5/22: On community justice; Dreams; Disaster program

PRESIDENT EMERITUS: Dr. Daniel Kaufman has been named president-emeritus of Georgia Gwinnett College. He is presented with a framed certification noting that designation by Richard Tucker, a member of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, at the 2018 commencement of the college on its 10^th anniversary. He presented the keynote address to the 2018 class of the College. Kaufman, who was the founding president of the College, now heads the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce. For more in the commencement, see Notable below.

TODAY’S FOCUS: GGC Professor Heads the Criminal Justice Association of Georgia

EEB PERSPECTIVE: Now Here Come Explosions in Space Creating Electricity for Us

ANOTHER VIEW: Look for More Disaster Programs with new DHHS Secretary

SPOTLIGHT: Infinite Energy Center

UPCOMING: Suwanee Arts Group Announces Summer Program Classes

NOTABLE: Georgia Gwinnett College Graduates 580 Students, Largest Class Ever

RECOMMENDED: Dream: Discover Personal Strength in One Word by Mark Rutland

GEORGIA TIDBIT: Public Opinion Polls Gather Attitudes of People on Many Issues

MYSTERY PHOTO: Tell Us More About the Statue of This Mystery Photo

LAGNIAPPE: PCOM Physical Therapy Program Gets Underway on June 4

GGC professor heads the Criminal Justice Association of Georgia

(Editor’s Note: Dr. Melchor de Guzman of Georgia Gwinnett College is the new president of the Criminal Justice Association of Georgia. We asked him for his views on the subject. Here is his response.—eeb)

By Melchor C. de Guzman, Ph.D.,l
Professor, Criminal Justice and Criminology, Georgia Gwinnett College

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga.  |  Community justice is a strategic method of crime reduction and prevention, which builds or enhances partnerships within communities. As president of the Criminal Justice Association of Georgia (CJAG), I believe that this approach is the most beneficial and effective means of achieving the ends of justice and with the added benefits of crime reduction and prevention.

What is “Community Justice?”

Guzman

The key to community justice is the active participation of citizens in the administration of justice. The U.S. justice system is founded in this principle and its court system practices this concept through the jury system. But all throughout, the justice system is practicing this concept in different ways.

The police have heavily engaged in community policing by creating programs of citizen participation in oversight such as the night or neighborhood watches. Recently, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) has encouraged its members to make effective use of social media for citizen participation in crime prevention and notification.

The correctional system has implemented two significant programs along this line through its restorative justice initiatives and the re-entry programs, which the state of Georgia actively promotes and follows. All these programs are aimed to enhance the productivity of the criminal justice system through the meaningful participation of citizens.

The CJAG has contributed to the propagation of these ideals through its annual conferences. In last year’s CJAG conference, Brian Owens’ State Probation and Parole member, delivered a keynote highlighting the achievements and processes of Georgia State’s Re-Entry Program. The association also sponsored a documentary and panel discussion on the corrections movie, Released, a documentary. The association continued this endeavor this past year in October 12-13 at Valdosta State University by inviting as the newly elected president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Chief Lou Dekmar of La Grange. This way we keep the fire burning in how we can build better justice system and citizen collaborations in the administration of justice.

There are new models of safety services provisions.

Most recently, the field of criminal justice has adopted evidence-based model of decision-making. Most of the successful programs, from police interdictions to the court’s therapeutic justice models and the corrections’ community corrections model, require the participation of community members. This is no longer a secret formula, but what remains elusive is the creation of an infrastructure for effective citizens to take action. Two criminologists, David Bayley and Clifford Shearing, have presented us with models for citizens defining their safety needs and having a stake in the realization of that desired level of safety. I called this the model of responsibilization.

It is the highly desirable character of citizens to effectively exercise their civic duties. We should try to continue seeking the most practical and effective ways on how this could happen in a community justice system. A dialogue can be a start.  The Criminal Justice Association of Georgia is committed to providing that forum for dialogue.

• Have a comment? Send to:  elliott@brack.net

Now here comes explosions in space creating electricity for us

By Elliott Brack
Editor and publisher, GwinnettForum

MAY 22, 2018  |  Science is amazing. It continues to develop elaborate solutions which drastically change the world.

Who would have thought that a person could find a way to propel people in something called an automobile?  Or hooking small wires together to perform elaborate and complicated functions for the microchip? Or allow people to spin around the moon?

Here’s the most recent way science has astounded us. Instead of having carbon explosions here on earth to give us energy, now these explosions mostly happen in space.

Here’s how. First, a rocket is fired into outer space. Yes, this causes a little low-level pollution, but not much. Read on.

Once in space, the payload releases a bag, something like a giant, reinforced garbage plastic Baggie, and it flutters out behind this payload and expands. Then comes a small bang in space, as the payload vehicle is blown up, and the entire expansion of this explosion is captured in the Baggie. That explosion is called Brack Gas, and immediately this bag of gas starts floating around the earth.

Science has means of keeping up with this giant bag.  As it floats to the sun side each 24 hours, it expands even further from the heat, making more Brack Gas, and does this regularly 24×7.

Now here is the good part.

On another level of scientific invention, somehow the modern world devises a contraption that can pull off this Brack Gas and convert it to electricity.  (This unit also scrubs the Brack Gas, cleaning the debris from the upper air explosion.) This new electricity, in turn, is sent back to earth on a laser beam, temporarily stored until needed, and eventually released as simple electricity to run the Earth’s devices.

What’s gained?  Lots.

No more internal combustible engines on Earth, as now our automobiles run on space electric power (SEPS). People pay their regular monthly SEPS bill like you do your water or communications bill, all done now digitally.

What was once thought of as cheap power from nuclear stations is “old technology.” After these nuclear plants were thoroughly scrubbed and cleansed, their vessels have become platforms where a new sport is played in elaborate space suits in a zero-gravity atmosphere. Spectators can only watch on what was once called, television, which now with vast gimmick improvements is known as Buffetvision (Warren saw a good investment opportunity.).

Since we pay all our personal costs  electronically, we no longer use dollar bills, though some people still collect those metal worldwide coins as antique elements of money changing.

Of course, there are critics to using Brack Gas instead of natural resources. The coal and gas industries keep trying to convince the United Nations an alternate fuel is still needed, so that its many workers around the world can still find employment. But coal and even now gas is still so costly to extract that while their motley crews remain underemployed, it doesn’t affect the GNP much.   And of course, rail haulers of coal have long since bankrupted, with fracking no longer viable. (Buffet eventually lost on this bet.)

Isn’t it amazing what science has done? While we formerly thought that the last several generations of our ancestors had seen mighty inventions change our world, imagine what is to come next?

That was my dream recently. You don’t dream much?  That’s why I enjoy going to sleep, to see what I will be dreaming next. It’s wonderful! And there’s no telling what story may unfold.

(This column is dedicated to Jerry Ashworth of Stone Mountain, who tells me he doesn’t dream much.)

• Have a comment? Send to:  elliott@brack.net

Look for more disaster programs with new DHHS secretary

By Jack Barnard
Contributing columnist

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. |  President Trump lost the popular vote by three million… but is acting as though the American people have somehow given him a mandate. Gone are the unifying themes of his moderate acceptance speech. Instead, he appoints radicals to cabinet positions.

After Georgia’s Tom Price resigned in disgrace, Alex Azar was approved as Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) secretary. The vote was mostly down party lines with only six Senate Democrats voting for him.

Why? He was the Eli Lilly chief executive officer, responsible for unconscionably raising the cost of insulin tremendously. Per Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Azar has a “…..documented history of raising drug prices.” He has also opposed Medicare being given the authority to negotiate drug prices, possibly the reason that Trump has reneged on this major campaign pledge.

According to the Associated Press (11-13-17), the “Public Citizen advocacy group likened Azar’s nomination to a ‘coup d’état’ by drug companies.” I hope they are wrong, but fear they are correct.

Representative Price, the ex-Secretary of DHHS, is a perfect example of how President Trump ignores moderation. Price was supported by virtually every right-wing interest group but proved incapable of getting any bipartisan legislation through Congress. As a Congressman, he opposed: family planning and women’s rights in general; any regulation of farming; National Public Radio; taxpayer financing of elections; the Emergency Mortgage Relief Program; all forms of gun control; gay rights and the ACA (Obamacare).

Plus, he wanted to gut Medicare and Medicaid via privatization and block grants. Medicare vouchers dump the excess costs onto our seniors, the sickest Americans. Changing Medicaid to a state block grant shifts costs to the states which will proceed to cut beneficiaries, including nursing home residents.

Obamacare (ACA) covers 20 million previously uninsured Americans. Price supported radical ideological ACA “replacement” measures which would simply  take us back to 50 million uninsured.

From what wealthy businessman Azar has said, I am not sold that he is any different than Price. But, his appointment was just a symptom of a much larger healthcare problem.

As a retired corporate senior vice president, I know that private enterprise is generally more efficient than government.

But, there  are  exceptions, the largest one being health care insurance.  Based on any reasonable analysis of cost, access and quality, European systems  all  out-perform our ridiculously decentralized, uncoordinated model of insurance and care.

If all of us work hard to purge the worst offenders, someday politicians in both parties will stop being bought off by special interests. And, someday we will elect someone who truly speaks for the majority of Americans, can unite us and have the courage to enact Medicare for all.

• Have a comment? Send to:  elliott@brack.net

Infinite Energy Center

The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring GwinnettForum to you at no cost to readers. Today’s underwriter is Infinite Energy Center, home to four distinct facilities in Duluth: Infinite Energy Arena, Infinite Energy Theater, Infinite Energy Forum, and The Jacqueline Casey Hudgens Center For Art and Learning. Infinite Energy Arena has had 14 years of tremendous success hosting countless concerts, family shows and sporting events, and is home to the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators and the NLL’s Georgia Swarm.  Some past concerts include George Strait, Carrie Underwood, Beyoncé, Foo Fighters, Eric Clapton, Katy Perry, Kid Rock, James Taylor and Michael Bublé. Infinite Energy Arena also hosts many family shows including Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey, Cirque du Soleil, Disney On Ice and Harlem Globetrotters.

Infinite Energy Forum offers patrons the opportunity to host or attend a wide variety of events, from corporate meetings to trade shows to social occasions.  Infinite Energy Theater has an intimate capacity of 708-seats and is home to many local events, family shows and even some comedians. The Hudgens Center For Art and Learning showcases a range of artwork throughout the year along with offering a wide range of fine art classes.

• For further information visit InfiniteEnergyCenter.com.
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Suwanee arts group announces summer program classes

The North Gwinnett Art Association in Suwanee has opened registration for its summer, 2018 programs.

Among the classes to be offered this summer and their times are:

• Printmaking: For ages 6-12, a four week course on June 12, 19, 26 and July 3.
• Zentangles for 8-12 year olds explores the art of the doodle on July 12, 19, 26 and July 3.
• Portrait painting in acrylics for adults from June 2-23.
• Pottery Wheel, for beginners to intermediate adults for six weeks from June 11 to July 16.
• Handbuilding with clay slabs: a beginner adult class from June 12-to July 17.
• Photography for adults on Wednesdays from June 12 to July 11.
• Brush calligraphy for adults on Tuesdays from June 5-26.

The Association will also offer courses in paint pouring, drawing and mixed media. For information, visit www. ngaa4arts.com.

NAMAR awards 2 students with $4,000 college scholarships

Angela Huong Huynh and Jordan Nicole VanVarick each received a $4,000 college scholarship from the Gwinnett County Board of Realtors Scholarship Foundation, through the Northeast Atlanta Metro Association of Realtors (NAMAR).  From left are Jordan Nicole VanVarick; 2018 NAMAR president Shaunette Young; and Angela Huong Nuynh. VanVarick graduated from Forsyth Central High School with a 4.22 GPA. She plans to attend University of Georgia and major in Biomedical Engineering. She is the daughter of Wayne and Donna VanVarick, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker. Nuynh will be attending the Rhode Island School of Design to study Illustration. She graduated from the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology with a 4.0 GPA. She is the daughter of Trung Huynh and Huong Nguyen, a Realtor with Virtual Properties Realty.

Georgia Gwinnett College graduates 530 students, largest class ever

Sara Smith addresses graduation

Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) awarded more than 530 bachelor’s degrees last week to its largest graduating class to date. Several thousand people attended the college’s spring commencement ceremony, held at the Infinite Energy Center Arena in Duluth.

The ceremony included the commissioning of two U.S. Army officers who completed the ROTC program at GGC. Judy Park, a political science major from Lawrenceville, was commissioned as an active duty military intelligence officer. First generation graduate Juan Vera, a history major from Norcross, was commissioned as an active duty infantry officer.
Graduate speaker Sara Smith of Braselton presented remarks congratulating her classmates for conquering “the college mountain” and encouraging them to conquer the other obstacles they encounter. She cited the importance of the support of her family, fellow nursing majors and GGC faculty members in overcoming medical challenges while pursuing her nursing degree.

“This close connection and support from faculty is just not something I experienced in college the first time. This is one thing that makes GGC so special and unique,” said Smith, who had attended another institution 24 years before enrolling at GGC to finish her education.

GGC’s scholar-athletes were also acknowledged for their academic success and national titles. Business major Kevin Konfederak of the GGC men’s tennis team was among the graduates to receive his degree during today’s ceremony. One of the most decorated athletes in GGC’s history, Konfederak is the No. 1 ranked National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) tennis player in the country in both singles and doubles. He has won multiple national awards, including the best sportsmanship award for all tennis players in the NAIA all while maintaining a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

Norcross Community Market gets $10,000 from Atlanta foundation

Sustainable Norcross, Inc. has been awarded a $10,000 Neighborhood Fund Grant from The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta to help fund the non-profit’s primary project, Norcross Community Market. Funds are specifically to help recruit and mentor new vendors reflective of the city’s diverse population, collect and analyze market data, conduct outreach for the SNAP and senior nutrition programs offered at the market, and to provide family-friendly programming.

According to Sustainable Norcross Inc. Founder Connie Weathers: “We are excited and honored by the confidence expressed by The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta in our mission to create community around food. The money and technical assistance will also help provide other tools that enable our local farmers market to bring together farm, food, and friends.”

Visit Norcross Community Market weekly starting Saturday, June 2 through August 25 at Lillian Webb Park in Norcross. The market is open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. This open-air market offers locally and sustainably grown food and other hand-crafted products for purchase directly from the grower or producer. For more information on Norcross Community Market, visit norcrosscommunitymarket.com or contact Connie Weathers at 404-229-7077.

Credit Union and Purple Heart Homes renovate veteran’s home

Peach State Federal Credit Union is sponsoring for the second year a program to renovate homes for veterans, in association with the Purple Heart Homes. Home renovations for a local Vietnam veteran, Gary Roseman, and his wife Denise of Buford, were completed as part of Purple Heart Homes’ annual campaign Operation: Veteran Home Renovation program.

Vietnam veteran Gary Roseman and his wife, Denise.

Roseman says: “I can’t believe the kindness extended to me and my wife. This provides tremendous peace of mind so I can focus on supporting and enjoying the time with our three young grandsons.”

Operation:  Veteran Home Renovation was established to raise awareness about the housing challenges faced by service connected disabled veterans and their caregivers.

John Gallina, executive director and co-founder of Purple Heart Homes, says:  “Purple Heart Homes has partnered again with Peach State Federal Credit Union to sponsor an approved local veteran to enable him to live safely and with dignity in his home. We are grateful for the support provided by Peach State Federal Credit Union, Gwinnett County Senior Services, Home Depot, contractors and volunteers to help us improve veterans’ lives one home at a time.”

Roseman was a staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, serving from 1973-1978.  The renovations allow Mr. Roseman and his wife to focus on their three young grandchildren instead of worrying about home improvement issues. Interior and exterior improvements were planned following an evaluation of his needs.  Skilled contractors and volunteers were secured to complete the home improvements.

Dream: Discover Personal Strength in One Word by Mark Rutland

Reviewed by Cindy Evans, Duluth  |  I have  just finished reading this short book (112 pages) which addresses dreams in the Bible and also has a section about modern day dream stories. It covers possible dream interpretations and encourages us to dream more. The book teaches you the language of the spirit. It guides you through the visions of two people who explore the meaning of the messages you get when you sleep. I really enjoyed this book! I was inspired by the accounts the author shared  and his personal details as well. It is fairly short and will hold your  attention. Enjoy and sweet dreams! The author is a minister at Free Chapel and works for Global Servants in Buford.

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.  Send to: elliott@brack.net

Public opinion polls gather attitudes of people on many issues

Public-opinion polling is the practice of gathering opinions and attitudes from individuals about a topic or issue. Public-opinion polls can be used to determine the percentage of individuals who support or oppose a public policy or a specific candidate in an election, to gather key factual information from individuals (for example, the number of hours of television viewed per week), or simply to find out how individuals feel about a certain topic. Public-opinion polls are conducted by news organizations, by researchers at colleges and universities, and by private public-opinion companies and market research organizations.

In Georgia polling organizations can be found at the University of Georgia, Kennesaw State University, and Georgia State University. The Marketing Workshop, Inc. in Atlanta is a private market-research organization that conducts public-opinion polling on a variety of topics and issues. Other private firms in Georgia conduct public-opinion polling about policy issues and elections and candidates.

Generally, survey questions are asked of a sample of individuals, and the responses of this sample are then used to estimate the proportion of the entire population that holds an opinion or attitude on the issue or topic. The sample of individuals questioned usually is selected randomly to produce results that are representative of the entire population.

Random selection ensures that everyone in a given population has a nearly equal chance of being included in the sample. Random-sampling procedures also ensure that the results of a survey are accurate within a desired margin of error, or sampling error.

Most public-opinion polls contain at least 400 interviews so that the margin of error for the survey is plus or minus 5 percentage points, but many such surveys contain as many as 1,200 interviews so that differences in opinion among subgroups in the sample can be examined (for example, differences between men and women). The margin of error for a sample of 1,200 interviews would be plus or minus 3 percentage points. Once 1,200 or more interviews are collected, the additional accuracy achieved is often not large enough to offset the increased cost, so most public-opinion surveys are limited to 1,200 interviews.

To conduct a public-opinion survey, a standardized questionnaire is developed, and interviewers ask individuals in the sample the survey questions in a standardized format. Standardization of procedures helps to ensure that the responses to the questions reflect the opinions and attitudes of the individuals being questioned.

Public-opinion polls can be conducted through a telephone survey, a mail or electronic-mail questionnaire, or a personal interview. Each method has advantages and disadvantages. Telephone surveys generally have high response rates but tend to be more costly than mail surveys. Mail surveys have very low response rates but are much less costly to conduct. Personal interviews achieve the highest response rates but are the most expensive method of conducting a public-opinion poll because of travel costs for interviews. E-mail and Internet surveys are inexpensive and take little time to conduct but obtaining e-mail addresses is difficult, there is less confidentiality for participants because of the Internet medium, and e-mail invitations to participate in a public-opinion survey are frequently ignored, and viewed as spam.

Public-opinion polling provides policymakers and public officials with information that can be used to address societal problems. The state of Georgia, for example, relies on information from public-opinion surveys to address a number of pressing state issues, ranging from the prevalence of asthma among Georgia children to the proportion of children in Georgia who are considered overweight; the state even determines the number of hunters in Georgia who have hunted in a given year. Public-opinion surveys allow Georgians to give input and express attitudes on issues ranging from the state flag to traffic to health care. Public-opinion polling will continue to be used in Georgia by many organizations to gather opinions and attitudes across a range of topics

• To view the Georgia Encyclopedia online, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org

Tell us more about the statue of this Mystery Photo

You may be able to identify the city of the current Mystery Photo. But we want to know more, that is detail about the person represented by the statue. Send in the information you find about this photograph to elliottt@brack.net, and include your home town.

When there’s a country flag in the photo, that’s maybe just the first clue. Several readers used this as a means of identifying the most recent Mystery Photo, which came from Chuck Paul of Norcross. Early identifiers of the Bruges, Belgium photograph were Jack Bolton of Lilburn; Elizabeth Neace of Dacula; and Vera Forkner of Duluth.

George Graf of Palmyra, Va. writes: “Once I saw the photo, I was thinking either Bruges or somewhere in the Netherlands.  My wife and I had a wonderful trip to Bruges a couple decades ago and took the touristy canal ride.  I was able to make out the name on one of the buildings as Brasserie Mozarthuys which a search helped me to nail down the exact location.

Graf photo.

I attached a few of my photos from the old town square in Bruges, a flower arrangement in a wooden shoe, and a lace window curtain. There was a time, in the 14th and 15th Centuries to be more exact, when Bruges called the shots in Flanders. As the area’s premier port city, its inhabitants knew wealth, prestige and some of the period’s finest arts. When the Zwin, the city’s lifeline to the Ocean silted up however, Bruges fell into a deep winter sleep, only to be awoken by an increasing number of visitors in the 19th Century who were charmed by what had then become a medieval quaintness.”

Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas, easily recognized the Bruges photo. Then he wrote about the previous Mystery Photo:  “True story:  I racked my brain last week knowing full well that I had been to the location of the Fire Carriage that was depicted in Tuesday’s Mystery Photo. I specifically remembered the statue of the Dalmatian, and in particular, the two small plush toy dogs on the carriage. So I went through all of my 60,000+ photo library, but was unable to locate it. After reading this week’s answer from George Graf, I remembered that the two plush toy dogs were clearly out of place, and I felt (foolishly I know), that they ‘ruined’ the photo, so I NEVER TOOK THE SHOT!! So stupid, especially since it was those ‘stupid’ toy dogs that made me remember that I had been to this location and had framed the shot at almost this identical angle (but never clicked the shutter button). Arghhh ….”

PCOM physical therapy program gets underway June 4

The Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) has granted “candidate for accreditation” status to the doctor of physical therapy program at Georgia Campus – Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (GA-PCOM). Candidate for accreditation is a pre-accreditation status recognizing that the program is making progress toward accreditation. It is not an accreditation status and does not assure that the program will be accredited by CAPTE. The inaugural cohort, consisting of 40 students, will begin classes on June 4, 2018. Orientation for the new students will take place May 30 – June 1. Dr. Phillip Palmer, chair of the physical therapy department, and Dr. Carol Miller, GCS, director of clinical education for the physical therapy department., are shown with some of the equipment used in the program. A ribbon cutting and open house will take place at the medical college on Wednesday, May 23, at 10:30 a.m.

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