GwinnettForum | Number 21.31 | April 20 , 2021
BIRTHDAY BAGS: During this pandemic year, the Elisha Winn Society’s of the Children of the American Revolution April Service Project “Birthday in a Bag” was to provide an opportunity for families to celebrate a birthday by making these bags available to those using community food pantries. Sponsored by the Philadelphia Winn Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and the Button Gwinnett Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), the students assembled 225 Birthday Bags (goal was 100 bags), that consisted of cake mix, canned icing, candles, paper plates, napkins, balloons, and birthday greetings. These Birthday Bags were distributed to food pantries throughout Gwinnett County with the hope that cake and party items will provide a Happy Birthday to children in need. (Names not provided.) The year 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Georgia State Society of the Children of the American Revolution.
TODAY’S FOCUS: What’s wrong with the student loan program from a guy who knows
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Trip to South Fulton opens eyes; Tornado devastation in Newnan
SPOTLIGHT: Lail Family Dentistry
FEEDBACK: Board denies one man more time, but Senator got more time
UPCOMING: Baker of Lawrenceville is new chair of the Gwinnett GOP
NOTABLE: Travys Harper is new supervisor of Soil-Water district
RECOMMENDED: The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Georgia native plays lead in many motion pictures
MYSTERY PHOTO: Outdoor area is this issue’s Mystery Photo
CALENDAR: Ribbon-cutting is April 20 for new fire station in Braselton
What’s wrong with student loan program from a guy who knows
(Editor’s Note: the author formerly served as the most senior U. S. Government official in the Trump Department of Education responsible for overseeing and administering our nation’s $1.7 trillion of outstanding Federal Student Loan debt, which is owed by more than 44 million Americans—eeb).
By Wayne Johnson
More than 170,000 citizens of Gwinnett County owe $6 billion in Federal Student Loan Debt. The average is $35,000 per person. However, some people owe more than $500,000.
MACON, Ga. | The original intent of the Federal Student Loan Program was to enable Americans with limited financial resources to access post-secondary education. Instead, it has become the money source that colleges and higher education live on.
Johnson
More than 85 percent of all money going into higher education is funded on the backs of students and their parents through highly unorthodox loan mechanisms, most often referred to by schools as “Student Financial Aide.” Schools actually want people to believe that they are doing something good for students and their families by putting them into loans, when in fact these schools are plundering the trust of students and often setting these students up for a lifetime of financial harm.
The current Federal student loan system is designed to create a false profit of more than $50 billion a year for the Federal Government through high interest and high fee assessments. This false “profit” is used by the government to finance other government programs.
Most student loan debt will never be repaid. And the Federal loan programs are specifically designed for this to be the case. For as long as loans are on the books, the government continues to accrue interest, along with interest upon interest; a predatory lending practice that no bank would be allowed to do. However, while this is going on — again fostered on the student as a “good thing” and as a benefit — student loan borrowers carry for decades the albatross of student debt being inaccurately and unfairly reported in their credit files.
Most student loan borrowers will make a payment today and wake up tomorrow owing more than they did before the payment was made. And credit bureaus do not know how to account for this anomaly when calculating credit scores. More than 500,000 people per month complain to the government about how Federal student loans are creating problems with their credit files.
The Federal government has misrepresented the real expected outcomes of deferred cancellation programs, such as public service loan forgiveness, in as much that the requirements to meet the conditions of these programs is practically impossible to satisfy. These were intentional and clever lies told by Congress to make programs sound good, while knowing full well they would never actually produce promised outcomes.
Very, very few members of Congress understand the full nature or complexities of the student loan monster which Congress has created — nor do they seem to care or want to take the time to understand. Instead, they leave the problem to career committee staffers to “work on it.” Yet, members of Congress are very quick and very loud to criticize the executive branch for what they deem to be operational administration failures, when in fact these failures are because of failures in the law that Congress wrote.
The Office of Federal Student Aid is simply too big an organization, handles too much money, and has too much responsibility for oversight of colleges to be embedded as a subsidiary of the U.S. Department of Education. It should operate more like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and should oversee schools the same way the FDIC regulates banks.
In a follow-on article I will set forth recommendations for how we can go about addressing and solving our nation’s student loan debt crises and bringing sanity to the way in which post-secondary (after-high-school education) is financed.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Trip to south Fulton opens eyes; Tornado devastates Newnan
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
APRIL 20, 2021 | Getting out of the house Friday after voluntary COVID-imposed staying-at-home, we drove to part of Metro Atlanta we know little about, South Fulton County. (The area was once Campbell County, but was absorbed by Fulton when Campbell went broke during the Depression.)
Though this area is about as close to the center of Metro Atlanta as Gwinnett, you can’t imagine how pristine it is. On four-laned South Fulton Parkway, four or five miles south of Interstate 285, we saw few cars. Where that far away from the city in Gwinnett is virtually all developed, here there is little more than rolling hills, vast farm land and few homes.
Our initial destination was Chattahoochee Hills, incorporated in 2007, with an estimated population of 3,318 in 2019. It’s hard to think of this as a city, since there is so much treed land or open fields with few houses and farms. That’s because zoning will permanently protect 70 percent of the City’s land as forest and farms. In 2014 the City annexed approximately 180 acres in Coweta County that had no residents at the request of the developer of Serenbe, which had property in both counties.
Serenbe is a small neighborhood started in 1991 now within Charttahoochee Hills developed by former restauranter Steve Nygren in areas it calls “Hamlets,” or smaller cluster centers with a minimum of business activity. Some 650 people live in about 350 homes. This area is pricey, with modern homes near one another in a varied architectural style featuring steep roofs. You see a lot of golf in quiet detached neighborhoods. Here’s a feeling of how small the community is: its newspaper is published twice a year. (More info)
This house was leveled in the Newnan tornado. National Weather Service photo.
Our one-day road trip continued to Newnan, where in the early morning hours of March 26 a 170 mph tornado hit, primarily on the southeast side of Newnan.
The extent of such devastation is hard to believe. The tornado was near the ground for 39 miles in Heard, Coweta and Fayette Counties, though the major damage was in Newnan.
Driving southeast from downtown, in about half a mile you begin to see the tremendous damage. Most every structure in sight has been damaged in some way as we drove about four miles. Yet every now and then, there sits a house in seemingly pristine condition. Go figure.
The tornado completely destroyed 70 homes. Altogether, there was damage, often severe, to more than 1,700 other structures, including Newnan High School and Atkinson Elementary School. So far 3,500 insurance claims have been filed for more than $55 million in losses. It will take years for the residents to overcome this damage. Amazingly, only one person died from the tornado!
Meanwhile, can you imagine how those people displaced by the tornado must feel? They are trying to put their lives back together, living in temporary facilities, their household goods, clothing, living area and everyday activities in tatters.
Next time you hear of a possible tornado alert, keep yourself tuned to the television stations, and heed their warnings. We’ll give the local commercial stations a big THANKS for their staying on the air continually without commercial messages during such times. Paying such attention can save your life.
It’s time to reach out and help Newnan. Donate to the Coweta Community Foundation, or to the Salvation Army or American Red Cross.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Lail Family Dentistry
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Lail Family Dentistry has been serving the community in Duluth and Gwinnett County for 50 years. Being the longest serving dental practice in the county, our roots run deep within our community and will continue to do so for generations to come. The doctors at Lail Family Dentistry are all members of the Lail family and are here to provide for you and yours. If you are in search of a traditional, hometown dentist that utilizes the latest dental techniques and technology while also exemplifying the utmost sense of professionalism, timeliness, and hospitality, we would be glad to welcome you to our practice. For more information, please visit our website at drlail.com or phone (770) 476-2400.
- For a list of other sponsors of this forum, click here.
Board denies one man more time, but senator got more
Editor, the Forum:
Are you watching the school board drama on Zoom?
As the issue of the public’s ability to address the board is discussed, let’s talk about double standards.
Mr. D., the Norcross counsellor, a disabled man, asked for some grace in the time allowed for him to speak. Chairman Everton Blair declined this request and cut Mr. D. off three times. It is hard to understand that this man was not shown a little more appreciation for his courage and effort in getting to the meeting, walking up to the lectern with his walker, and delivering his message.
Several people had not arrived to speak after him, and Mr. D. could have been granted a couple more minutes, especially since, once again the previous three minute allocation had been reduced to two, without any warning.
Senator Nicki Merritt, however, was granted all the time she needed to tell us how change is difficult, but we just need to go along with it and work together. For details, go to this link.
— Lauren Bischof, Duluth
Dear Lauren: Yep, doesn’t seem fair for the School Board to give someone an advantage simply because they are an elected official. Bad call. –eeb
Realize who the Afghans defeated over the years
Editor, the Forum:
These guys in Afghanistan held off the British Empire, the Russians, the USA.
We need to hire the Taliban as our front line of attack in the next war. They know how to win.
— Ashley Herndon, Oceanside, Calif.
Dear Ashley: Granted, distance, topography, and perhaps guerilla warfare gave the Afghans some advantage. But hire the Taliban? Not me. They could turn on us so easily.—eeb
About Prince Philip of England’s van Battenburg family
Editor, the Forum:
About Prince Philip of England, who died recently and was buried Saturday: von Battenburg was his mother’s family and he was in the haplogroup ancestral clan along with most of Europe. Queen Victoria and the Hapsburgs were in that haplogroup. It’s a massive haplogroup and full of royals. I think many people with western European ancestry have royalty in their past. It just means you get to sleep with your cousins.
— Byron Gilbert, Duluth
The U.S. should never get in another country’s civil wars
Editor, the Forum:
Getting out of Afghanistan: The major problem with the U.S. in situations like this is that we learn no lessons from them. We should have never gone into Vietnam. It is stupid to get involved in another country’s Civil War. And not only is Afghanistan a civil war, there are many sides to it, because Afghanistan is a tribal country.
On a similar front, the main problem in the Middle East is that World War I is not over. Every war in the Middle East is caused by an agreement made during World War I, the Sykes-Picot Agreement. This is one of the things you do not readily find in histories of the 20th Century or of World War I. You hear about the Balfour Declaration, but that is quite a different thing. Two men, an Englishman and a Frenchman, came up with the Sykes-Picot Agreement. It established the artificial boundaries of the countries that exist there today.
The treaty that was drawn up to end World War I was never ratified by the US.
— Raleigh Perry, Buford
Send us your thoughts: We encourage you to send us your letters and thoughts on issues raised in GwinnettForum. Please limit comments to 300 words, and include your hometown. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length. Send feedback and letters to: elliott@brack.net
Lawrenceville’s Baker is new chair of the Gwinnett GOP
Sammy Baker was elected chairman of the Gwinnett County Republican Party at its meeting on Saturday held in Lilburn.
Baker
On being elected, Baker says: “It’s a great privilege and an exciting opportunity to lead the Gwinnett GOP, to expand the reach and influence of the Republican Party, especially with minorities and immigrants. The success of Gwinnett has been rooted in the conservative values of the Republican Party. Our goal as Gwinnett Republicans is simply to continue to make Gwinnett a great place to live, work, and play!”
Baker, who lives in Lawrenceville, owns Best Pest Control Company in Buford. He is a native of Conway Ark., and a graduate of the University of Arkansas. He and his wife, Susan, have four children, two of which live in Gwinnett, and three grandchildren, all of which are Gwinnett residents. They are members of the 12 Stone Church.
Baker previously served as director of membership for the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association. He was a candidate for Senate District 45 in the 2020 election.
Other officers elected were:
- Steve Gasper, first vice chair-Suwanee;
- Denise Rumbaugh, second vice chair-Buford;
- Laurie McClain, treasurer-Lawrenceville;
- Cindiella Nixon, secretary-Peachtree Corners;
- Hai Cao, member at large Post 1-Lawrenceville;
- District 1 manager-open;
- Elizabeth Cook, District 2 manager-Lilburn;
- Bob Christensen, District 3 manager-Lawrenceville;
- Tony Webb, District 4 manager-Buford;
- Pat Quigley, District 5 manager-Peachtree Corners;
- Will Aiken, District 6 manager-Lawrenceville; and
- Matthew Holtkamp, member at large-Buford;
Baker says he hopes to grow the Gwinnett GOP membership by reinvigorating the base. His goals include:
- Increase membership among every Gwinnett County ethnic group;
- Engage veterans;
- Improve small business involvement in the GOP;
- Involve the talents and skill of all current members;
- Put continuous emphasis on voter registration; and
- Attract young people into the party.
Trip Elementary School to host Camp Invention in June
Camp Invention, a hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) program created by the National Inventors Hall of Fame to transform curious minds into innovative thinkers, will be held June 7-10 from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. at Trip Elementary School located at 841 Cooper Road in Grayson, Ga.
The 2021 program is all-new and themed “recharge.” And what a recharge in thinking, moving, exploring and creating it will be for campers. The program is designed to build essential STEM skills while also boosting reading abilities through hands-on activities that offer much fun and excitement that kids don’t even realize how much they’re learning, everything from electronics to prototyping to creative thinking!
According to the National Inventors Hall of Fame, now more than ever, kids need fun and open-ended experiences that will help them build their problem-solving power and make their own creative mark on the world. That’s exactly what Camp Invention delivers. Teaming up with certified local educators across the country, the National Inventors Hall of Fame has provided safe and exciting summer camps for 30 years. Trip Elementary School administrators, faculty and staff are beyond excited to once again host Camp Invention as a resource designed to help kids build the mindset they need to thrive, now and in the future.
Registration is required. The cost of Camp Invention is $250 per child. Payment plans and cancellation insurance is available. For more information, please refer to this document or contact Camp Director Lisa Hill.
Harper is new supervisor of Soil and Water district
Harper
Travys Harper was recently appointed as a District Supervisor for the Gwinnett County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD). Harper currently serves as Green Infrastructure manager for Trees Atlanta, a City of Atlanta-based non-profit founded in 1985 to support urban green spaces and address tree loss in the Atlanta area, Ellis Lamme, supervisor of the District, reports.
The Gwinnett SWCD is a unit of state government that manages and directs natural resource management programs at the local level. The district works with educators, urban farmers, landowners, homeowners, and with other units of government to educate and actively promote programs and practices that support the conservation, use and management of natural resources and wildlife.
Harper is an alumnus of Auburn University with a Bachelor’s of Science in environmental design. He will serve the Gwinnett Conservation District as a supervisor for a two-year term. A native Gwinnettian, Harper graduated from Brookwood High.
As a newly appointed district supervisor, Harper strengthens the partnership already in place between GACD and Trees Atlanta. He is expected to play a key role in ongoing regional efforts to implement stormwater control measures through the Georgia Conservation Assistance Program, a GACD initiative.
Gwinnett Stripers announced 2021 season promotions
The Gwinnett Stripers have announced their 2021 Promotions Schedule, including all fireworks shows, premium giveaways, theme nights, and weekly promotions. The Stripers play their home opener at Coolray Field on Tuesday, May 11 at 7:05 p.m. vs. Louisville.
The Stripers’ lineup of weekly promotions includes the “Thirsty Thursday,” offering fans 12-ounce domestic draft beers for $2 each Thursday night. The full slate of weekly promotions includes:
- Family Value Tuesday: Hot dogs for $2, desserts for $1.
- Wet Nose Wednesday: Free admission for dogs with paid owner on The Bank.
- Thirsty Thursday Xolos de Gwinnett: the Stripers will transform into the “Xolos de Gwinnett” and honor Gwinnett County’s rich Hispanic heritage and culture.
- Fireworks Friday: A spectacular fireworks display follows each Friday night game.
- Giveaway Saturday: Premium Giveaways at the gates on select Saturdays.
- Sunday Funday A special matinee game for families, with post-game kids run the bases.
The Stripers will hand out six Premium Giveaways throughout the year, with several items distributed multiple times in smaller quantities to adjust for potential reduced ballpark capacities. The Premium Giveaways include:
- Brian McCann Bobbleheads, (May 15-16);
- Ronald Acuña Jr. Stripers Road Jersey T-Shirts, (May 29, July 24);
- Replica “Fish Scales” Jerseys, (June 5, August 7);
- Mike Soroka Bobbleheads (June 19, August 14);
- Lowercase “G” Logo Caps, (July 10, September 18); and
- Austin Riley “Bow-Hunting” Bobbleheads, (September 4)
The Stripers will wear Specialty Jerseys three times in 2021, on May 28 (Salute to Frontline Workers Jerseys,), July 9 (Button Gwinnett Jerseys), and September 4 (Mossy Oak Camo Jerseys). All game-used jerseys will be available for purchase via online auction at GoStripers.com.
The Evening and the Morning by Ken Follett
From Karen Harris, Stone Mountain: Ken Follett’s The Evening and the Morning introduces the Kingsbridge saga that includes the titles, Pillars of the Earth, World Without End and Column of Fire. Characters are Edgar, the builder; Ragna, a Norman noblewoman; and Alfred, a Monk. They each have life goals of building Dreng’s Ferry into Kingsbridge, which becomes a center of prosperity and learning in the early years of the Middle Ages in England. Conflicting political forces include a ruthless bishop and his greedy brothers who seek to maintain power despite the changing landscape. This is a lively and fast-moving story that will engage the reader from the first page. Though exceptionally long, it is easy to read 200 of the 900+ pages in one sitting and long for stronger eyes!
An invitation: what books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (150 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next. Send to: elliott@brack.net
Georgia native plays lead in many motion pictures
In an acting career spanning four decades, Georgia native Scott Wilson played lead and supporting roles in more than 50 motion pictures and in a number of television productions.
Wilson
Wilson was born in Atlanta on March 29, 1942, to Jewel and Thomas Wilson. He attended high school in Atlanta through his junior year but graduated in 1960 from Thomasville High in Thomasville, Ga. after his widowed mother moved the family to her hometown.
He entered Southern Polytechnic State University (later Kennesaw State University) in Marietta on an athletic scholarship but was released because of health problems. Wilson then hitchhiked to California, arriving in 1961, and soon enrolled in an acting class. More than five years later, Wilson was cast in the Academy Award–winning movie In the Heat of the Night (1967), with Rod Steiger and Sidney Poitier. This performance was swiftly followed by one of the most sought-after roles of the decade: Richard Hickock, one of two murderers in Richard Brooks’s film adaptation of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood(1967).
In addition to Brooks, Wilson worked with such noted film directors as Robert Aldrich, John Frankenheimer, Norman Jewison, and Sydney Pollack. His filmography includes The Gypsy Moths (1969); The Great Gatsby (1974); The Ninth Configuration (1980), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe; and The Right Stuff (1983). For On the Line (1984), a U.S.-Spanish production, Wilson was Best Actor cowinner at the Cartagena Film Festival in Colombia.
Wilson was granted two audiences with Pope John Paul II resulting from his performance in Our God’s Brother (1997), a film adaptation of a play written by the pontiff as a young man. The film was directed by critically acclaimed Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi, with whom Wilson had also worked on the production The Year of the Quiet Sun (1984), which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
Wilson’s later work includes Dead Man Walking (1995), Pearl Harbor (2001), Monster (2003), and Junebug (2005). Beginning in 2007 Wilson appeared as the Reverend Potter in the television series Saving Grace, starring fellow Georgian Holly Hunter and airing on TNT, a network of Turner Broadcasting System. In 2011 he joined the cast of the hit television series The Walking Dead, playing the role of Herschel Greene. Wilson also had a recurring role on the Netflix series The OA.
Active in the Screen Actors Guild, Wilson was an advocate for working actors. He saved guild members millions of dollars in 1992 and 2002 by working to defeat proposals that would have allowed agents to charge new commissions on income from residuals, which are payments made to actors when their work is reshown (as with television reruns) after the initial appearance.
Wilson was married to Heavenly Koh Wilson, an attorney and artist. He died on October 6, 2018, at his home in Los Angeles.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to http://georgiaencyclopedia.org
Outdoor arena is this issue’s Mystery Photo
Today’s Mystery Photo is an outdoor theatre of some sort. Figure out its location and Send your answer to elliott@brack.net to include your hometown.
Sara Rawlins of Lawrenceville easily recognized a Titan Ballistic Missile, located off Exit 101 on Interstate 75 in Cordele, Ga. on U.S> Highway 80. “It is a familiar site driving up and down that corridor of I-75. It was a gift from John Pate who was president of the Cordele Rotary Club, in the late ’60s. He had retired from the Air Force and after a visit to NASA, he learned the Titan missiles were being decommissioned. I guess he thought it wasn’t enough being Cordele, the Watermelon Capital of the World, and a rocket would put little Cordele on the map to greet travelers as they exit off the road.
“Titan missiles were developed as Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles to carry nuclear warheads and later used by NASA to carry the two-man Gemini capsule into space. Once better vehicles were developed to launch men (and women) into space, the missiles were decommissioned. Just a thought, maybe there should be a really large watermelon next to the rocket with the caption: ‘Our Watermelons Are Out of This World Delicious!’”
The photo came from Allen Peel of San Antonio, Tex. Others recognizing it were David Will, Lilburn; Raleigh Perry, Buford; Al Swinton, Tucker (“Cordele is where I’m from.”); Lou Camerio, Lilburn; Bob Hanson, Loganville; and George Graf of Palmyra, Va.
Graf added of the Krystal sign in the photo: “Krystal is an American regional fast food restaurant chain, with restaurants in the Southeastern United States. It is known for its small, square hamburgers cooked with onions called sliders in places other than the Southeast. Krystal moved its headquarters from Chattanooga, Tenn., where it had been based since 1932, to the Atlanta suburb of Dunwoody in early 2013. Krystal restaurants were the host of the Krystal Square Off, a competitive eating contest, from 2004 to 2009. The current world record is 103 Krystal burgers consumed in eight minutes at the 2007 competition.”
Ribbon-cutting of West Jackson Fire Station No. 2 will be Tuesday, April 20, at 5 p.m. at 1875 Ednaville Road in Braselton. Open house follows the ribbon-cutting.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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