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Writer is concerned about public broadcast airways
By Roger Hagen
Special to GwinnettForum.com

LILBURN, Ga., April 29, 2008 -- On Dec. 18, 2007, the Federal Communications Commission voted to publish several possible changes covering what it called "broadcast localism." It would require television stations to have a person in the studio during all hours of operation and locating main studios within an owner's "community of license."

Under consideration is whether stations should set up and consult local advisory boards, ownership changes allowing television and radio stations to own the same market newspapers, and whether radio play lists exclude local artists. A standardized form for all broadcasters is to be posted on their websites detailed programming reports and dealings with underserved communities every four months. For public comment period to the FCC, contact the five Commissioners directly at http://www.fcc.gov/contacts.html.

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has also filed suit against the FCC claiming that the specific rule requiring stations to post detailed programming reports and dealings with underserved communities places an unfair administrative burden on stations, especially smaller ones. Also argued is that commercial public broadcast stations (these are the local affiliates for ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox) are unfairly targeted in the FCC requirements, which do not apply to cable or satellite broadcast stations. Cable and satellite stations do not use public airwaves for free with license approval from the FCC. Broadcast licenses cost nothing for broadcasters and are only reviewed every eight years. Cable and satellite stations must pay for the transmission frequencies they use.

In 2003, then-FCC Chairman Michael Powell created a task force to examine the relationship that stations have with their communities. The commission held six hearings around the country, receiving testimony from 500 witnesses while also getting 83,000 written comments. The GAO report (http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d08383.pdf) itself was a small study of just 16 media markets, four each from different market sizes. Given the size of the United States and the number of real markets, this can hardly be a thorough study. This limited study puts into question the effect of so much rapid media consolidation over the past decade in local communities. One result is limited minority and female ownership of television broadcast stations. Racial and ethnic minorities make up 34 percent of the population yet own only 7.7 percent of full power radio stations, and 3.2 percent of television stations.

Also of note is the recent Justice Department's approval (http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Mar24/0,4670,SiriusXMMerger,00.html) of the Sirius and XM satellite radio merger. The FCC argued that satellite radio will become a monopoly in the merger. The truth is AM and FM radio are satellites' true competitors. Prior to the 1996 Telecommunications Act, no radio broadcasting company owned more than 65 stations. Clear Channel today now owns more than 1,200 stations nationwide and is also a major political campaign contributor to both political parties.

I would suggest contacting your congressional representative and Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson regarding these important First Amendment issues.

Democrats smile with candidate against Linder this election
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher

APRIL 29, 2008 -- We don't know the odds, but if we were a betting person, we think overall safe bets would be to back the Congressional incumbent in races all across the country. If you could get anyone to bet you even, backing the incumbent in each race in the nation would put money in your pocket.

But we are not the betting type, especially in politics. About the closest we would come would be to buy a $50 raffle ticket in hopes of winning the Sebring convertible that Hayes Chrysler-Plymouth is giving away at the Gwinnett Relay for Life this year.

In Congressional races, in general, the incumbent is the favorite. Many of these incumbents, in either party, are in what is called "safe seats," meaning the chance of them losing is low. One of the safest of seats, if would appear, is in Georgia's Seventh District, where John Linder has been in Congress since 1992.

This year seventh District Democrats are smiling a little more about this race, for they have a better-than-average candidate to oppose Linder.

In other words, Heckman is not your everyday candidate. He's a superb candidate, and should have John Linder shaking in his boots. Except, of course, this is the heavily-Republican Seventh Congressional District of Georgia, where Linder has had nothing but victories since going to Congress. On the whole, Linder has been a boring Congressman, dutifully voting the straight and narrow conservative GOP ticket. His one foray into innovation was proposing a Fair Tax plan, which fat-cat Republicans love since it rewards the wealthy and taxes the poor.

Doug Heckman understands Linder's plan thoroughly, and attacks the Fair Tax immediately, calling it what it is, an "Unfair tax." Since the Linder plan has adherents who would benefit from this new tax plan, Heckman is right to aim straight at this jugular in Linder's re-election efforts.

What Heckman must do is to convince the many people in the political center that he can be more effective in Congress than Linder has been. Linder has done little to deserve re-election. His continued harping on his so-called Fair Tax has accomplished little more than to offer fodder to talk-show bamboozlers.

Heckman's candidacy, in a year when it seems that the Democrats could run strong throughout the nation, is timely. Coupled with his background and determination to make a difference, it could be the year that a sitting and seemingly safe Republican could be upended. It will be a long road for Mr. Heckman to hoe, and it will take everything falling in place for him to be sent to Congress to represent the Seventh Congressional District.

But stranger things have happened. Democrats, most assuredly, remember the 1984 General Election in Gwinnett, when 17 Republicans were pitted against 17 almost-certain Democratic winners. It never happened, as all 17 Democrats were swept from office, and in general, Republicans have ruled the roost in Gwinnett since.

The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Today's sponsor is the Aurora Theatre, Gwinnett County's first choice for professional theatrical entertainment. Aurora closes their 12th year and inaugural season in Gwinnett's crown jewel for the performing arts located on the square in Downtown Lawrenceville with the greatest farce ever written, Noises Off by Michael Frayn, through June 1. Aurora Theatre is committed to producing quality, professional theatre for all of North Georgia. The 2008-2009 season is set with the following six productions: Damn Yankees, Dracula, Christmas Canteen 2008, Corpse!, The Glass Menagerie, and Once On This Island. Season tickets are now on sale. Aurora Theatre is also host to a whirlwind of other entertaining events including Atlanta's Shakespeare Tavern, Club Comedy Nights, Concerts, Saturday Children's Playhouse and starting this summer Aurora Academy Summer Programs. These camps will include 12 sessions for students from Grades 1-12. To purchase individual tickets, season tickets or for more information, visit their revamped new website at www.auroratheatre.com or call 678-226-6222.

According to some researchers, no universally accepted definition of 'democracy' exists, especially with regard to the elements in a society which are required for it. Many people use the term "democracy" as shorthand for liberal democracy, which may include additional elements such as political pluralism, equality before the law, the right to petition elected officials for redress of grievances, due process, civil liberties, human rights, and elements of civil society outside the government.

April has been a good month for cycling in Georgia. Weather is turning well, while longer daylight means more time outside. Tour De Georgia went well. Last week we witnessed the start of Friday's leg in downtown Suwanee. It was good to see so many "bike folks" out there.

Cycling continues to grow here, and that is good. Hope to see you out there cycling. Ride-on!

Her story of success is one of courage, hard work and a belief in one's self. On May 2, Terri Jondahl will discuss how she found success in the unglamorous field of steel products by always expecting and preparing to win, and by always being prepared to do whatever it takes to get the job done.

Today Jondahl leads CAB Incorporated, a world-class international supply chain management company, active in the steel pipe flanges, wind tower flange and industrial and casting market. Under Jondahl's leadership, CAB, Inc. has now become a player in international trade.

Over the past 25 years CAB Incorporated has grown to become a leader in providing full service solutions in the supply of steel pipe flanges, primarily for the waterworks market and specialty industrial market, wind tower flanges for utility scale wind farms, and machined and unmachined cast and forged iron and steel components in a variety of industries in the North American market.

Terri Johdahl will speak at the May 2 "Success Lives Here" breakfast at 7:30 a.m. at Sugarloaf Country Club. The cost is $45 per person, with the registration deadline April 30.

This year's Art on a Limb is sure to have folks flocking to the Suwanee Creek Greenway for their chance to find and keep a one-of-a-kind piece of artwork. The 2008 "finders keepers" celebration of nature and art features gourds painted to represent some of the birds that inhabit the popular four-mile trail.

The birds have been created exclusively for Suwanee's Art on a Limb by local artist Ingrid Bolton. Each day throughout the month of May, the City of Suwanee will hide two pieces from Bolton's flock of gourds somewhere along the Greenway. The birds may be placed anywhere along the trail, from the bridge that connects the greenway to George Pierce Park to the trailhead at Suwanee Creek Park and may include the new pedestrian connection to Town Center as well as Suwanee's new soft surface trail. Whoever finds a piece of artwork may keep it.

This marks the fourth year that Suwanee has celebrated art and nature by commissioning artwork for Art on a Limb. In previous years, featured artwork has included painted clay orbs, paintings on pieces of the old Suwanee water tower, and nature-themed ceramic tiles.

Bolton spends a lot of time on the greenway, walking there at least twice a week. She has created several oil paintings of scenes along the greenway. A member of the Dunwoody Fine Arts Association and the Artisans of Flowery Branch, Bolton has used gourds in the past as canvases for paintings of sunflower fields, roosters, and Tiffany-inspired designs.

For Art on a Limb, Bolton originally tried painting magnolias and other flowers on gourds, but determined that they were too tame. "I like nature and I like birds," she says. "I thought that doing birds would allow me to use the interesting shapes of various gourds and to create something fitting to be hung from trees along the greenway. Some of them have real character."

Bolton created 33 different kinds of birds, including blue herons, cardinals, ducks, humming birds, owls, sparrows, and woodpeckers. Those not lucky enough to sight one of Bolton's birds along the greenway, may purchase one beginning June 2 for $25 at Suwanee City Hall or the Life is good festival at Town Center Park on June 14.

The Stone Mountain Barbershop Chorus will present its 2008 Spring concert "Harmony on the Range" for one performance only on Saturday, May 31 at 3 p.m.in the sanctuary of Mountain Park United Methodist Church. The church is located at 1405 Rockbridge Road in Stone Mountain.

The 65-man Stone Mountain Chorus show will feature performances by several of the chapter quartets as well as inspirational and patriotic selections performed by the entire chorus.

The featured guest quartet for this year's concert is State Line Grocery, 2007 International Bronze Medalists. General admission tickets for this performance are $12 if purchased in advance. A special advanced purchase discount price of $10 available for full time students, groups of 12 or more and senior adults 60 and over. Tickets purchased at the door will be $15. Tickets may be requested by calling the chorus information line at 770-978-8053.

The Snellville Commerce Club will award its 2008 FBLA/DECA $1,000 scholarships to Bessy Baby of South Gwinnett High School and to David Pruitt of Brookwood High School. Each recipient has demonstrated academic achievement while giving time to the Snellville community. Funds will be paid to the college of their choice to assist their respective academic pursuits.

Pruitt has worked as an engineering intern during the past summer and is taking an all-honors course load during his senior year. Traveling internationally for missions with Grace Church, he plans to major in civil engineering at Auburn University.

Baby is the South Gwinnett High Valedictorian for 2008 and a recipient of the FBLA Excellence award. She still manages time for several civic activities and to teach Sunday school at St. Mary's Church. Ms. Baby has been accepted next fall to the University of Georgia.

Mrs. Bob Hickey, Marketing coordinator of Brookwood High School, says: "I have worked with business professionals in this community for 35 years and I am still amazed at their generosity in supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs and small business owners."

Club Co-President Jimmy Norton said that the awards will be presented at the May 6 Commerce Club meeting at Snellville City Hall at noon. For more information on the club's mission and philanthropic history, visit www.SnellvilleCommerceClub.com.

Friday at noon is the deadline for persons wanting to qualify to run in both the Democratic and Republican primaries this year. The two primaries are scheduled to be held on July 15, 2008, with the General Election is Nov. 4.

Meanwhile, a Democrat has announced that he will seek a House seat currently held by Republican John Heard. He is Lee Thompson, a Lawrenceville attorney, who announced that he is running for the Georgia House of Representatives in District 104.

Thompson is a Lawrenceville native, and practices law with the firm of Thompson and Sweeny, P.C. He devotes the majority of his time to representing local governments. The clients of his firm include the Gwinnett County School District, and the cities of Duluth, Sugar Hill, and Grayson. He holds a Bachelor's degree from Mercer University and a law degree from the University of Georgia. He and his wife, Connie, have been married for 18 years, and have one daughter, Rebecca. Thompson is a member of Lawrenceville First Christian Church where he serves as an elder and chairperson of the Administrative Board

Two long-term Statehouse officials told GwinnettForum that they will be seeking re-election. They are Pedro Marin of District 96 and Hugh Floyd of District 99.

Emory Eastside Medical Center has received the American Stroke Association's Get With The GuidelinesSM-Stroke (GWTG-Stroke) Bronze Performance Achievement Award. The award recognizes Emory Eastside's commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of stroke care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted standards and recommendations.

Melissa Bennett, chief nursing officer at the hospital, notes: "With a stroke, time lost is brain lost, and the GWTG-Stroke Bronze Performance Achievement Award addresses the important element of time. Eastside has developed a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients admitted to the emergency department. This includes always being equipped to provide brain imaging scans, having neurologists available to conduct patient evaluations and using clot-busting medications when appropriate."

To receive the GWTG-Stroke Bronze Performance Achievement Award, Emory Eastside consistently followed the treatment guidelines in the GWTG-Stroke program for 90 days. These include aggressive use of medications like tPA, antithrombolytics, anticoagulation therapy, DVT prophylaxis, cholesterol reducing drugs, and smoking cessation. The 90-day evaluation period is the first in an ongoing self-evaluation by the hospital to continually reach the 85 percent compliance level needed to sustain this award.

According to the American Stroke Association, each year approximately 700,000 people suffer a stroke---500,000 are first attacks, and 200,000 are recurrent attacks. Of stroke survivors, 21 percent of men and 24 percent of women die within a year, and for those aged 65 and older, the percentage is even higher.

"Terry Kay's latest work, The Book of Marie, is a love story inside the tale of how the civil rights struggle impacted Southerners and small towns. It recalls James Patterson's stories of the heart, Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas and Sam's Letters to Jennifer, but it cuts deeper into the soul of the South because of how it addresses social change. Terry Kay, seemingly overlooked by the national mainstream media, again proves he's a brilliant storyteller. If you haven't read a book by him, this one's a good place to start."

After being defeated by Joseph M. Brown in the 1908 governor's race (Tom Watson had switched his allegiance to Brown), Hoke Smith regained office in the 1910 election. In his second term Governor Smith joined forces with Progressive interest groups to create a state Board of Education. High schools were created, teacher certification improved, and more funds appropriated for education. Smith also successfully pressed for legislation that set a sixty-hour work week for mill workers and made provision for a new Department of Commerce and Labor to enforce the law.

Smith's second term lasted only a year (he moved to the U.S. Senate in 1911), and his departure from the governor's office signaled a dampening in sentiment for reform, as no other governor exhibited the same Progressive spirit. Nevertheless, other reforms were generated by the state legislature.

In 1914 the General Assembly, repealing a weak 1906 child labor law, enacted new provisions that set 14 as the minimum age of employment (although there were exceptions). Lacking any provision for inspection or enforcement, however, the law languished on the books. By 1920 Georgia led the nation in the number of employed children aged 10 to 15. In 1916 the legislature passed a compulsory school attendance law, but enforcement was almost impossible because of the number of exceptions granted. A more effective and enforceable child-welfare provision was a state law passed in 1915 that created a juvenile court system.

In 1916 the federal government provided a matching grants program for highway construction. This was a popular program in Georgia that appealed to business owners, farmers, railroad companies, and shippers. The General Assembly provided for a highway commission to coordinate state efforts. The availability of state prisoners offered a cheap and ready source of labor.

The U.S. entry in World War I (1917-18) diverted attention and legislative energies from the Progressive agenda. Women's suffrage---spurred in part by women's leadership efforts in the peace movement to keep the United States out of the war prior to 1917, and their home front mobilization efforts during the war---is the only major reform achieved after the war's end.

"Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance."

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