associate director of the architecture program
Georgia Institute of Technology
Special to GwinnettForum.com
DULUTH, Ga., Jan. 30, 2007 -- Officials in the City of Duluth want
to build a living memorial dedicated to all veterans and public
safety personnel of Duluth. Most memorials are for those who have
died, but Duluth decided it wanted to do something different.
Mayor Shirley Lasseter says: "I have always thought that we
so often pay tribute to those who have died, but rarely take the
time to honor those who are living. It is now time to show our respect
for and appreciation to our servicemen and women, veterans, and
public safety personnel through the design and construction of a
'Living Memorial' fitting to their service."
The site of the Living Memorial will be in front of the new City
Hall located in the historic heart of the city.
To assist representatives from the City of Duluth in generating
ideas for the memorial, Georgia Tech architecture professors Richard
Dagenhart and David Green's senior design studios will spend the
first two weeks in February investigating living memorials and generating
potential designs for consideration.
Before the students isolate themselves behind their drawing boards
and computers, they will fully immerse themselves in on-going conversations
and background learning around the design of memorials. The Duluth
Living Memorial Project will kickoff with a seminar on architecture
and memorials led by Professors Dagenhart, Green, and Doug Allen.
Allen, together with Associate Professor Jude LeBlanc, designed
the Veterans Memorial Park in Smyrna, was part of the team who designed
the Korean War Memorial in Canton Park on the harbor in Baltimore,
Md. He described the nature of a memorial. "A memorial is built
by the living in order to obligate future generations to remember
a significant person or event. In doing so, a memorial carries with
it a pedagogical function."
The intriguing and difficult aspect of the Duluth Memorial is that
it is intended to honor living veterans, as well as those whose
lives were sacrificed in service to their country.
This is a unique opportunity for our students to participate in
a design competition of a real project. While the project dimensions
are small in scale, the scope and challenge of the project is huge.
Bringing resolution and meaning to a memorial that commemorates
not only the dead but the living is one of the most provocative
and potentially rich aspects of this competition. Surely it will
stir the students' minds. The architecture program is pleased to
be able to participate and assist the City of Duluth in reaching
their goal of building a Living Memorial.
The competition will be judged by a panel including a representative
from the City of Duluth, a Duluth veteran, design faculty at Georgia
Tech, and an invited design critic. Three monetary awards will be
given to the top three designs.
All of the student projects from the design studio will be on display
at the City of Duluth after the competition. This will provide an
opportunity for the citizens of Duluth to reflect upon the different
designs and help them determine what's best and how to move forward
in the development of a Living Memorial for the City of Duluth.
For more information on this design competition please contact Chris
Jarrett from Georgia Tech at 404-894-0558. For more information
on the "Living Memorial" contact me at Duluth City Hall
at 678-475-3506.
Buford schools adopting uniforms is solid
leadership move
By
Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com
JAN. 30, 2007 -- Three cheers for the Buford School System! It
showed its educational leadership last week when it announced it
is adopting a dress code for all the system's 2,700 students, from
elementary to high schools.
Brack |
Parents of Buford students should be shouting the praises of the
system. The instigation of a limited yet standardized uniform for
all students should benefit the entire system and city, resulting
in eventually better achievement for students, and less discipline
problems for the administrators.
Apparently the Buford City System is the first system to adopt
a standardized dress code for all its students in Georgia. While
individual public schools have adopted uniforms, and similar codes
are standardized in private schools, no system statewide has made
this move. The new dress code will go into effect next fall for
the Buford students.
Parents will get a financial savings from this new policy, since
standardized clothing usually costs far less than fashionable dress.
Not only that, but the individual student need not have as many
different outfits with standardized dress than that student usually
owns with fashion-dictated clothing. However, the prime benefit
is that students will no longer stand out with their "look-at-me"
costly outfits. This has led some schools throughout the nation
to report more achievement with fewer problems once the dress code
was adopted.
Meanwhile, Gwinnett County's schools, the largest system in the
state, would find that it could benefit immensely for its 150,000-plus
students if it would adopt a similar measure. While there is usually
no major uproar from parents demanding a dress code, the leadership
that the Buford system is showing is something systems big and small
throughout the state could well emulate.
While the move may be initially unpopular among students, soon
they also may come to view the adoption as beneficial. After all,
in the United States schools generally do not require uniforms,
something virtually unheard of in many highly developed countries.
In most foreign countries, what you wear to school is simply not
an issue.
Interestingly, while students here often complain about wearing
uniforms, those who participate in extra curricular activities,
such as football, basketball, baseball and other sports, and even
students in band, are obviously dressed to the nines in specialized
uniforms. They never complain about the sometimes highly-regulated
uniforms that require such items as tooth protectors or batting
helmets, for them to particulate in that sport. In effect, wearing
extra-curricular uniforms is a move to protect the student, who
has never the first thought of protesting such a move.
In effect, it's for the good of the students that protects them
in athletes, or conform to the norm in the student band.
That same argument is one that can be used in everyday student
wear. Uniforms ensure that the student is not limited in his academics,
by fellow sudents wearing outlandish clothing that distracts, boasts,
highlights and harms all student….whether the student realizes
it or not. Authority figures, in this case the Buford school officials,
are adopting this policy for the good of the student.
We urge Gwinnett County parents to call upon their schools to adopt
similar uniform policies. It's less costly, and improves the overall
quality and conduct of the schools. Parents should demand policy
changes such as this for their children.
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people who are touched in some way by the activity centered in Gwinnett
County, Georgia. Nobody reaches Gwinnett like Gwinnett Magazine.
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Concurs with argument against eliminating auto tag tax
Editor, the Forum:
I strongly concur with your comments regarding the ad valorem tax
on automobiles. However, I would contend that the "average"
(probably the majority) taxpayer will support the elimination of
this tax as another buck in his/her pocket and not the government's.
And so it goes....
-- Larry Partain, Norcross
(Dear Larry: You may be right. People think they
are getting a tax reduction. However, if we're getting this "rebate,"
it means that first we taxpayers will be charged higher state
taxes which we have to send to Atlanta than we should have to,
and then we will have to hope that the state has enough cash left
to rebate us. So it's smoke and mirrors. It's really all just
a sham, no real tax reduction, and that's what bugs me.-eeb)
Loves hypocrisy concerning
gambling and alcohol
Editor, the Forum:
I just love the hypocrisy. Georgia has gambling seven days a week
(with the lottery) yet won't let us buy beer on Sunday.
-- Brian Luders, Duluth
Suwanee
hires firm to work on master plan for 2030
The City of Suwanee is poised to begin creating a vision for and
roadmap to the Suwanee of 2030. The City has hired Atlanta-based
planning firm Urban Collage to assist it in creating a Comprehensive
Town Master Plan for 2030.
When Suwanee last undertook a town master plan in 1999, the process
signaled dramatic new directions for the burgeoning community. Suwanee's
2020 Town Master Plan. It adopted in 2001, created entirely new
roadways-and greenways-to the Suwanee that exists today and will
be in the future. The rapidly growing community of 1999 found that
it could not get to the Suwanee of 2020 that it envisioned using
old pathways. New directions were needed.
Suwanee's Planning and Community Development Director Marty Allen
says: "We're a different community today than we were in 1999.
A number of dramatic initiatives came out of the 2020 plan, including
new development types such as mixed uses, the open space and parks
program, and a focus on a viable Town Center. "We expect that
what will come out of this next comprehensive planning effort will
be somewhat different, but equally impactful."
While results of Suwanee's upcoming comprehensive planning process
may indeed be considerably different than those of the 2020 plan,
what will remain the same is the opportunity for community involvement
and comment. It was residents who participated in the 2020 plan
who first sounded the call for preserving trees, building more parks,
and creating a community gathering place that could accommodate
Suwanee's growing population.
Suwanee, along with eight other Gwinnett municipalities, participated
in Gwinnett County's data-gathering processes for its Gwinnett County
2030 Unified Plan, which is being prepared by Parsons Brinckerhoff,
HNTB, and Bay Area Economics.
The City, with the assistance of Urban Collage and residents, is
now ready to proceed with the visioning or goal-setting phase of
its 2030 plan. The final stage, expected to be completed by the
end of this year, is the master plan itself, a synthesis of data
and visioning.
John
D. Stephens is Chamber's Gwinnett Citizen of the Year
Stephens |
Key citizens of Gwinnett County were honored at the 59th annual
meeting of the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce on Friday night. John
D. Stephens was named Citizen of the Year. Born and raised in Gwinnett,
Stephens started his first business in 1962 as a utility contractor.
He has been instrumental in the construction of Gwinnett's water
and sewer infrastructure, one of the most critical elements to Gwinnett's
success and growth.
A visionary and quiet leader, those close to him say he'd rather
not be recognized for his charitable efforts, but to let his good
deeds stand on their own merit. Some of the most notable charities
he supports are the Gwinnett Children's Shelter, the American Heart
Association, the Shepherd Center, and the Northeast Georgia Council
for the Boy Scouts of America.
Six Public Service Awards were presented to:
- Kerry Armstrong, senior vice president of Duke Realty Corporation;
- Mike Hayes, general manager of Hayes Chrysler Dodge Jeep;
- Stephen K. Hill, president of RSE Grading Company, Inc.;
- Jim Hinkle, mayor, City of Grayson;
- Barbara Howard, president, Suzanna's Kitchen; and
- Sue Morris, former superintendent of Buford City Schools.
These awards are given to individuals who have gone above and beyond
over the years in their service to the community and its residents.
The Legacy Award, which honors the memory and legacy of an individual
who has made a difference in the history and progress of Gwinnett
County, was awarded posthumously to Clyde Roberts. Accepting the
award was his son, Spencer Roberts. Born in Barrow County, Clyde
Roberts for more than 50 years was with Belk-Gallant Department
Stores. Over the years, he served as president of the Gwinnett Chamber
of Commerce, chairman of the Gwinnett County Blood Services Program,
and director of the Humane Society. He was also president of the
Kiwanis Club and a chairman for years of the Development Authority
of Gwinnett.
This year's D. Scott Hudgens Award was given to the Gwinnett Children's
Shelter. Accepting the award on behalf of the Gwinnett Children's
Shelter will be Director Nancy Friauf and Board President Lynn Price.
During twenty years of service, the Gwinnett Children's Shelter
has provided emergency shelter and counseling services to over 5,000
children
The Ambassador of the Year Award will be given to Jill L. Andrusko,
Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen.
New chairman of the board of the Chamber is Tom Martin, chairman
of Gwinnett Community Bank. He replaces Wayne Shackelford, who has
served as chair for the past year.
Study shows Walton
EMC 18th largest co-op in United States
A new study by the Energy Information Agency of the U.S. Department
of Energy shows that Walton Electric Membership Corporation (EMC)
is among the 25 largest electric cooperatives in the country.
The data was released in December 2006 and is based on 2005 information.
Co-ops are ranked three ways. Walton EMC ranked 18th in total customer-owners
with 110,149; 18th in energy sales at 2,287,492,000 kilowatt-hours;
and 16th in retail revenue at $180,325,000.
Part of CEO Ronnie Lee's strategy to manage Walton EMC's growth
is to rely on the co-op's core values. "Even though we're one
of the largest electric cooperatives in the country, it s essential
that we still provide personal service and have a strong local presence,"
says Lee.
Walton EMC is a customer-owned power company that serves 115,000
accounts over its ten-county service area between Atlanta and Athens.
It's subsidiary, Walton EMC Natural Gas, serves natural gas accounts
statewide.
- 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
Freshwater
mollusks face threats from development of area
Freshwater
mussels |
The freshwater
molluscan fauna of Georgia is one of the most diverse and abundant
found anywhere in the world. In the southeastern United States,
which has the greatest freshwater mollusk diversity in the world,
Georgia's 165 mollusk species (67 snails and 98 mussels) rank fourth
in total diversity.
However, freshwater mollusks are the most imperiled group of animals
today. Since the 1920s 12 species of mussels and three species of
snails have become extinct in Georgia. As of 2003, 13 species of
freshwater mussels were protected under the Endangered Species Act,
and four more were candidates for listing.
Most of the freshwater fauna found in Georgia today evolved from
saltwater species that invaded freshwater river systems along three
primary routes and thus developed into three general groups: the
Atlantic Slope fauna of the Altamaha and Savannah River basins,
the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint rivers fauna, and the fauna
of the Coosa River basin, which is part of the Mobile River system.
Freshwater mussels have multiple mechanisms for reproduction. Generally,
sperm is broadcast into the water column by the male and carried
in water currents to female mussels. The female mussel captures
the sperm as she siphons water into her body cavity through normal
feeding behavior. Fertilization occurs within the body cavity and
is followed by several weeks or months of growth and maturation
of the larval mussels (glochidia) inside a special area of the gills.
Freshwater mollusks are sensitive to pollution, sedimentation,
and other human-induced habitat alterations. Historically, the primary
factors leading to the decline of mussels and snails in Georgia
were the construction of dams; dredging; in-stream sand and gravel
mining; deforestation; and pollution from mining, municipalities,
and industries. While the river bottoms of this state were at one
time covered with mollusks, today only pockets of diversity remain.
Sedimentation, further dam construction, and urbanization continue
to degrade or eliminate mollusk habitat.
Man must ask himself
two questions or in big trouble
"A man has to ask himself two questions. First, where am I
going? Second, who will go with me? If you ever get the questions
in the wrong order, you are in big trouble."
-- Theologian Howard Thurman (1900-1981) via Alvin S. Johnson,
Sandy Springs.
Send your thoughts, 55-word short stories, pet peeves
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Forum for future publication.
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