BIG GIFT: Georgia Gwinnett College’s Foundation recently got a $100,000 gift from Marshall and Lee Boutwell, shown with GGC President Stas Preczewski. The gift is to endow a scholarship fund aimed at students who are military veterans. For more details, see Notable below.
ISSUE 15.08 | April 28, 2015
IN THIS EDITION
TODAY’S FOCUS: Protecting Your Personal Computer: Know Your Enemies
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Here’s An Example Where Bad Government Has Erupted
ANOTHER VIEW: Getting Together With Old High School Mates: What Fun!
FEEDBACK: Informs Readers of Firearms Act of 1937
UPCOMING: Farmers Market Returns to Suwanee; Salvation Army Honors Publisher
NOTABLE: Boutwells Establish Scholarship at GGC; Gwinnett Tech Awards Scholarships
RECOMMENDED READ: Red Dirt by Joe Samuel Starnes
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Erskine Caldwell Concentrates on Poverty and Disintegration of Family
TODAY’S QUOTE: How You May Not Appear to Others on the Internet
MYSTERY PHOTO: Only Two Recognized Major Landmark in Paris
LAGNIAPPE: Art on a Limb Returns to Suwanee Creekway
TODAY’S FOCUS
A key to protecting your computer: Know thine enemies
By Robert Covington, president, togoCIO of Peachtree Corners
PEACHTREE CORNERS, Ga., April 28, 2015 — Security breaches are big news these days. It seems like the major media outlets discovered cybersecurity immediately following the Sony data theft, and it has been big news ever since.
The problem of information security threats is not a new one however. When I was a student in college years ago, I worked in the University of Miami data center. One of my jobs was tracking down students who broke security rules. In those days, hackers were usually bright college students breaking into systems just to prove that they could. My prime suspect began his hacking career as a high school student, bringing his skills with him to college. Invariably, I would track those types of perpetrators down, and given the low concerns about computer crimes in those days, they would get off with a wrist slap, and I would be after them again a few months later.
Today, the perpetrators are more likely to be members of criminal groups, or foreign governments attempting to gain intelligence information or trade secrets. These people have almost unlimited funds, and a complete underground marketplace from which they can b the “tools” of their trade. This leaves the rest of us fighting an uphill battle with our more-limited resources.
One of the keys to beating this enemy is knowing them, and the tactics that they use. This is unfortunately a difficult task, given that the rules change daily. A major part of my work involves helping businesses to get and stay secure, and I spend an average of two hours a day, seven days a week, just reading about the latest exploits, studying the latest detection techniques, and listening to the major industry thought leaders. It is still a challenge to keep up.
And yet, keeping up is essential to success. Businesses and individuals continue to search for the information security magic bullet – a hardware device or piece of software that will protect them. But none exists. The only approach is to know the enemy, and to adjust the approach frequently to meet changes in the tactics.
IBM reported in their “2014 Cyber Security Intelligence Index” that 95 percent of all security incidents involve human error. The Target and Home Depot security breaches are both believed to have been committed using credentials stolen from a vendor. The big Anthem insurance data breach came via administrative credentials obtained using malware in a spam email. These incidents underscore the need for us all to be informed and vigilant.
So, how do those without an extra two hours keep up? Fortunately, there are an increasing number of people like me who work to keep the world up to speed. We focus on educating the public. We do this via tweets, blogs, articles, white papers, and speaking opportunities. We do the work of digesting the intelligence, and passing it along to businesses and individuals in a form they can use.
You can make use of this intelligence by following the experts on Twitter, reading their articles, and acting on the information you read. With everyone understanding today’s threat intelligence, and adjusting their habits appropriately, human error is reduced, and an insurmountable problem suddenly becomes more manageable.
EEB PERSPECTIVE
Without good people involved, bad government will erupt
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher, GwinnettForum.com
APRIL 28, 2015 — All most citizens want in their life is to do their job well, enjoy their family, hopefully take a vacation from time to time, and be a good citizen. All most want out of their government is for it to work in the background by delivering services efficiently, and not cause a stir. That will make them happy.
For the most part, except for some recent exceptions, Gwinnett County governments pretty well do that. Yes, there are from time-to-time some headlines that make the county citizens unhappy, and yes, there are some frictions in one or two municipal governments.
Unfortunately, many citizens don’t involve themselves much with government. Most governments chug along trying to do a good job, and staying our of the headlines when it comes to shenanigans.
Not so in neighboring DeKalb County. This once-progressive county has been hit by first one scandal after another in recent years.
There was the shooting of a sheriff that indicated there was more going on than met the eye.
Then a DeKalb CEO had some issues, and left office. His successor got into trouble, was tried, had a hung jury, and still may be tried again for conduct unbecoming an officer.
Another commissioner is indicted for dipping into government funds for her own good. She was tried, convicted, and now faces time in prison.
And last week the interim CEO of DeKalb government, was found in another questionable activity, giving DeKalb citizens another possible black eye.
These reports, and a government that seemed out of control, may be the reason people in DeKalb are considering forming new cities, or have already done so.
How could all this happen?
The short answer is that DeKalb voters have elected a bunch of reprobates, people who should not have ascended the high elective office. They seem to feed off one another, creating situation where most people could recognize that something untoward was going on. These officials were gaining more power, appeared to be rewarding their supporters with county contracts, or were involved with under-the-table activities. Perhaps some of them got jealous, and ratted on their fellow elected officials.
At any rate, what was going on wrongly and quietly eventually got the attention of both the public, and some key investigators, resulting in announcements that have come to embarrass many of the citizens of DeKalb County. You wonder why it took so long. But eventually, the news squirts out.
How do the citizens of an area put a stop to these questionable and illegal activities?
Diligence: the citizens must take enough interest in their governments to be alert to what is going on. They must keep an open mind, of course, but raise a noise when they see matters that do not make sense. We’re not talking merely of the citizens of DeKalb, or Atlanta school teachers, or any particular government. We’re talking about such activities of any area. No matter where you are, the responsibility for a government going south must rest with the citizens of that area. After all, they elected these scalawags to office.
All this will produce a climate where good citizens are unwilling to jump into the fray, not wanting to sully themselves with associating with the government. Until some good citizen will take this plunge, bad government will continue.
Former Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King put it this way: “Government, in the last analysis, is organized opinion. Where there is little or no public opinion, there is likely to be bad government.”
We are embarrassed at what is happening in DeKalb. But without alert and involved citizens, it can happen anywhere. We reminded of the person who said, “When bad government arrives….it stays and stays and stays!”
ANOTHER VIEW
What fun it can be to get together with friends from 50 years ago
By Ginger Stapley
SNELLVILLE, Ga., April 28, 2015 — I just spent the weekend with a group of girls whom I have known for over 50 years. It is amazing how quick time goes by when catching up with old friends. I grew up in Chattanooga, Tenn., attended Henry L. Barger Elementary school then on to Brainerd Junior High then Brainerd Senior High.
The girls in this group (save one) all went to Brainerd Junior High. Most attended Barger Elementary, but we split up after junior high, some going to City High and the rest to Brainerd Senior High. However, we were such good friends that we never totally lost track of each other. When Mary (City High) and Susie (Brainerd) decided to initiate this get-together, a total of 14 of us were able to make the reunion. Of the 14, half (seven) still live in the Chattanooga area, with others coming from the Atlanta or Nashville area, and one friend flying all the way from San Francisco to see the rest of us.
Our childhood in those days was much less complicated than today. In our reminiscing, we all marveled at how we had spent our free time back then. In those days, most of us would go outside the house after supper and not come back until long after dark. It was never a problem in our neighborhoods because all the other kids were outside too! We were a generation of no computers, no cell phones, no organized sports, except summertime ball and swimming. We reminisced about those we had known in dance class or Girl Scouts, of classmates who had died in recent years and those we wished could have come to the gathering.
As you would expect, there were multiple conversations going on constantly. Ten of us were on their original marriage, one had lost a spouse but found happiness with her second husband, one is happily divorced, and the other two were on their third marriage and finally very happy! It was a jovial group! The funniest conversations came from remembered incidents from Junior High. There were girls there who remembered the teacher they had for English in the seventh grade or the crazy science teacher in the eighth grade, and some odd things that occurred in classes.
Of particular note: it seems many of us are the spitting image of our moms. I noticed this for at least six of the women. I’m sure if we were honest, we probably act like and repeat many of the quirky things our moms said to us years ago. It seems we have come full circle. I am not a proponent of living in the past by any means, but it sure was fun to revisit it with such good friends with such good memories!
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
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FEEDBACK
Informs of Pittman-Robertson (Firearms Act) of 1937
Editor, the Forum:
In reference to George Wilson’s article on new taxes on firearms and ammunition, I offer this: evidently, Mr. Wilson is not a hunter-shooter or he would known about the Pittman-Robertson Act.
Years ago, at the urging of organized sportsmen, state wildlife agencies, and the firearms and ammunition industry, Congress extended the life of an existing 10 percent tax on ammunition and sporting firearms and earmarked the proceeds to be distributed to the States for wildlife restoration.
The measure was signed into law by then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt, on September 2, 1937. And, I am sure you will pick up on the term “sporting firearms” as an argument.
I, and a lot of sportsmen I know, hunt with the handgun, so handguns shouldn’t fall into the category of defensive “guns” only. Wilson’s interpretation of the Second Amendment is laughable at least. We all know (or do we?) that there were no such firearms back in the 1700s. And his mention of “cannons”? Good gravy, man! Get a grip!
I have a concealed carry permit. To get one, one has to be investigated by the FBI, and submit $50 for a five year permit. All the “killings” Wilson came up with, for a large part, were done by thugs and felons who don’t have, or can’t get a permit to carry. Or, mentally deranged persons. The Federal Firearms Act strictly prohibits anyone in these categories to having in their possession any kind of firearm, so blaming the weapon, not the shooter, is bogus.
Firearms don’t kill people; people kill people! You cannot legislate goodness in people, and I don’t know of a single felon who has a concealed carry permit. In the state of Georgia, one has to have a background check done by the firearms dealer before being able to purchase. Most of the crimes committed in this state are done with stolen weapons anyway.
— David Earl Tyre, Jesup
Dear David: Somehow I think it is safe to say that you are a member of the National Rifle Association. —eeb
Rant, rave and send us your opinion. Our policy: We encourage readers to submit feedback (or letters to the editor). Send your thoughts to the editor at elliott@brack.net. We will edit for length and clarity. Make sure to include your name and the city where you live. Submission of a comment grants permission for us to reprint. Please keep your comments to 300 words or less. However, we will consider longer articles (no more than 500 words) for featuring in Today’s Issue as space allows.
UPCOMING
Saturday to see return of farmers market to Suwanee
The season of fresh produce and flowers and baked goods returns to Suwanee when the City’s Farmers Market opens at Town Center Park Saturday, May 2. The market is open 8 a.m. until noon Saturdays through October 3.
Suwanee Events Manager Amy Doherty says: “The Suwanee Farmers Market has a loyal customer and farmer base. Our market is almost as much a social event as it is an opportunity to access locally grown produce and a variety of other items, such as salsa, honey, eggs and meat, seafood, and baked goods.” There is no Tuesday afternoon market in Suwanee this year.
Salvation Army of Gwinnett to honor GwinnettForum publisher
The Salvation Army of Gwinnett County will host its annual luncheon on Friday, May 8, at noon at Sonesta Gwinnett Place located at 1775 Pleasant Hill Road in Duluth. Salvation Army National Commander, Commissioner David Jeffrey, will be the special guest speaker.
This year, the Salvation Army will honor a local Gwinnettian, Elliott Brack, with the Others Award. This honors an individual or organization exemplifying an extraordinary spirit or services to others. This award is one of the highest honors given by The Salvation Army internationally. Mr. Brack is a member of the Metro Atlanta Salvation Army Advisory Board, and previously chaired a $4.2 million drive to raise money for the present Lawrenceville Corps Center.
One room at the Lawrenceville facility on Sugarloaf Parkway will be named the “Barbara and Elliott Brack Media Room.”
Captain Andrew Miller, Salvation Army Lawrenceville Corps officer, says: “We are so thankful to have supporters like Barbara and Elliott who are just as passionate about helping our neighbors in need as we are.”
Proceeds from the luncheon will help fund The Salvation Army of Gwinnett’s homelessness prevention, financial emergency assistance and children conservatory programs. For more information about The Salvation Army and its local impact, visit www.salvationarmyatlanta.org.
Snellville Commerce Club names 2 scholarship winners
The Snellville Commerce Club presented by Snellville Tourism and Trade has named its two FBLA/DECA college scholarship winners for 2015. The scholarships were in the amount of $1,000 each.
FBLA member Andrew James Ashburn is the Brookwood High School recipient for 2015. Ashburn is a Marine JROTC Cadet Staff Sergeant and active in Mount Zion Baptist Church. Recently accepted to Auburn University, he plans a career in engineering, principally in the petroleum and alternative fuel fields. Ashburn received recognition as a member of the Brookwood Band and JV lacrosse team during his high school career.
South Gwinnett High School’s Destiny Broadnax is a
member of FBLA and DECA. She has been accepted to Boston University’s School of Management. Broadnax is a recipient of the UGA Certificate of Merit and CTE (technical education) Student of the Year for Gwinnett County. She is active at First Baptist Snellville and is currently serving an internship with Accent Creative Group.
Created in 2005, this 11th annual award will be presented at the regular May 5 club meeting inside City Hall at noon. This meeting coincides with the Snellville Visioning Forum. Business and Civic leaders, along with elected officials are expected to attend.
NOTABLE
Boutwells establish endowed scholarship at GGC to help veterans
A major gift to establish an endowed scholarship fund at Georgia Gwinnett College will be aimed at students who are military veterans. Lee and Marshall Boutwell of Lawrenceville are giving $100,000 to the GGC Foundation.
GGC President Stas Preczewski says: “We are honored that Lee and Marshall have chosen to include Georgia Gwinnett College in their legacy. Their gift will live on permanently to support our students who are veterans. I can’t think of a more fitting addition to our growing collection of scholarships in our 10th year.”
Boutwell, who is president and CEO of Peach State Credit Union of Lawrenceville, says: “When I heard that Gwinnett’s new college was being built by a leadership team coming from a background of military service, I knew it would be a success. I wanted to be a part of that.”
A personal commitment from the Boutwells establishes a fund that will provide a scholarship or scholarships for students who maintain full-time status and a Georgia Gwinnett College grade point average above 2.0. Preference will be given to students who demonstrate financial need and to those who are affiliated with the United States military, according to the following priorities: veterans who were wounded or became disabled during active military service; veterans who served in a combat arms unit in any branch of the military; all other military veterans; and dependent children of those defined in the above three priority groups.
President Preczewski adds: “Lee and Marshall have supported this college from day-one. From understanding how our School of Education would impact one of Peach State Federal Credit Union’s core constituencies –teachers – to supporting our efforts to become a top military-friendly campus and support our veterans. We are so very humbled and honored to accept this gift in support of GGC students who have served in the military.”
Boutwell, who is himself a veteran, served in the U.S. Army and held several command and staff positions. Highly decorated, he earned several medals including the Purple Heart, Bronze Star and Distinguished Flying Cross for service in Vietnam.
Gwinnett Tech Foundation awards $210,000 to 234 students
The Gwinnett Tech Foundation awarded more than 234 scholarships for academic excellence and achievement to Gwinnett Tech students this year, totaling $210,000. College leaders made the announcement last week at the 2015 Scholarship Celebration, held annually to connect student scholarship winners with their scholarship donors and investors.
Ten new scholarships were added this year, while the total value of scholarships awarded increased 50 percent over the last academic year. The total number of students awarded scholarships increased to 230 for 2015 compared to 145 in 2014.
The Scholarship Celebration has been underwritten since its inception by Peach State Federal Credit Union, which also funds the Peach State Federal Credit Union Scholarship at Gwinnett Tech. “
Highlights of the event included:
The first Anthony Rojo Memorial Scholarship award, created to honor the former Gwinnett Tech Dean of Computer Science who died from cancer in 2012 at the age of 45. Alison Kennedy is the scholarship’s first recipient.
A growth in the number of scholarship options for adult education students. Gwinnett Tech now many scholarships for students taking GED® examinations, funded by Walton EMC, Clyde and Sandra Strickland, and the Rotary Club of Gwinnett County.
The tremendous impact of scholarships given by Primerica, which has supported Gwinnett Tech for nearly 20 years with funding totaling $260,000. This funding has given hundreds of low-to-moderate income students the opportunity for a college education. Most recently, The Primerica Foundation donated $75,000 to establish the Primerica Foundation Scholarship and the Barbara T. King Scholarship, which have assisted 62 students to date.
GGC president being shadowed on leadership in running a college
Dr. Wanda Ford of Florida A&M University (FAMU) is getting a crash course in the leadership required to run a college. As a member of the American Council on Education (ACE) 2014-15 Fellow Program class, she is spending one academic year observing Dr. Stas Preczewski as he manages his day-to-day duties as president of Georgia Gwinnett College.
Ford says: “Dr. Preczewski is the epitome of an exceptional leader. He exhibits a servant-leadership style that is admirable and inspirational. I am honored and privileged to have the opportunity to learn from a president who genuinely cares about all faculty, staff and students.”
Ford is learning from a former ACE Fellow appreciative of his own experience in the program. Preczewski says: “While spending my own ACE Fellowship year with the president’s office at Wake Forest University several years ago, I learned many critical lessons about what it takes to operate a college. The experience certainly broadened my perspectives, and I am pleased to contribute to the training of higher education’s future leaders.”
Ford currently serves as the executive director of Title III Programs at FAMU in Tallahassee, Fla. She has a bachelor’s degree in accounting, a master’s degree in organizational management and a doctorate degree in management. In addition, Ford has more than 20 years of higher education administration experience. During her fellowship year, her primary interests include innovative learning strategies, change management and student success initiatives.
RECOMMENDED
Red Dirt
A novel by Joe Samuel Starnes
From a UGA graduate comes this book about an aspiring tennis professional out of the red clay dirt of Georgia. The story begins when as a six year old, it’s obvious that the boy has some talent. It follows him all the way to the French Open, then down a slippery slope as he faces adversity and leaves tennis for a while. Yet there is still a burning desire and zest to return to the court, while maintaining integrity in the face of some of the downsides of the pro circuit. We were particularly pleased at the ending of the book, which we won’t signal. Sam Starnes has produced a good read. — 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
GEORGIA ENCYCLOPEDIA TIDBIT
Caldwell concentrates on poverty and disintegration of family
(Continued from previous edition)
Included by experts among the 100 most significant novels in English of the 20th century, Erskine Caldwell’s Tobacco Road (1932) describes the body-breaking and soul-numbing effects of poverty among Georgia’s tenant farmers during the Great Depression, a description leavened by Caldwell’s dark humor. God’s Little Acre (1933) portrays the abuse of southern industrial workers and the disintegration of a family, both of which are emphasized by a raw rendition of sex. Trouble in July (1940), a searing indictment of a brutal, racist society, depicts a lynching in the wake of mob hysteria aroused by white southern fears of interracial sex.
The short-story collection Kneel to the Rising Sun (1935) contains the writing of an author who was at the height of his powers. Caldwell’s mastery of the short-story form, together with his outrage over social injustice and his great talent, enabled him to write such unforgettable pieces as “The Growing Season,” which poignantly portrays a cotton farmer’s travail, and “Candy-Man Beechum” and “Kneel to the Rising Sun,” both burning condemnations of racism.
In addition to his fiction from the 1930s, Caldwell collaborated in the production of an overwhelmingly powerful work of nonfiction. In the summer of 1936 and again early in 1937 he traveled over the South with the noted photographer Margaret Bourke-White, interviewing people as she took their pictures. The result was You Have Seen Their Faces (1937), a combination of forceful writing and memorable photographs. It is a graphic depiction of life among the region’s country people during the Great Depression. Over the course of their travels, Caldwell and Bourke-White fell in love and were married after Caldwell’s wife divorced him.
The marriage lasted only three years. Both Caldwell and Bourke-White were more committed to their work than to their union, and they divorced in 1942. Thereafter, Caldwell married June Johnson, a college student half his age. During their rocky 12-year marriage, they had one child, a son named Jay. Following his divorce from June, Caldwell married Virginia Fletcher. Their marriage lasted 30 years until his death and equaled the total time of his previous marriages.
After the great work of the 1930s, Caldwell’s fiction declined significantly. The beginning of the decline coincided with the death of his father, who had been a steady and enthusiastic source of support and encouragement. The turmoil of his personal life also took its toll. Moreover, he believed that the optimal powers of a creative writer lasted only ten years.
Millions of readers in the late 1940s and the 1950s paid much more attention to Caldwell’s work of the 1930s than to his postwar writing. The paperback revolution in American publishing that began right after World War II (1941-45) exponentially increased the sales of Tobacco Road, God’s Little Acre, and others of Caldwell’s 1930s books by packaging those works in ways that obscured their full meaning.
Their covers, featuring scantily clad, alluring young women, suggested that sex was the primary focus of the works. Caldwell made a good deal of money from his paperback publishers—at least $200,000 between 1945 and 1951 without writing a word—but his cooperation with them adversely affected his reputation within the literary establishment and helped ensure that his work would be neglected by scholars.
(To be continued)
MYSTERY PHOTO
Looks like a great place to visit
CLUE: The bright colors and the lake in the distant look like a perfect place to visit. Tell us where you think this photograph was taken. Send your idea to elliott@brack.net and be sure to tell us where you live.
Just three of the regulars recognized last week’s Mystery Photo, which was sent in by Andy Brack of Charleston, S.C. Ruthy Lachman Paul of Norcross told us: “It is the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Paris, which is visited by more than ten million visitors each year, a fact that places in the number of site visitors, after the Notre Dame Cathedral.”
Michael Green of Milton wrote: “The photograph is of the Basilica of Sacre Coeur in Paris, France. Building began on the church in 1875 and it was dedicated in 1919. It is on the highest elevation in Paris, Montmartre.” Another recognizing the photograph was Bob Foreman of Grayson.
LAGNIAPPE
Art on a Limb
Trees, flowers, and art are in bloom along the Suwanee Creek Greenway and in Suwanee parks. Throughout the month of May, those out enjoying nature in several of Suwanee’s parks may also discover – and keep – art pieces. Created by Suwanee area resident Tina Waltke, red clay hearts with warm, fuzzy Suwanee statements will be hidden daily (two pieces at a time) along the Suwanee Creek Greenway and at Sims Lake Park and White Street Park throughout the month of May. Suwanee’s Art on a Limb program is an annual celebration of art and nature that allows those who find the trail treasures to keep them. A sign language interpreter by day, Waltke is a chronic – perhaps even compulsive – craft-maker who doesn’t like going to movie theaters because she can’t work on crafts there. “I feel like I just have to do it,” she says. “It’s not a choice. If you know me long enough you’ll definitely have something that I’ve made whether you want it or not,” adds this maker of pottery, stained glass, and needle-felting creatures.
CREDITS
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