ON DISPLAY: This painting by the late New York Artist John Heliker is being exhibited at Brenau University’s Sellars Gallery in Gainesville through November 1. The exhibition features oil-based landscapes, figurative works and abstract mix-media works. For more detail about the exhibit, see Notable below.
IN THIS EDITION
TODAY’S FOCUS: Local Schools, Organization Among Finalists for STEM Awards
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Roundabouts Getting More Popular for Safety, Moving Traffic
ANOTHER VIEW: Regarding a 911-Texting System for Gwinnett County
UPCOMING: Suwanee has county’s 1st Car-Charging Service; Wi-Fi in Snellville
NOTABLE: Brenau Gallery To Hold Exhibit of Famous New York Painter
RECOMMENDED READ: The Valley Where They Danced by Emory Jones
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Author Lillian Smith Early on Denounced Racial Segregation
TODAY’S QUOTE: An Advantage That Both Adam and Eve Had
MYSTERY PHOTO: Few People Recognized What Canoes Meant in Picture
LAGNIAPPE: Little Free Library Recognized in Snellville
TODAY’S FOCUS
Gwinnett schools, organizations, among finalists for STEM awards
By Tony Cooper, Technology Association of Georgia
ATLANTA, Ga., Aug. 14, 2015 — The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) and the TAG Education Collaborative (TAG-Ed) have announced the finalists for the fourth annual STEM Education awards. These awards were created to recognize and celebrate schools, extracurricular programs, public-private partnerships, science agencies and post-secondary education outreach programs for outstanding efforts and achievement in supporting and promoting science, technology, engineering, and math education in Georgia.
Michael Robertson, director of TAG-Ed, says: “We applaud each of this year’s finalists for their extraordinary efforts to bolster awareness about the importance of STEM and for their hard work to increase student participation in science, technology, engineering and math programs. Georgia will need to fill some 211,000 STEM-related jobs by 2018, so we are pleased to showcase so many great schools, programs and organizations that are helping to develop a strong future workforce for our state. ”
A total of 6 area schools and organizations were among the finalists for the 2015 awards:
Elementary School
- Canton ES STEM Academy- Canton
- Clark Creek Elementary STEM Academy- Ackworth
- Drew Charter School- Atlanta
- Feldwood Elementary- College Park
- Heard Advanced Learning Academy- Savannah
Middle School
- Marietta Middle School- Marietta
- Mill Springs Academy- Alpharetta
- Rex Mill Middle School- Rex
- St. Andrew’s School-Savannah
- Teasley Middle School- Canton
High School
- Creekview High School- Canton
- H.V. Jenkins High School- Savannah
- Lithia Springs High School- Lithia Springs
- Peachtree Ridge High School- Suwannee
- The Galloway School- Atlanta
Post-Secondary Outreach
- Atlanta Science Festival- Atlanta
- Columbus Technical College- Columbus
- Georgia Institute of Technology- Atlanta
- Georgia Perimeter College Office of STEM Initiatives- Atlanta
- Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center- Columbus
- Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization (SRSCRO)- Augusta
Extracurricular Program
- East Coweta High School Science Olympiad Team- Sharpsburg
- Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta STEM Program- Mableton
- S.T.E.M. STARS- Atlanta
- Sandy Springs Education Force/GTRI STEM Event- Sandy Springs
- STE(A)M Truck- Decatur
- The Urban Atlanta Geospatial STEM Academy- Atlanta
STEM Day Activity
- Amana Academy- Alpharetta
- Dimon Elementary Magnet- Columbus
- Eagle Springs Elementary- Byron
- Isle of Hope K-8- Savannah
- Jackson Elementary- Lawrenceville
STEM Certified School Outreach
- Brookwood Elementary- Dalton
- GSMST – Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology- Gwinnett
- Henderson Mill Elementary- Atlanta
- Lanier High School Center for Design and Technology-Sugar Hill
- Rex Mill Middle School’s STEM Academy Magnet Program- Rex
Corporate Outreach
- Education Outreach, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions- Augusta
- Environmental and Heritage Center-Lawrenceville
- Georgia Power Company – East Region Corporate Outreach -Augusta
- Pratt & Whitney- Columbus
- Cisco Systems Inc.- Lawrenceville
Amanda Hendley, chief operating officer for TAG, adds: “We received more than 180 nominations for our inaugural STEM Education Awards. We are very pleased with the number and quality of all of our applicants. These finalists represent the best of the best in STEM education in Georgia.”
EEB PERSPECTIVETime to think about highway roundabouts for improved safety
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher
AUG. 14, 2015 — Americans anticipating a British driving vacation face two problems: driving on the “wrong” (left) side of the road….and British roundabouts. Britain has more roundabouts as a proportion of roads than any other country. Many get confused at negotiating the roundabout, while driving in a left-side steering car gets a little more comfortable after a while.
Americans vacationing in France face only the roundabout problem, as the French drive on the “right” side of the road. Yet there are more roundabouts in France (30,000 as of 2008) than in any other nation.
After lunch one Sunday at the intersection of Brown’s Bridge Road and Georgia Highway 400 in Forsyth County, traffic north on Route 400 was backed up a mile. We got to thinking: instead of a long, long halt of the Route 400 traffic because of the traffic signals, what would a roundabout do at this location?
According to experts, it would probably move all traffic through that location faster, since autos would merely slow, not normally stopping, maneuvering through a roundabout. When negotiating a roundabout, most of the vehicles never actually halt for the lights, as vehicles lining-up at intersections which have traffic lights. Drivers do not have to wait for a signal to change.
Engineers favor roundabouts. They say it cuts congestion, reduces collisions, and most importantly, reduces deaths, which fall 78 percent, at roundabouts! That’s enormous, and easily over the long run pay for changing intersections to roundabouts.
This produces several benefits:
- Engine pollution (including noise) is reduced since there is less engine idling.
- By merging slowly, there is no stopping of vehicles from any direction. If a vehicle needs to giveaway to a car in the circle, entering traffic slows—not stops.
- Traffic enters from one direction, instead of three directions, simplifying operations.
- T-bone crashes (cars hitting another broadside) is eliminated. (This is a major benefit of a roundabout.)
- Accident severity is drastically reduced.
Years ago, when Brett Harrell was Snellville’s mayor, he proposed a roundabout at the intersection of U.S. Highway 78 and Georgia Highway 124 (Scenic Highway.) He was hooted down. But now that idea that Brett (now a state representative) once floated, is looking better and better.
Some intersections would require more right-of-way purchase for the intersection. But many intersections, like the one on Brown’s Bridge Road at Georgia 400, probably could be built without additional land purchases.
On another note, there would be no need to spend money on the traffic light installation and the high cost of signal maintenance of the electricity for those signals. Traffic lights at major intersections can cost up to $200,000.
While roundabouts are more popular in Europe, Americans have never embraced the plan. Maybe some of that is because Out West, many roads have a geographic basis, running north-south, or east-west. And with some roads more popular than others, government officials simply installed a STOP sign on the less-used roads. That in effect may have been the reason Americans never thought about roundabouts. (No idea why the Eastern seaboard never embraced roundabouts.)
So when Americans started driving trips to Europe, seeing those roundabouts really confuses them.
By the way, there are a few roundabouts in Gwinnett, and a few more coming. Let’s welcome them; they may be the way of the future, making intersections safer, and perhaps even faster, too.
We think roundabouts are worthy of the future of Gwinnett, and today add “Uses of more roundabouts at heavy traffic intersections” to our List of Continuing Objectives (see entire list at bottom right of front page.)
ANOTHER VIEWMight be time for county police to start a 911-texting service
By Debbie Houston
AUG. 14, 2015 — Recently I read of an organization called Crisis Text Line (CTL) that responds to people contemplating suicide. The person-at-risk texts the number 741741 and, within seconds, a counselor offers support and asks key questions, like: “Are you alone?” “Do you have the bottle of pills near you?”
The counselor then dials a 911 rescue responder while continuing to text back and forth with the suicidal person.
The advantage of CTL over a phone crisis hotline is that texting is more immediate. Also, no one in the house can overhear the conversation in a text, and it fits in perfectly with our device-oriented society.
So, it made me think … why couldn’t local police offer us 911-texting instead of our dialing the phone? Again, texting is more immediate, and if it’s a home invasion, we don’t want the intruder to overhear us.
I e-mailed the Gwinnett County Police Department to see if it plans to implement 911-texting. Lt. Lorene Peugh, acting communications manager, writes: “Presently, Gwinnett does not have the ability to handle text messages. We are, however, investigating several possibilities that would include that capability when we upgrade our systems. We do not have an estimated implementation date, if we are able to acquire it, as of yet.”
I’ve read that LAN phones are traceable, but what about cell phones? If a crime victim dials a cell and remains quiet, can the police track that person’s location?
Lt. Peugh says: “If someone calls from a cell and keeps the line open, we use what is called Phase 2 Location. This is where we use the X/Y coordinates to attempt to locate the phone.” Lt. Peugh emphasizes that this is not an exact science. “The key is we have to have an open line. If the line is disconnected, we won’t be able to get coordinates to put into the mapping system.”
Some counties (Paulding is one) have already implemented 911-texting. Criminals are increasingly tech-savvy, so it could pay for our local police to stay apace with modern ways to protect us. What do you think?
IN THE SPOTLIGHTGeorgia Campus — Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum.com to you at no cost to readers. Professional healthcare programs leading to doctoral degrees in Pharmacy (PharmD) and Osteopathic Medicine (DO) are offered at Georgia Campus – Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (Ga-PCOM) in Suwanee Ga. A graduate degree at the master’s level can be earned in Biomedical Sciences. In addition, applications are now being accepted for the Physician Assistant Studies program on the Georgia Campus. Ga–PCOM, which is celebrating its 10 year anniversary, is a private, not-for-profit branch campus of the fully accredited Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, a multi-program institution with a 116-year tradition of educational excellence.
- To learn more about how GA-PCOM is educating tomorrow’s healthcare leaders, visit admissions.pcom.edu or call 678-225-7500.
- For an appointment at the Georgia Osteopathic Care Center, an osteopathic manipulative medicine clinic which is open to the public, call 678-225-7489.
- For a list of other sponsors of this forum, go to: https://www.gwinnettforum.com/about/sponsors.
City of Suwanee has first electric vehicle charging station
A dual-head, level three, fast-charging station for electric vehicles is now operational at Suwanee Town Center. This is the first fast-charge station to be installed by a municipality in Gwinnett County.
Located along Savannah Square Street at the back corner of City Hall, the station is capable of providing an 80 percent charge to most electric vehicles in less than half an hour and is available 24/7 on a first-come first-served basis. The current rate is $1.50 to connect plus 10 cents per minute. Only credit card payments are accepted; electric vehicle network membership is not required.
The City of Suwanee contracted with EnviroSpark Energy Solutions of Atlanta to install the charger system, which has two connectors, one that serves SAE J1772-enabled vehicles and the other CHAdeMO-enabled vehicles. The total cost was nearly $49,000. A grant received through the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority’s Charge Georgia program will cover half of the cost; the City is seeking additional grants to help cover expenses.
Public Works Director James Miller says: “It’s really exciting to be able to offer an environmentally sensitive service such as this. This effort continues the City’s commitment to sustaining our environment, as signaled previously by LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design]-certification for City Hall as well as certification as a Green Community through the Atlanta Regional Commission. But the electric vehicle station also serves to give folks another reason to come to Town Center and further promotes downtown Suwanee.”
Free Internet Wi-Fi now available at Snellville City Hall
Those who visit Snellville City Hall now have access to free internet Wi-Fi. Earlier this week, a new wireless internet system was installed, allowing those who visit City Hall at 2342 Oak Road, to use their wireless devices on the city’s Wi-Fi network free of charge.
To begin using the Wi-Fi, visitors can simply choose “CH_PublicWiFi” on their electronic devices and accept a terms of service agreement.
City officials said the Senior Center, located next to City Hall, will soon have visitor Wi-Fi activated and plans are in the works to create a wireless network on the Towne Green so visitors and vendors at events such as the Farmers’ Market can use wireless payment applications.
County property tax bills should reach residents by Aug. 15
County property tax bills for 2015 have been mailed to Gwinnett County taxpayers and should be received by August 15, Tax Commissioner Richard Steele announces.
All bills will have a single due date of October 15. Taxpayers may choose to make a single payment or partial payments as long as the total due is paid by the due date.
For property owners with an escrow account, tax information is available to the mortgage company; however, it is ultimately the responsibility of the property owner to ensure taxes are paid by the due date. If there are questions about who will pay the taxes, homeowners should contact their mortgage company directly, especially if their mortgage company has recently changed.
There are several options for property tax payment:
- Pay online by check, credit or debit card at GwinnettTaxCommissioner.com. (Paying by check is free; debit card: $3.95 flat fee; credit card: 2.29 percent service fee.)
- Mail payments to P.O. Box 372, Lawrenceville, Ga. 30046.
- Pay by check using drop boxes 24 hours a day at all Tax Commissioner offices.
- Pay in person during business hours at all Tax Commissioner offices.
For additional info, contact the office at Tax@gwinnettcounty.com or (770) 822-8800.
E.R. Snell work underway on Georgia Highway 347 near Braselton
Work in the roadway on Georgia Highway 347 in the Braselton area is progressing and a project milestone as traffic is scheduled for Tuesday, August 18 if weather permits. Traffic will be split, using one lane on each side of the median on Route 347 from Spout Springs Road to Williams Road.
The contract for construction of this 7.97 mile long project is $38.4 million and the contract was awarded to E.R. Snell Contracting Inc. of Snellville. The contract completion date is January 12, 2016.
NOTABLEBrenau gallery to offer exhibit by New York’s John Heliker
A special exhibition of paintings and drawings spanning six decades of work by acclaimed New York painter John Heliker will run from Thursday, August 13, to November 1, at Brenau University’s Sellars Gallery on the historic Gainesville campus. Although Heliker is best known for figurative works, the curated exhibition titled “John Heliker: The Order of Things” also features a range of oil-based landscapes as well as abstract mixed-media pieces.
In addition to the ongoing exhibition, which is free and open to the public during regular gallery hours, Brenau Galleries will host a lecture featuring Heliker-LaHotan Foundation Executive Director Patricia Bailey at a free public reception on Thursday, September 17, at 6 p.m.
Rawlings said that the curated exhibition, built around art that has never been displayed on the Brenau campus, is particularly significant for the university because of its permanent collection of art, some of which represents work by Heliker contemporaries. A large selection of work from artists active in Heliker’s era remains on permanent display at Brenau’s Manhattan Gallery at the Brenau Downtown Center in Gainesville, but there are no Heliker pieces in the Brenau collection.
Heliker, who died in 2000 at age 91, served as a professor at Columbia University for 27 years. But he had been a fixture in the New York art world as early as the 1930s. Consult the Brenau Galleries website at galleries.brenau.edu for hours and other information.. For more information on the exhibit or to book group tours, contact Allison Murphy Lauricella at amurphy2@brenau.edu or (770) 534-6263.
Teaching basic developmental disabilities skills is focus of meeting
A program to teach people about developmental disabilities tools will take place on Tuesday, August 18 at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Building. It will be from 6 to 8 p.m. The program is free.
This Advocacy Basic Training will provide tools to effectively influence change and make a difference for persons with developmental disabilities in Georgia. This basic training will help attendees learn to:
- Frame issues and communicate their messages and needs effectively;
- Obtain the services they need;
- Seek public support for individual services and community initiatives;
- Lobby at the Capitol and work with their representatives; and
- Feel confident when asking for services.
For more information, go to www.aadd.org or call (404) 881-9777.
Lilburn Daze accepting vendor and sponsorship applications
The Lilburn Daze Arts and Crafts Festival is right around the corner and is now accepting vendor applications and sponsorships. This year’s event will be held on Saturday, October 10, at Lilburn City Park. A Lilburn tradition for over 40 years, Lilburn Daze features more than 200 arts and crafts vendors, a variety of food vendors and a kid zone featuring art activities, a train ride, pony rides and lots of other fun for the children! With an estimated 12,000 attendees, this family friendly festival is one of the most popular in the area. Hosted by the Lilburn Woman’s Club and co-sponsored by the City of Lilburn.
- Visit www.lilburndaze.org for more information
The Valley Where They Danced
A novel by Emory Jones
Georgia author Emory Jones of Cleveland has written extensively of the Sautee-Nacoochee area of White County. Now he has penned a novel with historical references about this beautiful part of North Georgia in the early 1900s. This book gives the reader a big dose of nostalgia to anyone familiar with the area. It’s historically on target, following the p
ath of a young doctor who becomes entranced with the setting and the people. Yet tragedy looms as well at some twists and turns of the story. It also gives you a glimpse of how this area was settled—just a short time ago. Intertwined into the story are tales of the Cherokee Indians who were early inhabitants of this part of Georgia. For an entertaining look at Georgia about 100 years ago, this is a fine addition. The book is available at Amazon. — eeb
- 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
Author Lillian Smith early on denounced racial segregation
Lillian Smith was one of the first prominent white southerners to denounce racial segregation openly and to work actively against the entrenched and often brutally enforced world of Jim Crow. From as early as the 1930s, she argued that Jim Crow was evil (“Segregation is spiritual lynching,” she said) and that it leads to social and moral retardation.
Smith
Smith gained national recognition—and regional denunciation—by writing Strange Fruit (1944), a bold novel of illicit interracial love. Five years later she hurled another thunderbolt against racism in Killers of the Dream (1949), a brilliant psychological and autobiographical work warning that segregation corrupted the soul; removed any possibility of freedom and decency in the South; and had serious implications for women and children in particular in their developing views of sex, their bodies, and their innermost selves.
From her home in Clayton, atop Old Screamer Mountain, she openly convened interracial meetings, and she toured the South, talking to people from all races and classes. She was unsparing in her criticisms of “liberals” and “moderates” like Atlanta‘s famed Ralph McGill and refused to join groups such as the Southern Regional Council until it could oppose segregation as well as racism. In her own psyche she struggled with intensely conflicting desires: to write creatively, following her heart’s passions, or to respond to her stern conscience and the intellectual voice of duty.
Smith’s writings, her investigative tours of the South, and the interracial conferences were signs that intellectual and social change was brewing in the South. By the time the civil rights movement made its dramatic debut in the Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott in 1955, Smith had been meeting or corresponding with many southern blacks and concerned whites for years and was well informed about the conditions in which African Americans lived, and about their anger and frustration. How do they stand it day by day? she cried out to a friend. She corresponded with civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and publicly admired his work. She remained unflinchingly dedicated to him until her death.
Smith greeted the historic 1954 Supreme Court decision outlawing school segregation as “every child’s Magna Carta.” The following year she wrote Now Is the Time, a tract appealing for compliance with the high court’s decision. Her other writings were diverse—from The Journey (1954), a book of autobiographical musings and social commentary based on a driving tour of coastal Georgia that she made in 1952, to One Hour (1959), an attack on McCarthyism thinly disguised as a novel.
(To be continued)
- To access the Georgia Encyclopedia online, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
Far-out Mystery Photo doesn’t even give you a clue
Check out this far-out photo! Ever seen it, and know where it is located? If so, send in your thoughts to elliott@brack.net, and be sure to include your hometown.
Last week, GwinnettForum stumped its panel of readers with the last Mystery Photo. We tried to point out a clue, but no one picked up on it. Surely many of our readers have ventured to this site, which is most famous. What should have given away the location were the canoes stacked to the right of the picture……in front of L.L. Bean in Freeport, Maine. We “gotcha” all! The photo was sent in by Susan McBurney of Sugar Hill.
By the way, the previous Mystery Photo of Starr’s Mill near Fayetteville was provided by none other than our Roving Photographer Frank Sharp!
LAGNIAPPEAnother Little Free Library
Organizers of The Little Free Library, a familiar site on Saturdays at the Snellville Farmers’ Market, were front and center a recent Snellville council meetings. The Little Free Library is a dollhouse-like structure which sits on a child’s wagon. But instead of dolls, the Little Free Library houses books donated by citizens. Little Free Libraries seek to promote literacy and a love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide. From left are Susan Chappalear, Jean Baldwin, Kirk Buis, Lynn Lawton, Dennis Lawton, Kurt Schulz, Tim Ford, all credited for their effort in making the Little Free Library a reality, and Mayor Pro-Tem Tom Witts. The Little Free Library movement began in Hudson, Wisc. in 2009 when a son of a teacher built a structure with a sign reading “Free Books.” Snellville’s library now holds charter number 27,437 in the organization.
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