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Two UGA students from Gwinnett win Fulbright assistantships
By Joelle Walls
Special to GwinnettForum.com

ATHENS, Ga., Dec. 11, 2007 -- Six recent University of Georgia graduates, including two from Gwinnett, have been named Fulbright recipients for the 2007-2008 academic year. In addition, a doctoral student has won a Fulbright-Hays dissertation research award.

The two from Gwinnett are Adrienne Kay of Norcross and Michael Levengood of Lilburn, who have been awarded English teaching assistantships. Adrienne Kay is the daughter of Paul and Nancy Kay and Michael Levengood is the son of Mike and Peggy Levengood.

The Fulbright Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, is the largest international exchange program offered in America. The scholarship, which covers travel costs and living expenses, has sent approximately 279,500 people to study, research or teach overseas. An outstanding academic or professional record and demonstrated leadership potential are among the selection criteria.

"This is a terrific travel-study scholarship," said Steve Elliott-Gower, UGA's Fulbright Program advisor, "and it serves as vital a purpose as ever in promoting international understanding. We need even more UGA students to take advantage of this opportunity."

Starting in March 2008, Kay, a spring graduate with Spanish and international business degrees, will serve as an assistant English language teacher at the National University of Villa Maria in Cordoba, Argentina and also plans to study Portuguese. During her undergraduate days at UGA, Kay volunteered as a translator, taught adult English as a second language classes and participated in internship programs at UGA's Small Business Development Center and the Honors Program's Honors in Washington program.

Kay, who was a UGA First Honor Graduate with a perfect 4.0 GPA, says: "When I opened the email that informed me I received the Fulbright, I was completely stunned. I had been holding my breath for it all semester. This is a chance for me to not only teach and travel, but also to make a difference in an Argentine community. I hope to accomplish this in a way that teaches me about the culture and allow me to share a little of my culture."

Levengood, who earned geography and economics degrees this past May, will be at the Universidad Austral in Valdivia, Chile and hopes to conduct research in city planning and development. A UGA Foundation Fellow, Levengood was involved with Habitat for Humanity and volunteered as an English as a second language teacher. He also has traveled to northern Europe through a semester at sea program, and studied in Chile and Egypt.

"Volunteering to teach once a week has been an incredibly rewarding and enjoyable experience, and it has ultimately inspired me to teach English abroad," said Levengood, who would like to attend law school or enroll in graduate studies in economic development or urban planning after his return. "I look forward to expanding the teaching skills that I've acquired over the last few years."

The others from the University who are Fulbright recipients include Kelly Proctor of Urbanna, Va.; Evan Randall of Marietta; Alejandro Crawford of Fayetteville; and Matthew Wooten of Cleveland were awarded Fulbright student scholarships for study abroad opportunities. Doctoral student Jessie Fly of St. Louis, Mo. received a Fulbright-Hays dissertation research award.

Another Georgia GOP proposal not in keeping with Lincoln
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher

DEC. 11, 2007 -- Georgia voters, after shifting the balance of politics to the Republican Party a few years back, may be as perplexed as we are today when it comes to the tactics of some of the top people in that party. For instead of seeing in power the party of less government, as Republicans have pictured themselves over the years, Georgia now has a most activist Georgia Republican Party, with its leaders promoting not just change, but vast, radical change, in government.

Now comes yet another proposal from a Republican leader, this time from the president pro tem of the Georgia Senate, Eric Johnson of Savannah, trying to take away power from local officials. It's the second Republican effort along this path. You may remember that the Republican Speaker of the House, Glenn Richardson, has been criss-crossing the state trying to sell his idea of elimination of local property taxes and impose instead a higher state sales tax. His continual promotion about this far-reaching change has not been received nicely by locally elected city and county officials. They see it as a move to grab for the state more power and essentially make local officials impotent and dependent on the state for funding.

Now to the Johnson proposal: he would freeze existing residential property taxes across the state at the rate it is when the property is purchased. He calls increases in local property taxes "back door tax increases" and wants to protect property owners from this.

Should the senator's proposal become law, it would cause vast problems for local officials, essentially reducing their local tax revenues, and also take away another of their limited powers: a curb on the ability to raise money through local taxation. It would also be unfair to businesses, who would have to pay a higher proportion of local taxes, since homeowners' taxes could not be raised, but business taxes could.

Coupled with the Richardson efforts to halt all property tax, this becomes simply another attack on local government, from members of the party of Abraham Lincoln. He's the Republican who said that the best government is the one closest to the people, we must remind Speaker Richardson and President Pro Tem Johnson. Neither of their proposals is government closest to the people. It is government once-removed from the people, to the state, not local, level. Apparently they have forgotten this time-honored Republican principle. For sure, both seem hell-bent on moving most decisions of government away from the City Hall and Courthouse and to the State Capitol. Few rational people want that.

We had held out hope that as House Speaker Richardson proposed his tax change, that saner minds in the Georgia Senate would quash his proposal and it would never see the light of day. Now as the top Republican (outside the lieutenant governor) in the Senate brings another major change to the table, we question this idea. Is the Republican Senate just as radical and unreasonable as the House appears? We wonder.

But more than anything else, we need local leaders to step forward and question these radical Republican moves. Perhaps they will be the many city and county officials who see their governmental powers being eroded by these two proposals. If government closest to the people that is the best government, Speaker Richardson and Sen. Johnson seem to have forgotten this.

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A University of Georgia student from Gwinnett is among 12 students who have been selected to serve as orientation leaders during the summer, 2008 orientation for incoming freshmen and transfer students.

She is Kemah George of Lawrenceville, a graduate of Berkmar High school, who is majoring in international affairs. She is the daughter of Samuel and Musu George.

Orientation leaders are the first point of contact for freshmen and help prepare the new students for fall semester by sharing their own academic and campus experiences. The leaders also serve as an important resource for parents who may also attend the summer orientation.

County parks announce closings during the holiday season

Gwinnett County Parks and Recreation's facilities will be closing for several days in observance of the holiday season. During these days, however, parks will still be open for self-directed use.

On Saturday December. 22, all facilities will close at 6 p.m., or their regularly scheduled closing hour. All facilities will be closed Sunday through Tuesday, December 23-25. These facilities will resume regular hours of operation on Wednesday, December 26.

Facilities will also close at 6 p.m., or their regularly scheduled closing hour, on Monday, December 31 but will also be closed on Tuesday, January 1, 2008. For more information, visit www.gwinnettparks.com or call 770-822-8840.

Gwinnett Tech and WIKA work together in jobs program

Gwinnett Technical College and WIKA Instrument Corporation have entered into an agreement that will provide training for employees of the company's Lawrenceville facility. The training, conducted through the college's Quick Start division, is based on WIKA's commitment to growth in the Lawrenceville area.

Gwinnett Tech President Sharon Rigsby says: "We are delighted to continue our strong and ongoing training partnership with WIKA. We have been working with them on leadership training and in many other areas for several years. WIKA's leadership recognizes the tremendous value of continued employee training and we are proud to support that commitment."

The training program is a partnership of three key players: WIKA, Gwinnett Tech and Quick Start, Georgia's internationally acclaimed economic development program that provides customized workforce training at no cost to qualified new, expanding and existing businesses in Georgia.

Michael Gerster, president, WIKA Instrument Corporation, states: "WIKA takes pride in promoting an environment of continuous improvement, encouraging its employees to further their professional development. Gwinnett Technical College has provided leadership training to WIKA employees for many years, and WIKA is very excited about expanding this relationship through the Quick Start program. The only assets that appreciate within an organization are employees, everything else depreciates. We feel that this program is an investment in our workforce, and we couldn't ask for better partners to help WIKA accomplish our training objectives," Gerster adds.

For over 60 years, WIKA has been advancing the world of pressure and temperature instrumentation. Regarded as the global leader, WIKA has pioneered many products for a broad range of diverse industries, end-users and OEM applications. Their success is reflected in the company's commitment to lean methodology, product innovation and customer focus.

Since 2005, Gwinnett Tech has conducted three Leadership Academies for WIKA. Each academy is comprised of 18 varied management and leadership courses, with seven hours of instruction in each area. Gwinnett Tech has also provided WIKA training in areas including OSHA, computer training, ESL (English Second Language), and AutoCAD. For more information about the Quick Start program and/or Gwinnett Tech's customized training services, contact 678-226-6305 or learn more at www.GwinnettTech.edu.

Credit unions in Georgia support M.L. King Memorial

In support of the decade-long effort to build a memorial in Washington, DC to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Georgia credit unions have joined with their credit union counterparts across the United States to impact the nearly $1 million already raised by credit unions to date.

The process to erect a memorial to the fallen civil rights leader began over a decade ago when in 1996, then-President Bill Clinton signed legislation proposing the establishment of a memorial in the District of Columbia to honor Dr. King. Three years later, the National Capital Planning Commission approved a four-acre site for the memorial, and in 2001 fundraising efforts began.

To date, 24 credit unions in Georgia have contributed over $56,000, including a $10,000 contribution by the Georgia Credit Union League Service Corporation. The monies raised by credit unions will help establish a trust fund for the maintenance of the memorial and for educational programs.

For information about the Washington, D.C, Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial, visit mlkmemorial.org.

The Early Days, a memoir, by Dr. Jesse Long

"If you are interested in Greater Atlanta Christian School or in Gwinnett history, this 201 page book by the founder of the school, is just for you. Dr. Jesse Long has done us all a service by putting down his memories of establishing this private school in Gwinnett, now one of the largest in the state. The book singles out many of the people who have contributed their efforts toward the school and the larger community. It's a handsome small-format book, loaded down with pictures of key people in the history of the school. We are indebted to Dr. Long for his recall of these events in the life of this school. The book, now on sale at the GACS book store, sells for $25. Go to www.greateratlantachristian.org to order on the web."

Julian and Julia Collier Harris owned the Columbus Enquirer-Sun, which won the 1926 Pulitzer Prize for public service. Throughout the 1920s, their newspaper served as a strident and uncompromising editorial voice in the South.

Julian LaRose Harris was born in Savannah on June 21, 1874, to Esther LaRose and Joel Chandler Harris, a journalist and folklorist. For years he struggled to carve his own niche in the world and emerge from the shadow of his famous father.

Julia Florida Collier was born in Atlanta on November 11, 1875, to Susan Rawson and Charles A. Collier, a one-time Atlanta mayor. She married Julian Harris in October 1897 in Atlanta.

Julian Harris began his newspaper career in 1890, at age 16, as a "cub" reporter for the Atlanta Constitution. By age 30 he was part owner of the newly established Atlanta News. Following Julian's service as a military attaché during World War I (1917-18), the Harrises purchased a half interest, and subsequently a controlling interest, in the Columbus Enquirer-Sun in Columbus, Ga. As editor and publisher, Julian found both his voice and his soapbox. Through the newspaper, he and Julia fought for social progress in the South during the 1920s.

Their editorials against both the legislative attempts to block the teaching of evolution in Georgia and the activities of the Ku Klux Klan led to their winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1926. The award was only the second Pulitzer for public service awarded to a southern newspaper, the first ever in Georgia, and the Enquirer-Sun was the first small city daily to be so recognized. The Harrises were also advocates of equal treatment for African Americans through their stance against lynching. Because of their controversial views, the Harrises made many enemies while at the Enquirer-Sun, and they were forced to sell the paper in 1929. They left town heavily in debt but refusing to declare bankruptcy. It took them more than 20 years to repay their debts.

In 1930 Julian Harris returned to the Atlanta Constitution as state news editor. The following year Julia published Joel Chandler Harris: Editor and Essayist. Five years later the Harrises moved to Chattanooga, Tenn., where Julian was named executive editor of the Chattanooga Times. In 1942 they returned to Atlanta, where Julian became southern correspondent for the New York Times.

He retired in 1945 at age 70. At the suggestion of a friend, he began writing his autobiography but never completed the book. Julian Harris died on February 9, 1963, at the age of 88. Julia Harris died four years later, on January 21, 1967, at the age of 92. They are buried in the Rawson family vault at Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta. In 1998 Julia Harris was inducted into Georgia Women of Achievement.

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