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Health director suggest family strategies for flu pandemic
By Vernon Goins
Public Information/Risk Communication
East Metro Health District
Special to GwinnettForum.com

FEB. 23, 2007 -- Since it first emerged in 1997, avian influenza has become deadlier and more resilient. It has infected 274 people on three eastern hemisphere continents and killed 167 of them. If the virus becomes capable of human-to-human transmission and retains its extraordinary potency, humanity could face a pandemic unlike any ever witnessed.

If an influenza pandemic struck today, borders would close, the global economy would shut down, international vaccine supplies and health-care systems would be overwhelmed, and panic would reign. To limit the fallout, our communities must create detailed response strategies involving the public and private sectors.

These response strategies involve: Getting to know the differences between pandemic flu and regular flu and why public health is so worried about the H5N1 bird flu strain; knowing what to expect when pandemic flu arrives in our community; devising continuity of operations plans for our businesses and public agencies; joining volunteer assistance groups that will be needed to support the hospital system and public health; and, most importantly, preparing at the individual and family level for a worst-case pandemic scenario.

All other preparations and plans are predicated upon how well individuals and families stockpile food, water, medicines, personal protective equipment, and other essential supplies for a long stand against the effects of a virus that promises to disrupt most daily routines. First responders and medical volunteers cannot be expected to respond to a call to duty unless they feel comfortable about their families' and loved ones' well-being.

The effects of a pandemic will be everywhere and no locality will be able to call upon another for outside assistance. Every individual and family will be on their own, at least for the first wave of the pandemic. While it will sweep through communities in several waves over a period of one to two years, the first wave will be the most dangerous because of the lack of vaccines, antivirals, or of anyone who has previously been exposed to the virus and survived, thereby obtaining immunity to the strain of influenza. With the second and subsequent waves, many potential immune volunteers will be available to help keep the framework of our society from breaking down.

To minimize the impact of an influenza pandemic on livelihoods, human health, the rule of law and governance, humanitarian needs, and economic systems, preparation and volunteerism are key focuses that need attention before it arrives. There is very little that can be done by government after the pandemic starts. All citizens must begin now to get ready for what could be the worst disaster ever faced by the human race.

Governments are working hard to educate every citizen about the dangers of a pandemic. The Gwinnett County Health Department has an aggressive campaign underway to offer education and preparation guidance to every citizen who will listen. More information about this campaign and links to state and federal pandemic influenza websites can be obtained at www.gwinnetthealth.com.

"Where's David?" Good question after family business talk
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com

FEB. 23, 2007 -- It was ironic that when we phoned David Snell about 11 a.m. after he had spoken at a breakfast about family values and hard work, the switchboard operator told us "He's gone for the day."

What's this? We'd give David Snell a five-star thumbs-up for his talk at a "Success Lives Here" breakfast of the Chamber of Commerce that morning. He was brilliant, outlining his company's ideas and beliefs, all built on dedication, hard work and close ties to the family. And now he'd skipped town early on the weekend?

Shortly afterward, we understood. Indeed, not only was David not there, but few family members of the closely-knit E.R. Snell Contractor of Snellville were at work. The explanation: "They've all gone to a family wedding in Charleston."

Up front, David had said that morning: "Family is a big part of who I am. When growing up, my grandparents lived next door. And there are always a lot of cousins around. Our grandparents instilled ethics and morality in our work and the company. We knew right from wrong, with no gray areas. Our grandparents never lost sight of that, and conducted business in that manner."

Snell remembers being expected to be a good student, and he was also a good athlete, earning in high school 14 varsity letters in five sports. He won a baseball scholarship to South Georgia. Later he played first base on scholarship at the University of Georgia, where the team unexpectedly won the eastern division championship (after 25 years of not winning). On baseball: "I hustled and kept my mouth shut, but had low ability,". He was the first in his family to graduate from college, and even got a MBA.

Always assuming he would go into his family business, Snell was surprised to find his father thought otherwise. Since David wanted to stay in Gwinnett County, he landed his first job at Peachtree Doors, was later at American Charms furniture, where he got into manufacturing. He left when the firm moved into retail sales, then was for five years in charge of manufacturing at Progress Container.

Meanwhile, the family business grew, and he eventually joined the company in 1989. "I was the new kid, and had to fit in. We bought an asphalt plant and I started that operation." Davis is now vice president and corporate secretary, and handles the administration for the firm.

Meanwhile, the company began to grow, and later bought more plants. It grew from revenues of $20 million in 1989 to $250 million today, and is now the second largest highway contractor in Georgia, with 650 employees. The business is in its fifth generation now. Basic tenets are that each family member must start at the bottom, and each stockholder must work in the family business. There are 14 stockholders now, five in retirement

David says: "We work each day to accomplish our individual goals. All have to work to earn a place, and each is given responsibility and is expected to make the job work. The secret is that we share in the success of the company, with our employees, with the oldest and youngest sharing equally in our work."

One element of the company, though growing, remains the same: "There's more to business than just being successful."

And yes, David, that might mean taking off early on a Friday for a family wedding. We agree with your style.

The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today's sponsor is Just Emissions, a firm performing State of Georgia emission testing as certified by the Georgia Clean Air Force (GCAF). We eliminate the potential conflict of interest in the test and repair facility by performing only the test, never the needed repairs. For our commercial accounts we offer charge accounts and a single source of record keeping eliminating the need to "scramble" when it is time to purchase vehicle tags. Just Emissions offers certified emission testing in minutes by our courteous, trained technicians. In Gwinnett, we are located at the corner of Scenic Highway and Grayson Highways in Lawrenceville. There are also locations at 1830 Briarcliff Road, Atlanta, close to Emory University. No appointment is needed.

As a long-term county resident, I have witnessed our explosive growth and the changes that are a direct consequence of Gwinnett's appeal. Unfortunately, the structure of the Gwinnett County Commission has not kept pace.

Currently only the Commission Chairperson is elected by the entire county. The other four Commissioners are elected by the districts they represent. That seems reasonable.

Unfortunately there is a tradition known as "district courtesy." One district commissioner supports a rezoning, a land purchase, etc. within their district and this is often automatically supported by the other three district commissioners as a "courtesy".

As a result one commissioner is able to spend our taxes, rezone our neighborhoods and impact our quality of life in a variety of ways and yet is answerable to only the voters in his or her district.

The addition of two at-large commissioners to the current structure will balance the needs of the few with the best interests of the many. Residents would still have a commissioner representing the interests of their districts but that parochial view would be balanced by three commissioners who represented the best interests of the entire county.

We are fortunate to live in an attractive county and with that comes growth and change. The rest of the county has adapted to change; it's time for the Gwinnett County Commission to adapt.

As Americans live increasingly longer lives, many require ongoing, long-term care. Grown children are now faced with the dilemma of caring for their aging parents while raising their own children.

Gwinnett Senior Task Force has recognized this "sandwich" effect and will be hosting a free monthly caregiver support group, beginning on March 7 at 7 p.m. at the Lawrenceville Senior Center, 225 Benson Street, located in the Rhodes Jordan Park.

This support group offers individuals overwhelmed by their roles as elder caregivers an opportunity to express their feelings in safe, non-judgmental surroundings. They will establish a network of supporters; learn valuable coping skills, share advice and information on available services and programs. The facilitators for the support group are people who understand the dynamics of being a caregiver. Certified nursing assistants add a unique benefit of attending the program.

Gwinnett Senior Task Force is a sub-committee of the Health and Human Services Coalition. The committee is a collaboration of several providers, which include the Gwinnett Hospital Systems, Prime Time Health Program, Gwinnett County Senior Services, H2U at Emory Eastside Medical Center, Retired Seniors Volunteer Program, Lawrenceville First United Methodist Church and Duluth First United Methodist Church.

For further information on how you can join this support group, contact Adrienne Noble, Gwinnett County Senior Services at 678-377-4150 or email her at Adrienne.Noble@gwinnettcounty.com. You must register for each class by calling HealthLine at 678-442-5000 or go to www.gwinnettmedicalcenter.org and click on classes and events. Early registration is required if you need elder care accommodations.

Lionheart Theatre Company of Norcross will present Quiet in the Land by Anne Chislett, beginning March 9 at Norcross Community and Cultural Arts Center. The play will be directed by Scott King.

Essentially a morality play, Quiet in the Land is a finely drawn portrait of an old-order Amish community held together and yet set apart by its strict beliefs and traditions. When a non-Amish friend is wounded in the war, Yock must decide if he will reject his heritage, his family, his community, and even the girl he loves, in order to enlist in the Army and defend his country. Infused with warmth and characters,, this play explores the great human dilemma of how to understand the meaning and demands of love and faith in a world torn apart by hatred.

Performances are March 9-11, 16-18 and 23-25. Tickets are $15 for adults, while for seniors and students, $12. For additional information, go to
www.lionhearttheatre.org, or call 77- 806 0935.

Gwinnett's "Quality of Life" police unit will soon move into new quarters at 5555 Oakbrook Parkway in Norcross following Board of Commissioners' approval of a reduced-price lease on Tuesday. The unit is charged with enforcing ordinances related to property maintenance, junk vehicles, illegal signs, occupancy limits, outdoor storage and other conditions that detract from quality of life in the community. (Editor's Note: The phrase "quality of life police" is really another name for code enforcement officers.---eeb).

Police Chief Charles Walters said, "Earlier this month, we consolidated code enforcement officers from the Planning and Development department into our police unit to coordinate operations and improve efficiency." The expanded unit will occupy 7,843 square feet of office space under the three-year agreement.

"The Quality of Life unit evolved from our successful Operation Fixing Broken Windows campaign," according to District 1 Commissioner Lorraine Green. "We are responding to many requests from constituents to help clean up neighborhoods by enforcing existing county ordinances. These code enforcement efforts have created a new way of thinking here in Gwinnett."

Gwinnett Technical College is responding to business and student needs by adding a new program-Simulation/Game Developer-to its roster, making it the first and only college in the state's network of technical colleges to introduce such a program.

Simulated games are the guilty pleasure of many, appealing to individuals of all ages. Video store shelves lie empty of popular sellers like Halo, Madden and Lego Star Wars. With such soaring popularity, the intense demand for gaming instruction has been split by both companies needing skilled game developers and by individuals wanting to break into the market.

Gwinnett Tech's program is the sole provider in this part of the country to offer a program that focuses on the fundamental nuts and bolts of game design and development.

The college's gaming program prepares students for this in-demand field with sought-after skills in three major areas: game design, game physics and Artificial Intelligence. Together these aspects are what give a game its 'real-life' feel, ensuring, for instance, that 'people' don't walk through walls, providing true-to-life scenarios. Students learn to apply these skills to basic games, then on to multiplayer games and finally to massive multiplayer online games.

The City of Suwanee's 2006 Art on a Limb program took first place in the Best Event Within an Event category (under $75,000) in the Southeast Festivals and Events Association's annual Kaleidoscope Awards program in Nashville February 19-21.

Art on a Limb is a month-long City of Suwanee initiative designed to celebrate and bring attention to the arts as well as the natural beauty of the four-mile Suwanee Creek Greenway. Throughout the month of May, two or more pieces of original artwork are placed along the Suwanee Creek Greenway each day. Art on a Limb culminates each year with the annual Arts in the Park celebration held at Town Center Park the first Saturday of June.

Now in its third year, Art on a Limb 2007 will feature high-fired stoneware with impressions of leaves collected from the Greenway. The artwork will be created by Sandra Nissen of Dacula, who was selected through an art/design competition. The pieces will be placed along the Suwanee Creek Greenway beginning May 1 and will be available for purchase at City of Suwanee events beginning with Arts in the Park on June 2.

"The road company of Spamalot galloped un-horsed into the Fox Theatre this week and continues through March 4. Whether you are a fan of the Monty Python series of British drama, you will find this a romp in the woods, so to speak, as the team throws all sorts of atypical humor around in style lampooning anything in sight. You'll see King Arthur trying to round up his bunch of distinctive knights, bound for the Holy Grail, but basically not knowing what they are looking for. It's comedy all the way, punctuated by a lively dance presentation which will keep your toes tapping and you laughing at the same time, as lots of ideas get skewered. "---eeb

Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, a research institution within the University System of Georgia, is located on Skidaway Island, 16 miles southeast of Savannah. As of 2006, the 700-acre campus houses 15 faculty and adjunct faculty members, as well as nearly 100 technicians, students, and support personnel who work indoors in laboratories or outside in saltwater and freshwater experimental facilities.

The Ocean Sciences Center of the Atlantic, created by the Georgia General Assembly in 1967, was responsible for the creation of the facility on land donated by the Robert C. Roebling family and the Union Camp Corporation. The Skidaway Institute of Oceanography opened in 1968 and converted the Roebling's plantation buildings into offices and laboratories. In 1971 the Ocean Sciences Center was dissolved, and the institute was transferred to the University System to serve as a base of operations and central facility for marine interests.

Skidaway is a multidisciplinary institute, working in collaboration with oceanographers from all over the world to decipher the secrets of the global ocean. Visitors to the Skidaway campus stay in ten small apartments and cottages and have access to the largest marine sciences library collection in Georgia.

Perhaps Skidaway Institute's most important work is educating the citizens of Georgia on the preservation of the marine ecosystem. Scientists and staff from the institute work with the University of Georgia Marine Education Center and Aquarium, also located on Skidaway Island, to conduct hands-on programs in trawling and dredging, as well field trips to other islands. The Marine Education Center and Aquarium accommodates around 8,500 scheduled visitors per year, as well as 14,000 walk-ins to the aquarium, now an independent affiliate of the Georgia Museum of Natural History.

Skidaway Institute's work will be vital in managing Georgia's future population, projected to become fourth in the nation over the next few decades. New understanding of the mechanisms of life in the oceans influences efforts to manage and harvest the ocean's living resources, and Skidaway scientists can interpret changes in the ocean to predict weather patterns.

"Man has an incurable habit of not fulfilling the prophecies of his fellow men."

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