SPEECH GOES VIRAL: Georgia Gwinnett College’s Fall 2015 graduate Olivia Mugenga waves to her father, who was watching her give remarks at GGC’s recent commencement ceremony via livestream. Mugenga’s inspirational message about her family’s perseverance despite genocide and unrest in her native Rwanda has gone viral worldwide. A video of her speech is posted on the college’s Facebook page. Mugenga now holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and plans to go to law school and specialize in human rights.
IN THIS EDITIONTODAY’S FOCUS: Sugar Hill’s Lanier High Bringing Innovation Program to Campus
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Round-up of Thoughts After the Holiday Season
ANOTHER VIEW: Classes in Art Therapy Among 2016 Offerings at Kudzu Art Center
FEEDBACK: Who Do Those Who Detonate Human Sacrifices Serve?
UPCOMING: State Recognizes Gwinnett County as a PlanFirst Community
NOTABLE: North Gwinnett Middle Student Wins Water District Essay Contest
RECOMMENDED MOVIE: Frailty (2001 Movie)
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Georgia Native Forms Appalachian South Folklife Center at Pipestem, W.Va.
TODAY’S QUOTE: Borge Is on to Something That Also Takes Place at Christmas Time
MYSTERY PHOTO: Humor in holiday photo, but where?
LAGNIAPPE: Ten Largest Cities in Georgia, as of 2014
Editor’s Note: This will be the only edition published this week. The next edition will be published on Jan. 5, 2016. — eeb
TODAY’S FOCUSLanier High bringing “Distinguished Gentlemen” program to fruition
By Vanessa Butts
SUGAR HILL, Ga., Dec. 29, 2015 — Lanier High School Counselor Bobby Gueh has taken a winning recipe for mentorship at other schools, and implemented it on a larger scale at Lanier High School. Gueh asserts that, “…the Distinguished Gentlemen program was designed to provide mentorship, academic support, and social development for young men who have been identified as being at-risk. The majority of students in this program come from a low socio-economic status home and have challenges both academically and socially. Currently, an extension of the program has been created at various Gwinnett County Public Schools, and we have now birthed the Distinguished Gentlemen (D.G.) of Lanier High School.”
Distinguished Gentlemen gather. Click to make the image larger.
Lanier High Principal Dr. Reuben Gresham, echoes these sentiments stating: “Studies have proven that students who feel connected to a peer group and/or staff member in their school will significantly increase their academic and social/emotional growth. Therefore, it is our responsibility to provide research-based resources to students that will overall present more opportunities to support their success. Who would we be as educational leaders if we did not offer these resources knowing there is a concern nationwide?”
The group’s mentors are a collection of teachers and community leaders who are eager to leave a positive mark on these young men. The group also has a mentor representative from the City of Sugar Hill. Economic Development Director Scott Andrews states that “The D.G. program deserves a great deal of praise for its structure and emphasis placed on the role of the young men in the community as a whole. These young men are developing an awareness of themselves, and the larger community, while building a strong brotherhood with each other. Watching the young men blossom has been a real joy.”
The vision of the Distinguished Gentlemen Mentor Program is to produce world class males who will be prepared to build and lead successful families, communities and professions as positive citizens in society. The program leaders provide training to mentors so they can help their student mentee build self-esteem, communicate with adults, develop leadership skills, and set goals. Furthermore, the aim is to expose the young men to cultural enrichment in and around the community; from college tours, to Broadway plays, and historical museums and sites.
Individuals from outside the school can make a difference by being a mentor, by speaking at one of our functions, providing access to your business and products, or by making a financial contribution to support the program’s activities. The team at Lanier High welcomes the opportunity to meet with members of the community to discuss further how they can make a difference in the community, and in the lives of these young men.
- For more information, questions and comments, contact Bobby Gueh at 678-765-4062.
From drone training to Georgia State to likely Maiming Act of 2016
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher
DEC. 29, 2015 | Here and there during this holiday season, a round up:
Most likely prediction to come true if it hasn’t already: you will soon hear of a Christmas gift, one of those drone airplanes, crashing i
nto either a house, automobile, or even a human. Those machines take training to fly them correctly, and don’t you know a lot of kids (or adults) getting such a “toy” for Christmas will think he or she has become expert in its operation, when they have not, and may hurt someone.
Best hope is for the Federal Aviation Administration to put even tougher restrictions on the operation of drones … to protect the rest of us. This is a case, in many ways, of technology getting ahead of the human ability to handle it. Perhaps there should be an age limit for operations, and potential users having to get “pilot’s training” on drones before they can legally operate them.
It even could create a new job: drone pilot training, much like auto driving training!
* * * * *
We just realized that the carol, Hark, the Herald Angels Sing!, was written by Charles Wesley in 1739, three years after he returned to England from the Georgia Colony. He and his brother, John, created so many wonderful church hymns. The Christmas season is in several ways tributes to them.
* * * * *
Hurrah for Georgia State University being awarded the rights to develop Turner Field. The long land-poor university now has space to expand properly, and perhaps create additional income for its future development! What is surprising is that the Atlanta city government for once made a decision that has universal acceptance!
* * * * *
The big three commercial television networks have fallen on relatively rough times in recent years, as more and more televised productions are going to cable networks, and to streaming channels. We’ve even seen “paid programming” in prime time, a sign of the network outlets reduced circumstances.
Yet there is a new wrinkle in Americans watching television that bodes well for the major networks: the way Americans are cutting off their cable services and going to over-the-air watching via antennas. Not only that, but the trend is that even more television families are protesting the high and increasing cable prices to anticipate more television viewers will be cutting costs by leaving cable and dish companies, mainly because of Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and other streaming systems.
So why the positive potential for the big networks? At one time it looked like the major sports network, ESPN, would dominate the sporting field, taking away viewers from the major networks. But as people cut the cable, that means fewer eyes watching ESPN…..which can lead eventually to more major sporting events on the major networks. What an amazing development in TV watching. What was old will be new again!
Who knows: perhaps some day Americans can watch major sporting events….on the streaming channels! That’ll save us lotsa money!
* * * * *
We don’t know State Rep. Scot Turner (R-Cherokee). He has introduced legislation that has our head scratching. His bill, named the American Heritage Celebration Act (HB 15), would allow a greater variety of fireworks to be sold in Georgia, basically legalizing the sale of any fireworks allowed under federal law.
How about another title for this legislation: “The Georgia Maiming Act of 2016, most likely to blast off someone’s fingers or hands?”
ANOTHER VIEWKudzu Art Zone adds an art therapy class to 2016 offerings
By Debra Barnhart
NORCROSS, Ga., Dec. 29, 2015 | Like many visual art centers in metro Atlanta, Kudzu Art Zone in Norcross, a non-profit gallery and art center, offers a variety of art classes. But not many art centers offer classes led by an instructor trained in art therapy.
Beginning Wednesday, January 20, Chelsea Elliott Harris will lead two art therapy classes: a teen session from 4:45 p.m. to 6:45 p.m., and an adult session from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. These classes will meet once a week for four weeks. Ms. Harris holds a Master of Science degree in Art Therapy from Florida State University.
Trained in both art and psychology, art therapists use art media to help people explore their feelings. Ms. Harris’s class at Kudzu Art Zone is open to all who are looking for relaxation and a better insight into how creative endeavors can lead to self-understanding. The class will focus on the creative journey of discovery rather than the end product, but producing a beautiful artwork can certainly be a bonus.
Ms Harris knew early in life that she wanted to help people. Her father ran a homeless shelter. “I witnessed how my father was able to make such a positive impact on peoples’ lives, says Ms. Harris. ” I wanted to spend my life helping others as well.”
Ms Harris decided to combine her desire to help others with her passion for art when she was an undergraduate at the University of Georgia. “I’m a creative person who sees the world through a paintbrush,” she says. In her sophomore year of college Ms. Harris took a drawing class in which the students participated in an art therapy project. “Finally, I felt like I had found my niche, using art to help others!”
Kudzu Art Zone will offer 15 art classes and workshops during the first half of 2016. Classes are available for both the novice and the experienced visual artist and cover a variety of media including oil, acrylic and watercolor painting, and drawing. A four-day workshop by the notable artist, Mark Mehaffey (February 15 through 18, 2016) and a class in Art Journaling are also part of the line-up. Those interested in classes can visit www.kudzuartzone.org for more information.
Headquartered in Norcross, Georgia, Kudzu Art Zone, Inc., is a non-profit organization established in 2006. It is dedicated to serving Georgia artists and promoting the visual arts.
- For more information, visit www.kudzuartzone.org.
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Who do those to detonate human sacrifices serve?
Editor, the Forum:
What became of the third shooter in the San Bernardino terrorist attack? That attacker seems to have “fallen off the screen.” My Internet research shows that eyewitnesses saw three shooters, and several bloggers think our government is keeping some facts from us. However, that thinking comes primarily from conservative sources online, and I find those sources somewhat, but not completely, suspect. Do GwinnettForum readers think a third shooter existed? If so, what happened to this person?
The dialogue in news media and elsewhere about terrorism uses terms such as “terrorism, terrorist, and suicide bomber,” and these terms seem fraught with special meaning. For instance, the federal government had to work its way up to calling the attack in San Bernardino “terrorism”, but President Obama finally got there.
Personally, I don’t like the term “suicide bomber.” Terrorist groups groom people, typically young men, to carry bombs on their persons. Some of these people self-detonate the bombs, but I believe that for some carrying bombs on their persons someone else detonates the bombs. Even the people who self-detonate such bombs may not realistically be called “suicide bombers,” because of the group’s grooming, which typically includes brainwashing and drugging.
I think of these so-called suicide bombers as human sacrifice bombers. I know that’s an unwieldy term, so I don’t expect the news media or politicians to use it. However, I would like to see more dialogue about the distinction I am making. Groups that use human sacrifice of their own members to achieve their ends seem more heinous than those who commit terroristic acts of murder and maiming without sacrificing the life of one of their own members. If they think such sacrifices, along with murder, appease their god, one must ask “What god do they serve?”
— Michael L. Wood, Peachtree Corners
- SEND FEEDBACK AND LETTERS: elliott@brack.net
State recognizes Gwinnett County as a PlanFirst community
The Georgia Department of Community Affairs has named Gwinnett County a PlanFirst Community. The honor recognizes and rewards communities that successfully implement long-range planning with public involvement, active engagement and proven progress toward achieving stated goals.
Leaders from Gwinnett’s Planning and Development, Transportation and Community Service departments received the three-year designation at Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting from DCA Outreach Coordinator Adriane Wood. They will also be recognized at the state Capitol in January.
In addition to statewide recognition, Gwinnett becomes eligible for reduced-rate loans from the Georgia Environmental Financing Authority, annual eligibility for community development block grants and bonus points on applications for various DCA programs.
Gwinnett received the distinction for 2016 along with six other communities: Columbus-Muscogee and Liberty Counties and the cities of Dublin, Lula, Porterdale and Roswell. These communities join the inaugural group of 10 communities designated PlanFirst in 2015, which were Athens-Clarke, Coweta, Johnson and Jones Counties and the cities of Braselton, Gainesville, Madison, Suwanee, Vienna and Woodstock.
Time to recycle those live Christmas trees at fire stations
Here’s what you can do with your Christmas trees, now that they have served their purpose. The good folks at Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful have provided for recycling trees at many locations throughout Gwinnett. After that will come their next big event – Bring One for the Chipper in January. It will mark the 21st year as the largest “treecycling” event in Georgia.
- You may click here for a list of the fire stations all around Gwinnett where you can recycle your trees.
North Gwinnett Middle student wins water district essay contest
The Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District (Metro Water District) has announced the winners of its annual water essay contest and the first place winner is from Gwinnett.
From left are Water District Vice Chair Katie Kirkpatrick, Winner Colton Woodring and Rep. Lynn Smith of Newnan, chair of the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee.
The first-place essay was written by Colton Woodring, a seventh-grader from North Gwinnett Middle School, who received a $400 prize. Jolee Northrop, a sixth-grader from Hightower Middle School in Cobb County, was named the district-wide runner-up.
The Metro Water District also honored winners from the city of Atlanta and the 15 counties that comprise the Metro Water District. Each winner received a $100 prize. This is the 14th year the Metro Water District has sponsored the annual water essay contest. The outreach activity has challenged thousands of middle school students to think about conservation and protection of water resources in metro Atlanta.
This year’s contest focused on stormwater pollution, asking “Why is stormwater pollution a problem, and what can you do to prevent it?” Nearly 2,000 students from across the region submitted essays in response.
- To read the winner’s essay, click here.
The essay contest is one of many initiatives conducted by the Metro Water District to raise awareness about conservation efforts and preservation of water quality in metro Atlanta. Visit www.mydropcounts.org for ideas to save water and www.cleanwatercampaign.com for more information about stormwater pollution and prevention.
Two Gwinnett hospitals win Beacon Award for ICU Care
The American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) recently recognized the Gwinnett Medical Center (GMC)-Lawrenceville ICU and the GMC-Duluth ICU with Beacon Awards for Critical Care Excellence. This prestigious award is given to ICUs that distinguish themselves by improving every facet of patient care.
For patients, the Beacon Award signifies exceptional care through improved outcomes and exceptional overall satisfaction. For critical care nurses, it means a positive, supportive work environment with greater collaboration between colleagues and leaders, higher morale and lower turnover.
More than 300 units nationwide have received a Beacon Award since 2010, which is a testament to the difficulty of achieving these standards of excellence. Only 11 Beacon Awards have been achieved by programs in Georgia.
GMC-Lawrenceville is the only unit in the state to win five consecutive awards and GMC-Duluth is a two-time winner. GMC-Duluth has achieved this award both times they applied. Furthermore, the Duluth unit is one of two ICUs in Georgia to receive gold status.
Units that receive the Beacon Award for Excellence meet criteria in the following categories: leadership structures and systems; appropriate staffing and staff engagement; effective communication, knowledge management, learning and development; evidence-based practice and processes; and outcome measurement.
RECOMMENDED MOVIEFrailty
A movie from 2001
Channel-surfing can lead you on many paths, but lately the movie “Frailty” popped up on the screen. If you are a fan of Bill Paxton or Matthew McConaughey, you can’t help but be tempted to watch this psychological/horror thriller of a family led by a hyper-religious father who has heard the voice of God’s angel. The angel has provided a list of names of certain people disguised as demons, harboring their secret sins. The father touches the victims before he kills them, and their secrets are shared with him, confirming their demonic nature. Real or imagined? While typically not a fan of this genre, the plot twists and turns, along with the supernatural inferences, kept me rooted to my seat to see what would happen next. First-time director Paxton excels and McConaughey is superb and believable in his role.
— Karen Burnette Garner, Dacula
An invitation: what books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (100 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next. –eeb
GEORGIA ENCYCLOPEDIA TIDBITWest forms Appalachian South Folklife Center at Pipestem, W.Va.
(Continued from previous edition)
By now a member of the Communist Party, Don West assumed a leadership role in the defense of the labor organizer Angelo Herndon, an African American in Atlanta who had been convicted under the Georgia insurrection law in January 1933. Pursued by anti-labor authorities, West slipped out of Georgia in 1934 to continue his work as a labor organizer. From 1936 to 1937 he served as organizational director for the Kentucky Workers Alliance, a militant organization for the unemployed.
West
In the late 1930s and early 1940s West served Congregational churches in Bethel, Ohio, and Meansville, Georgia, where his literary work, often published in radical journals, became controversial and led to his resignation. In 1942 he became a teacher and school superintendent in Lula in Hall County, where he gained a national reputation as a proponent of cooperative, community-based learning. He received a Rosenwald Fellowship and left Lula in 1945.
After a year of study, West accepted a position at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta. At Oglethorpe he taught creative writing and continued his own literary work, publishing what is considered to be his finest work, Clods of Southern Earth, in 1946. This volume, a strong statement of Appalachian regionalism that emphasized the experience of working people, found a wide audience beyond the intellectual community.
Red-baited ruthlessly by the Atlanta Constitution editor Ralph McGill and others, West left Oglethorpe in 1948 after a controversial defense of Rosa Lee Ingram, an African American defendant in a high-profile murder case, and involvement in the presidential campaign of the liberal Henry Wallace. In 1955, while editing a religious newspaper, The Southerner, in Dalton, he was again attacked for his labor activism and political affiliations. Subsequently, in 1957 he was forced to testify on his political activities before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee in Memphis, Tenn. In 1958 the House Committee on Un-American Activities called him as a witness at their Atlanta hearings, but West left without taking the stand.
By 1960 the Wests were teaching in Baltimore, Md., where they saved enough to invest in the establishment of the Appalachian South Folklife Center at Pipestem, W.Va. Founded in 1964 and dedicated to the preservation of mountain culture and its tradition of self-respecting independence, the new institution attracted college students, activists, folk artists, and other Appalachian residents.
At Pipestem in the 1960s and 1970s, West became a mentor for non-sectarian leftists and served as a link between the old and new radicalism. For the remainder of his life, he continued his writing and teaching, emphasizing the preservation of Appalachian values and resistance to the corrosive forces of industrialism. The Folklife Center, together with his poetry, remains as his living legacy to future generations. West died in Charleston, W.Va., on September 29, 1992.
- To access the Georgia Encyclopedia online, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Humor in holiday photo, but where?
We appreciate the humor in this holiday photo, but where is this Santa hat sitting? Please name the city — and if possible — the corner of the streets where the building is. Send your answers to elliott@brack.net and be sure to include the town where you live.
Bob Foreman of Grayson correctly identified last edition’s Mystery Photo, saying: “That is the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore in southeast Asia. The pool deck on top bridges the three towers. Photos and articles of this hotel/casino was all over the architectural magazines a few years ago. It’s high-in-the-sky infinity pool has been the scene of many fashion photo shoots because of the spectacular view.” The photo came from Frank Sharp of Lawrenceville.
Others with the correct identification include K.P. Gourdikian of Suwanee; Charles Blair, Lawrenceville; Tim Sullivan of Buford; and Jayne P. Bane of Lawrenceville.
LAGNIAPPETen largest cities in Georgia, as of July 2014
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