'Be The Bitch'

"Ms. Johnson, what would you say if I told you that we can continue to deliver you the same great service at a fraction of the cost you now pay?"

"A fraction of the cost sounds nice, but I don't need it," I said, trying to wiggle out of the retail conundrum. "I really just want to close out my accounts with you."

"What can I do to convince you to reinvest your business in insert company name here?"

"Nothing, really. I'm sorry. I really am, but I just don't need a insert product/service name here anymore."

"Ms. Johnson, we here at insert company name here understand your frustration--"

Really?

"--And that's why we want to offer you the best possible solutions to make your money work for you, and to work toward your goals with a partner you can trust..."


A few weeks ago, when Mom moved out to the country and our joke of a cell phone provider tried to retain our business by trying to get her to purchase extra products and services to boost a non-existent signal, she handed me the phone. It felt as if she were giving me a free pass; a signal that clearly said 'Be The Bitch'.

Sure, I listened to the guy on the other end of the line, explained our predicament and told him we would not be investing any more money in the cell phone carrier. I ended the conversation sternly, making it clear there would be no further business transacted with the Johnson family. The relief that played across my mother's face made me feel good about being 'the bitch'.

It always surprises me, however, how hard it is to do.

I was on the phone today for nearly fifteen minutes trying to close out an account I no longer needed. I'm sure every customer-retention strategy was levied at me, and I understand that.

After all, I had to stand behind a counter and try to pitch credit cards to students who didn't know the first thing about overdraft fees, and try to persuade customers doing cash-advances on their credit cards to sit down with a personal banker to talk about applying for a line of credit they obviously couldn't swing. But at least I prided myself on stopping when I got the push-back.

I might have been pushing back against a brick wall today. And yet, my inner-bitch did not come to the surface. I did not struggle to bite my tongue. Strange that I can cop an attitude in completely unnecessary situations and still have a reputation among friends for being sweet all the time.

My family and my 'him' recognize that a little too much pushing and the bitch is there, dammit.

I'm not sure if I ever really paid attention to it before, but that 'inner bitch' is really the manifestation of my self-defense mechanism. It leaps to action when someone tries to take advantage of my family, but is strangely quiet when I'm being personally tormented by false authority figures (at least 'til a point). It overreacts, often savagely, at the slightest hint of pugilism from my 'him'. It is ugliest when it rushes to confront its arch-enemy, the acerbically-witted, forked-tongued inner bitch of the one with whom I share blood.

But in appropriate situations, when you need that little 'screw you, bub' injection to defend yourself, I tend to be a lamb about it. I understand now that fascination with those brazen women of the silver-screen, those take-charge broads who don't put up with anything. Each of us really could use a little more of that attitude in our lives, that 'don't you dare mess with me... or else' aura.

What really strikes me most, though, is that the only ones that will probably ever see my inner bitch are the people that deserve it the least.

The Secret to Productivity

Unplug your TV. Do it.
Layer your bed with clothes that
need to be folded. Put every
conceivable thing on your
desk or at your feet that you
absolutely have to deal
with. Promise yourself you'll
take a short break in-between
tasks. Relax. You can get a
lot done in an hour. Just
don't look at the clock. Other-
wise, you might realize that one
hour has just become five.

Right reaction key to avoiding dog attack

When animals threaten
By Jennifer L. Johnson | news@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 11:14 pm on 8/22/2009

John Cooper used to walk a mile and a half to the local gas station to buy a pack of cigarettes - until he crossed paths with a 70-pound black lab.

"I had no idea what to do," said Cooper, 27. "I tried to pass him, but he snapped and took a step toward me."

Cooper did the only thing he could think of - he yelled at the dog.

"That's the worst thing you can do," said Christy Champagne, a supervisor at the Athens-Clarke Animal Control shelter. Making yourself appear more of a threat doesn't help diffuse the situation. She also advises people not to tempt an animal's instincts by fleeing in fear.

"If you're running, obviously they're going to chase you," said Champagne. "They're dogs."

Cooper did run and the dog did chase him - for a block or two.

"I never walked to the store again and I quit smoking after that," said Cooper. "It scared the hell out of me."

The animal shelter where Champagne works has been getting a lot of calls from people afraid of aggressive dogs since an Oglethorpe County couple were killed last weekend by a pack of feral dogs. People are worried they might find themselves in a situation like Cooper did and not know what to do.

But there are signs you can look out for to help avoid a confrontation with a dog, said Kate Jackson, a certified dog trainer and one of the owners of Jabula Dog Academy in Decatur.

"The most blatant sign is a lack of general sociability," said Jackson. "If a dog doesn't seek out positive human interaction, they're more than likely not going to tolerate any negative reactions from humans at all."

If a dog doesn't immediately soften its body language and try to approach you in a relaxed way, that dog has the potential to bite you, according to Jackson.
If a dog becomes rigid and or tries to maintain eye contact, be wary.

"A lot of people think if a dog is not growling and barking at them, it's not threatening," said Jackson. "It's even more dangerous for a dog to stand dead still and stare at you."

People often believe - wrongly - that a wagging tail is a green light to approach a dog.

"Don't trust the tail," said Jackson. All the swish means is that the dog's level of arousal - aggression, excitability or adrenaline - has increased.

"You should always be cautious around any dog that is unfamiliar," said Champagne, who warns that any dog has the capacity to bite, regardless of breed.

After you've identified the signs that an animal may be dangerous, the most important thing to do is defuse the situation.

First, remain calm and slow down your movement.

Animal control officers teach children to act like trees when meeting unfamiliar canines. Standing still with arms flat to your sides is a non-threatening stance that even adults should use with new animals.

That doesn't mean you should be stiff, said Jackson. Stay as relaxed as possible, because rigid body language tells a dog that you're unapproachable and a potential threat, according to Jackson. If the dog's behavior does not change, keep your eyes on the ground and slowly walk away. Never run and do not scream.

Sometimes a confrontation is unavoidable.

Some experts, including Champagne, suggest carrying a walking stick. Jackson disagrees and recommends carrying pepper spray instead. A shot to the dog's eyes or nose should immediately disable him, as it would a person.

Since Lothar and Sherry Schweder were attacked by a pack of dogs not far from their home, some callers have said that they worry about groups of wild dogs in their neighborhoods, Champagne said.

Serious dog attacks are rare, and many feral dogs will not get close to people, she said.

Still, people who encounter an aggressive dog or group of dogs should call authorities after danger passes, the experts said. It's the best way to protect yourself from a potentially dangerous dog and may also help protect your neighbors.
Follow the same advice when you encounter a group of dogs or an individual dog, the experts say.

"Your body language should say to a dog, 'I'm not challenging you, I'm not a threat to you, I'm going to defuse (the situation) and try to leave you alone,' " said Jackson.

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, August 23, 2009

Group needs funding to build

Donations to Women's Build, Habitat for Humanity down



By Jennifer Johnson | news@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 10:25 pm on 8/22/2009

To Heather McElroy, there's a certain feeling of empowerment that women get from building a house together.

Women Build, an all-female group that works with Habitat for Humanity, always has an overflow of volunteers ready to swing hammers or wield paintbrushes. Like many Habitat projects, everything from the roofing to landscaping, painting to siding is handled by volunteers.

"Everyone wants to get out and build," said McElroy, special events co-chair for Women Build. "But we need money before we can do that."

Charitable giving is down, a symptom of the weak economy, and it's slowing the work of all Athens area nonprofits.

"People are just really worried about what they spend their money on right now," McElroy said.

Athens Area Habitat for Humanity first started to see donations drop about a year ago, according to it Executive Director Spencer Frye.

"I would say that pretty much all nonprofits for the past year and a half have been experiencing a fall in their donor dollars," said Frye.

Women Build and Habitat for Humanity need $65,000 per house before they can break ground.

The nonprofit relies on money donations as well as volunteers to help build their homes.

"It really saves us a lot of money and allows us to maintain the affordability of the houses," Frye said. For $207 a month - plus taxes and insurance - a low-income family can afford a house of their own.

"There are a great number of hard-working poor people for whom the only reason they can't get into homeownership is because they have a lack of income," Frye said.
Despite economic hurdles, Athens Area Habitat is in the process of completing their 70th home.

Although Women Build's goal was to break ground by the end of the year, they might not be able to start working before 2010 rolls around. It takes Habitat about 12 to 20 weeks to build a house, but a lot longer to come up with the money to take that first step.

"We've been doing this eight months now, and we're not even halfway to our goal," McElroy said.

Last year, Women Build had a $10,000 grant from Lowe's, was given $4,000 by the Gainesville College Habitat, and had help from a Best Buy initiative to brainstorm and create signage.

"It's hard, with this economic environment, for individuals, churches or companies to put up the kinds of funds that they have in the past," Frye said.

In years past, Women Build had a waiting list of companies willing to sponsor houses. Now, corporate sponsorships are slow in coming, forcing the charity to rely more on donations from individuals. Women Build has sponsorship packets from $100 to $2,500, and have hosted men's bake sales and women's bridge games to help raise money for the next house.

For now, Women Build is working to get the word out about their cause with Google groups and a Facebook page while their representatives and volunteers try to rally donors from their schools, churches, businesses and neighborhoods.

McElroy is hoping that a planned bridge game at the Watkinsville Community Center in September will bring in a few extra dollars toward their next project, the fourth home that Women Build has helped construct.

"Everyone just wants to get out and build," McElroy said. "Hopefully we'll be able to do that soon."

For more information about Athens Area Habitat for Humanity or Women Build, go to www.athenshabitat.com.

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, August 23, 2009

Ambitious jobs-for-disabled plan raises questions

By Jennifer Johnson | news@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 12:19 am on 8/5/2009

Nick Harris wants what any father wants for his teenage son - to be happy, healthy and find a rewarding career. But cleaning McDonald's restrooms or chasing down carts in a grocery store parking lot are the only options for Ethan, a teenager born with Down syndrome.

Harris is hoping a proposed community for people with disabilities would give Ethan and people like him the chance to live independently and find a meaningful way to contribute to society.

"The need for job opportunities for adults with disabilities is astronomical," said Harris, executive director of Sycamore Ridge, a nonprofit organization with plans to open a residential community for the developmentally disabled in Winterville.
Not everyone agrees that Harris and his team have picked the right way to help developmentally-disabled people land good jobs.

As they came out to hear the group's plans at a public hearing Monday, some said they worry about traffic and what will happen if Sycamore Ridge's ambitious plan fails.

An 87-acre tract stretching from Parkview Drive across to South Main Street will include an equine barn, riding rink, garden center, artist market and café open to the public, creating jobs for the people who live there. The campus-like community will include four six-bedroom cottages with private rooms for residents and could house 80 adults when the project is complete.

But neighbors worry that once the property is rezoned, the plans might change.
"We like the community the way it is," said resident Dawn Perry.

Winterville residents are especially wary of development after a legal tussle over city ordinances left a planned 158-lot subdivision called Winterville Station only partially constructed.

"I have no problems with the adults that you're planning on putting here," said Perry, whose home is close to the property. "But what if this doesn't work and you have to abandon the property? I want some guarantees - something substantial - that says you're going to succeed."

Sycamore Ridge isn't intended as a profit-making venture, developers said. The café, market and other businesses wouldn't have to pay the original cost to build infrastructure, investments that a charity would fund.

"I don't know what's going to happen in five, 10, 15 years," said Winterville Mayor Jim Mercer. "But I can guarantee you that eventually, something's going to happen to that land."

The property comprises 5 percent of the land inside the city limits, and that is one reason why citizens are concerned, said Mercer. Though the project is just beginning the process of government approval, Winterville residents were clear that they don't want the entire 87 acres rezoned.

Some of the regulations over the project may be addressed as variances, rather than rezoning the entire area commercial, said planning and zoning committee member David Dreesen.

"We're not here to bait and switch," said Sycamore Ridge Vice Chairman David McKenna. "We'll commit to whatever we have to commit to, to get your approval."
Not all residents disapprove of the group's plans.

"A planned community with greenspace and a park-like atmosphere is far more appealing than having 80 houses built which would cause increased traffic and demands on our infrastructure," said resident Rebecca Silver.

Developers have not done a traffic study, said McKenna, but from his 20 years experience in real estate, he doesn't anticipate traffic problems. Employees arriving in the morning and leaving in the afternoon will come in the opposite direction of rush-hour traffic, and Sycamore Ridge residents won't have their own cars.

"We really think that there is an economic benefit for Winterville," said McKenna. At full capacity a few years from now, developers anticipate between 90 and 120 jobs could be created for non-disabled local residents.

"Frankly, we just fell in love with your community," said McKenna. "Everything just clicked with Athens, Winterville and this site."

But some experts don't think the Sycamore Ridge model is best for developmentally disabled people.

"Having this here is going to take resources and attention away from people in the community," said Jenny Manders of the Institute on Human Development and Disability, a federally-funded agency at UGA that advocates to keep developmentally disabled people living in their own homes and a part of the community. Organizations like the Statewide Independent Living Council and the Georgia Advocacy Office agree and are opposed to the facility.

Developers recognize that there are groups that oppose their planned community.

"It may not be the place for everybody," said Harris.

A special education director and parent to a developmentally-disabled child, Joan Baird recognizes that some groups don't agree with the group's mission.

"Having spent my life trying to make the world better for people with disabilities, (I think) this is a great thing for some people," said Baird. "Not for everyone, but for some people."

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Wednesday, August 05, 2009

High degree of emotion at UGA's summer commencement

Keep your eye on your goal, graduates told

By Jennifer Johnson | news@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 11:44 pm on 8/1/2009

The key to success is simple, recently retired gymnastics coach Suzanne Yoculan told a crowd of University of Georgia graduates and their families packed into Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday morning.

"See it. Say it. Do it."

Yoculan recalled the nerve-wracking moments before UGA gymnast Courtney Kupets attempted her final vault at the NCAA Gymnastics Championships in April.
Kupets was standing very still with her eyes closed when Yoculan approached to offer a coach's words of encouragement.

Before she could speak, Kupets turned to her, told her to relax and said that she would stick the landing. Kupets made a perfect 10, clinching the title for the Gym Dogs.

Kupets, like her teammates, visualizes what she wants to happen, says it out loud and then goes for it.

"I'm confident that you visualized many, many times, this day - your graduation day," she said. "You saw it, you said it, and you did it."

About 1,300 UGA students followed through on their education goals this summer, capping the accomplishment with Saturday's dual ceremony for undergraduate and graduate students.

While undergraduates outnumber grad students on UGA's campus, many master's and specialist programs wrap up in summer, university President Michael Adams pointed out to the crowd. In all, 144 doctoral and 441 master's and specialist in education degrees were awarded in addition to the more than 700 bachelor's degrees.

Two undergraduates were recognized for perfect records. Dustin Charles Elliott (philosophy) and George Frederick Akers (advertising) maintained 4.0 grade-point averages to be named First Honor Graduates. "You're now in a position as a graduate that the world will expect uncommon things from you," Adams told the graduates.
Yoculan echoed the sentiment.

"In 2009, the pressure is on for people to perform at their best, and you cannot do that without a clear picture," Yoculan said. "The most important thing you need to do today is to begin your picture."

Charles Barnes already is following Yoculan's advice. Barnes knew he wanted to become a school counselor, and after a year-long program at UGA, the 40-year-old is set to work in the DeKalb county school system as an intervention specialist.
"I feel like anyone who comes through the professional school counseling program will leave well-equipped to be an effective school counselor," said Barnes.
For some students, the transition from the academic world to the working world will be seamless.
Already employed at Oconee County Middle School as a chorus teacher, Shelynn Scott, 29, will go into the new school year with a master's degree in music education from UGA. "I think I'll miss the concerts and football games most," Scott said.
Unlike Scott, some graduating students have uncertain futures.

Courtney Belcher, 22, began at Georgia as a fashion merchandising major before realizing what she really wanted to do was teach the second grade. She graduated Saturday with a bachelor of arts in child and family development, but isn't sure when she'll reach that next goal.

"I'd really like to teach in the fall, but since the economy is kind of rough right now. I might go back to school in January to get my master's," Belcher said.
Despite the job market, many students are optimistic about finding employment.
San Diego-native Jennifer Cross transferred to UGA from Georgia State University after a six-year stint in the military helped her pay for school.

Now, armed with a degree in criminal justice, Cross, 27, wants to do something in law enforcement at the federal level.

"I'm moving back to my hometown," she said. "I don't have a job, but I'm going to start looking."

The future successes of the graduating class and those of the university's championship sports teams start in the same place, said Yoculan.

"Our teams see themselves on the victory stand. We keep the picture clear by talking about it, but then we focus on the day-to-day details," said Yoculan. "Yes, life is a journey, but the journey goes nowhere without a clear picture."

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, August 02, 2009

Sharecropper's house to be added to Heritage Park

By Jennifer Johnson | news@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 7:37 pm on 7/25/2009

When Albert Ward started looking for a house, he didn't go to a local real-estate agent. He went to the Watkinsville postmaster.

"I told her what we were attempting to do and I said, 'I have an idea that if any house exists of this nature, your mail carriers will have seen it,' " Ward said.
Ward wasn't looking for a place to live; he wanted a place to illustrate how many Oconee Countians would have lived 100 years ago.

Sure enough, one of the dozen rural mail carriers remembered seeing a plantation-style house along one of her routes. On the property was an old sharecropper house, and it was just what he was looking for.

Ward planned to have the house moved to Heritage Park in Farmington, where a space has been created for historically valuable structures. Two old classmates from Watkinsville High School in the 1940s, Larry Weatherford and Zachary Norville, are working with him on the project.

Ward remembers the tenant farmers' houses dotting the landscape of their youth.
"Zachary and Larry and I were in our sub-teens in the midst of the Depression - that meant that we picked cotton and all our friends came in from the country on buses to go to school," Ward said. "We're all intimately acquainted with how these people lived."

When Ward arrived at the property, he expected to see the construction crew renovating the main house, not pushing the sharecropper house over with a bulldozer. He had no idea that the owner needed to tear down the dilapidated building that day.
"I went up to the construction guys and I said, 'Halt! I need this house!' " Ward said. "They told me to call the owner, who was very excited about the prospect of being able to help."

The owner told Ward she had another sharecropper house on the property that was in better condition.

And soon, history buffs will get the chance to see it for themselves.
Smith Wilson, an expert in restoring historic buildings, will advise the group as they figure out the best way to preserve and place the building. Wilson also restored an 1840s home in Watkinsville for Larry Weatherford and will arrange for the house to be transported to Heritage Park over the next few weeks.

Ward hopes that the house will be placed in a spot that is visible from U.S. Highway 441, if parks officials agree. The sharecropper house will join the Central Schoolhouse building and an early-19th century log cabin in the park.

The citizen group that advises county officials on parks issues will discuss what other buildings should be added to the historic village at its August meeting, according to Lisa Davol, the interim director of Parks and Recreation.

Once the house is settled and weatherproofed, supports will add a porch, the interior will be renovated and stocked with the types of furnishings a family of that era would have used. This likely will be the task of the Oconee County Historical Society.

"They were fairly integral in getting the Central Schoolhouse relocated to Heritage Park," Davol said.

Ward, who has written several books about life in Watkinsville, thought the sharecropper house would be an important addition to the historical village at Heritage Park.

"I've been to villages in Europe that have been set up specifically for the purpose of exposing the public to the way that people used to live," Ward said.
In his presentation to the county commission in June, he theorized that about half of the local population lived in these kinds of houses in the 1930s.

The 1930 census recorded 140 dwellings in Farmington, where Heritage Park is located. Since only 15 were listed as owner-occupied, historians can infer that most of the others were for tenant farmers.

"This sharecropper house will illustrate the way people lived up through the end of World War II, when the G.I. Bill first became available so people could get loans and start building their own homes," Ward said.

Sharecropper houses have all but disappeared from Oconee County, Ward learned as he scoured Watkinsville looking for a house. Expecting that commissioners weren't familiar with the structures, he wanted to take a picture to show them.

"You have to be about 70 years old to remember little barefoot children outside and ladies boiling water in big cast-iron pots," said Ward. "That was an everyday sight for us, which is long since gone."

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, July 26, 2009

Oconee to pay for use of well

Private water source
By Jennifer L. Johnson | news@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 11:18 am on 7/6/2009

WATKINSVILLE - Oconee County will pay a former commissioner for some of the well water the community has drawn from his well over the past 15 years - though only a fraction of what he proposed.

"I have never asked for anything. If y'all would give me something for it, that'd be great. I could sure use it," William "Bubber" Wilkes told Oconee County commissioners.

Commission Chairman Melvin Davis had suggested to Wilkes that he ask to be reimbursed for his well water and urged him to present a figure to the commission, according to Wilkes. Wilkes initially suggested $2,700, but in the end, commissioners agreed on a much smaller amount: about $674.

Commissioners John Daniell and Jim Luke objected to the size of the payment, because Wilkes and the county never had a formal agreement about taking water from Wilkes' well for a transfer station on Georgia Highway 15. The water primarily was used for restrooms at the transfer station, located across the street from the farm that has been in Wilkes' family more than 50 years.

Wilkes said he offered his family's water - with no strings attached - so the county would not have to drill another well.

"I've never demanded anything, and I'm not demanding anything now," he said.
When asked, Utility Department Director Chris Thomas estimated Oconee County would have paid $5,000 to $10,000 to drill a well, and that at today's costs, Wilkes' bored well would have cost about $2,000 to $2,500.

"We're a county that likes to be fair," Luke said. "I would pay Mr. Wilkes back four years of payments. The county would have gotten a heck of a deal."

The statute of limitations only would extend to four years if Wilkes were to take legal action, commissioners said last week.

Commissioner Chuck Horton, who took Wilkes' seat on the Board of Commissioners, called for the motion that reimbursed the 20-year veteran of the board for his water.
Wilkes, who now works as a security officer at Athens Regional Medical Center, said he is satisfied with the board's decision to pay him the current monthly charge for well water for the past four years, which comes out to about $674.

Editor's note: The reimbursement figure initially suggested by Wilkes was incorrectly reported in a previous version of this story. Wilkes suggested he be reimbursed $2,700.

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Monday, July 06, 2009

It's still safe to get in the water at Bishop Park

By Jennifer Johnson | news@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 11:55 pm on 7/1/2009

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday, June 07, 2009

Thomas Ehlers never had shared a swimming pool with a shark before, and he wasn't sure about the proper etiquette.

"Do we have to avoid the shark?" 6-year-old Thomas asked Myla Neal, an administrator for Athens-Clarke County Leisure Services.

"No, he's not a real shark. He's a fun shark, so you shouldn't beat up on him," said Neal.

Thomas and his brothers, Andrew, 4, and Coles, 8, still gave the blue inflatable shark wide berth until their mother, Sarah, swam under its gaping jaw.

Bishop Park's Imitation Ocean - which runs through Friday - turned the pool into an open sea scene to challenge young swimmers' creativity and give Leisure Services a way to kick off Recreation and Parks Month.

Workers roped off a section of the water and filled the bottom with plastic and motorized fish, a giant clamshell, sea turtles, glass stones, dolphins, seahorses and whirling jellyfish to transform the ordinary pool into a deep-sea experience for the young kids.

"We come here every day for swim team," said Sarah Ehlers. "My 4-year-old just learned how to swim, and he's been talking about this all week. 'Mom, is today when we get to swim with the fishes?'"

On opening day, only a handful of kids and their parents chased after fish and played water games.

Ila mom Kenna Allen held on to Emma, 2, as they retrieved bobbing starfish and turtles from the surface.

Five-year-old Alexander Changus had a more challenging task.

"I'm going to dive for more ocean worms," he said, flinging a rubber worm back into the pool.

Leisure Services workers didn't intend the Imitation Ocean to be educational - just a place for kids to splash around with their parents for a different kind of close-to-home vacation.

Lori Changus, from Tallahassee, Fla., was in town with son Alexander and 8-year-old daughter Quinn.

"It's so cute. We don't live in Athens, so this is a real treat for us," she said. "The kids were really anxious to get in the water."

Part of the $3 admission fee for the Imitation Ocean paid for new snorkels that the kids borrowed.

"Are the goggles going to scare the fish away?" 4-year-old Andrew Ehlers asked.
Though the fake fish were undaunted, after a few minutes in the water, most kids exchanged the snorkels for regular swim goggles so they could dive to the bottom and retrieve glass stones and sunken fish.

"They're having a big time on their 'rescue missions,' " Changus said.

Though the organizers were disappointed with the initial turnout, they are hopeful about attracting families with young kids to the sessions today and Friday.
The Imitation Ocean will be open today and Friday from 11 a.m. to noon and 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Bishop Park, 705 Sunset Drive. Admission is $3 per person. Register by calling (706) 613-3580.



Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Thursday, July 02, 2009

Program teaches Winder students to like folk art

By Jennifer Johnson | Athens Banner-Herald | Story updated at 9:56 pm on 6/6/2009

WINDER — Although most art shows would offer wine and cheese, Kerry Bryant thought MoonPies and RC Cola might be more appropriate for the Southern Folk Art Show.
The seventh-graders who showcased their artwork seemed to agree.

The art show was the culmination of a yearlong, hands-on program that had Russell Middle School students exploring the connections between folk art and science, ecology, language arts and culture.

“Every step of the way, it’s been tying the art to the core curriculum standards,” said Bryant, the fine arts coordinator for Barrow County Schools.

Jocelyn Davis, a social studies teacher at Russell Middle School, connected an ancient Korean method of pottery-making to the similar Appalachia method to study different cultures.

“Through art, you can talk about anything,” Davis said.

More than 50 students participated in the program, made possible by a character education grant from the Harrison Foundation two years ago. When they started, many students knew nothing about folk art.

“It’s not an art that you’re used to studying,” Davis said.

And not all the students liked what they saw.

“At first, I thought folk art was really kind of bad, but once I got to meet the artists and learn about them, I really started to like it,” said 13-year-old Joshua Pharr.

In groups of five or six, students visited the home studios of folk artists like potters Michael Crocker and Roger Corn, visual storyteller Billy Roper and recycled materials artist Lisa Pirkle.

“We actually got to talk to her, not just learn about her from a book,” said Charlie Horne, who considered Pirkle her favorite artist.

After a visit, students would return to the classroom and present their experience to fellow classmates, often working with Russell Middle’s media specialist, Aprille Williams. Each student contributed PowerPoint slides, shared videos or brought back samples of the artist’s work to contribute to each lesson.

The students studied 53 artists over the course of the year, and got to try their hand at different folk mediums those artists use.

As the school year wound down last week, they displayed their clay whistles, recycled art and narrative paintings that reflected a childhood memory, with the story that inspired it written with markers on the back. These paintings were styled after pieces by Billy Roper, who came to the school to share his stories with the children.

The program was overseen by language arts teacher Robin Blan, who co-owns a folk art gallery in Dawsonville called Around Back at Rocky’s Place. Blan was instrumental in making the connections between the folk artists and the classroom. Blan’s friend Steve Slotin welcomed the students to his folk art auction at Historic Buford Hall in downtown Buford, where they had a scavenger hunt, finding the work of artists that they had studied.

One particular student, Brandan Cowen, was so taken with the art form that he asked his mother to take him to his first auction this past March, where he found a painting he loved.

“When the piece came up, Henry Slotin got up and told the crowd that he was a kid from my class who really wanted to start his folk art collection and to go easy on him,” Blan said.

When a woman in the audience bid against him, the crowd turned and gave her dirty looks. She backed down and Brandan won the piece.

When he went to pay for it, he was told that an anonymous contributor had paid the tab for him. The work, “Mississippi” by Lonnie Holley, was displayed at the students’ own art show last week.

“I think I enjoyed meeting the artists more than making the art. I’m not an artist, I’m an art collector,” Brandan said.

When the students took a trip to the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia in Sautee-Nacoochee, their knowledge about folk art impressed even their tour guides.
“We knew a lot more than the people who were leading us,” Charlie said. “They were pulling out their note cards to tell us stuff we already knew.”

Some of the students who participated in the program served as docents during their own show, guiding mostly family and friends through the makeshift gallery, sharing what they had learned and their newfound appreciation for the art form.

“Folk art is taking what you feel in your heart and putting it on the wood or the canvas and replicating what you’re feeling,” Joshua said.

Now art connoisseurs, the students enjoyed seeing their classmates’ artwork displayed.

“Because each one of us has a different way to interpret things and to express ourselves, it was fun to see,” Elizabeth Perry said. “I grew as an artist through the program and during the program. It was a lot of fun.”

Bryant hopes to continue the project next year and will look for more funding.
“This year was the first time doing this, and now we see ways that it could expand,” Bryant said. “Kids learn like crazy when they have the experience with the subject.”

Town abuzz as Marigold Festival returns

Winterville's back in bloom
By Jennifer L. Johnson | news@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 12:01 am on 5/16/2009

WINTERVILLE - When the organizers of Winterville's Marigold Festival decided they needed a break in 2002, Donny Seagraves, the event's publicity chairwoman, felt awful.

"I felt like we were taking away Santa Claus from the kids," Seagraves said. "Winterville really loved it."

Today, after a seven-year hiatus, the festival returns, giving Wintervillians a chance to celebrate their unique city.

Friends and former neighbors used to time their visits to Athens to coincide with the festival. Members of Seagraves' family who live in Tennessee have re-established the tradition and returned for this year's festival.

"We've missed that for the past few years," Seagraves said.

Half of the people helping to revive Winterville's Marigold Festival never attended one before, but they'd heard enough stories.

Emily Eisenman, who moved from West Palm Beach, Fla., with her husband two years ago, wanted to be part of the Winterville tradition and took on the task of organizing the festival's return.

When word spread through the community about plans for 2009, Winterville began to buzz.

"I think it pleased a lot of people because they can go back and relive their memories," Seagraves said.

Marigold Festival 2009 will keep many of the features that drew people for three decades - at its peak 7,000 visitors - but the time away will allow for some changes, too.

"Not having a festival for several years is allowing us to do some things differently," Eisenman said.

Organizers, for instance, moved the date of the festival from late June to mid-May to avoid the worst of the summer heat.

"Thank God, 'cause it would get burning hot," said Lanora Pierce, a former Miss Marigold who now works as a preparator for the Georgia Museum of Art. "The festival was a big deal when I was a kid. I walked down from my house, which was on the other side of town. I loved it."

While this year's festival tries out new events like dog agility courses and alpaca petting, it is bringing back many of the traditions that make hometown festivals unique.

The Winterville Civitan Club will barbecue chicken in the Pittard Park Pavilion to raise money for an annual scholarship for a local student.

Mary Whitehead, the whose husband, Wesley, was mayor when the festival started and helped make it a community tradition, will serve as grand marshal of the festival's parade.

Glassblowers and potters will sell their wares, but art offerings will range from the work of children to professionals.

The Georgia Museum of Art contributed several sculptures on Main Street near the train Depot, large scrap-metal animals by Georgia artist Doug Makemson that will be displayed until August.

Winterville Elementary School students also created works for the festival, and Principal Deborah Holcomb Haney was looking forward to her first Marigold Festival.
"Being out with the community, mingling and seeing parents and grandparents I normally see around here in a different context is a really great thing," Haney said.

Administrators at Winterville Elementary, which was relocated to the old Gaines Elementary building on Gaines School Road while the Winterville school undergoes renovations, sent home fliers to encourage parents to support the festival.
Like many people contributing to the festival this year, Haney already is looking to the future.

"I'm hoping that next year, when we're back in our school, maybe we'll participate more in having groups sing," she said.

There will be plenty of music this year, including the first Winterville Marigold Festival performance of the town's official song, written by singer-songwriter and Winterville native Wilma.

David Blackmon, who played the fiddle at one of the early Marigold Festivals with his brother and father, will perform with The Wintervillians in their first public appearance.

Pork barbecue and ribs will be cooked up in the Depot by Ken Hodges BarBQ. Hodges' father's barbecue was a highlight at previous festivals.

"There are several things coming full circle," Seagraves said. "And I'm looking forward to the new as well as the old."


Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Saturday, May 16, 2009

Panel: Tech college system should take on 2-year schools

Education committee submits recommendations
By Jennifer Johnson | Correspondent | Story updated at 11:58 am on 4/22/2009
A committee created by Gov. Sonny Perdue delivered its final report on the Georgia education system Monday, including recommendations to strip the state's nine two-year colleges from the University System of Georgia.

The "Tough Choices or Tough Times" committee was established in July to follow up on a national study of the educational system and was charged with recommending how to better prepare Georgia public school students to compete in the global economy.
The committee offered three key suggestions:

► Give high school students an early introduction to college-level work when they demonstrate readiness to move on.
► Attract and retain "world-class educators" in pre-kindergarten through 12th grades.
► Bolster students' analytical and creative problem-solving skills in earlier grades to help prepare them for workplace demands.

To ease students' transition from high school to college, the report recommends restructuring Georgia's higher education system by transferring nine two-year colleges from the University System of Georgia, which oversees 35 two- and four-year institutions, including the University of Georgia, to the Technical College System of Georgia, which traditionally has overseen technical education and adult literacy programs.

Or, if the transfer is impractical, the committee suggested standardizing credit transfers between schools and eliminate duplication between University System schools and technical colleges.

The transfer would "streamline the whole process" for students who want to move from two-year to four-year schools, said Mike Light, executive director of communications for the Technical College System.

Gainesville State College President Martha Nesbit, though she has not seen the official recommendations, said she thought the transfer would be a mistake.

"The community college system and the technical school systems have very different missions," Nesbit said. "It would be difficult to combine them without diluting them."

Although Gainesville recently became a state college and technically no longer is a two-year school, "our primary focus is to provide the first two years of education for students wishing to get their baccalaureate," said Nesbit, whose institution often transfers students out to University System schools.

The committee, co-chaired by former UGA President Charles Knapp, recommended increasing the number of high school students in "joint enrollment" - taking college courses before graduating.

Under the proposal to merge two-year and technical schools, successful programs already in place may change because educational objectives differ between two-year and technical school programs.

"Most of the students who do joint enrollment through a technical school aren't planning to go to a university system school," said Susan Loftstrom, joint enrollment coordinator at Georgia Perimeter College. "They are looking to stay on the technical school track."

Perdue plans to review the committee report and appoint action committees charged with finding ways to implement selected recommendations.

Clarification: This sentence was added to the latest version of this story to clarify the recommendation contained in the final report: Or, if the transfer is impractical, the committee suggested standardizing credit transfers between schools and eliminate duplication between University System schools and technical colleges.

Originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on Wednesday, April 22, 2009

A poem for my Grandmother

Waiting

A sea of brown uniforms swallowed her whole,
and Grace drowned in memories of Johnny.
The band seemed inches from her,
but no sound could mask the pounding in her ears.

Before she had the time to flee, a solider—
a ladies man, Giraulo—fixed his gaze on her.
He stopped her, called her his fire-haired fox
and smiled with deep brown eyes that
didn’t remind her of Johnny’s blues,
the color of the hydrangeas in the orphanage yard.

Joe didn’t know of Johnny. He didn’t know
her pain. He might have been a solider, Grace knew,
but he’d not be her hero.
Joe’s olive skin was too dark to be her angel’s—
Johnny, who fell from the sky
along with the rest of his unit.

She had walked into Johnny’s arms the day she turned 18
and left the orphanage behind.
She walked into Joe’s arms the day she tried to let go.

Joe rode the bus, four hours to, four hours from, Tacoa
to see her nose freckle in the sunlight, if only for an hour.
Four Sundays later, Joe came back to Ft. Bragg,
new Mrs. Grace Giraulo in tow.

On the eve of Joe’s deployment,
she lay in her marriage bed, and dreamed of fair-haired Johnny.
Joe would be in the wilds of the Philippines,
his only comfort the thought
of returning to the wife he’d left at home.
Grace tossed and turned, sick with the thought,
sick with herself.

In the winter months, when the sweltering Filipino jungle
was the only thought that kept her warm, Grace tread
on swollen feet, pacing at the gate of his family’s home.

Early Christmas mornings, after the orange and hard candy
that were her only presents,
my grandmother had paced before the gates of the orphanage,
waiting for the man who’d abandoned her
and her siblings and promised to return.

Months gone from the oppression and despair of
that place, Grace stood at gates,
Waiting for Johnny to return from war.
Waiting to be wed.
Her’s was a life defined by waiting. Waiting
for her father, for Johnny, for Joe.

The spring came and went, and Grace
found something to live for.
She thought of Johnny and thought of Joe
while gazing at cotton fields she once had to pick.

For the first time in her years, her life began,
slowly. I believe to this day,
Grace, long dead, still waits, even though
disappointment and rejection did not meet her
at the gates when Joe returned.

And the husband found
not only the wife he’d left behind,
but the child he would call his own,
fair-hair, blue eyes and all.

The Death of Hope

Though the shrieks come from my chest,
my ears not six inches from the wails,
I mumble prayers the screams will persist.
In America, if a dog had wasted away to this
there would be police and lawyers and activists shouting.
There is no shouting for the boy, no raised voice but his own.
Seven months of frail bones draped tightly by spotted skin,
marred by infections a sick mother could not heal
barely fill my arms. The boy’s shrunken chest
heaves with each pained wail,
the sound growing weaker with every passing minute.

The boy has a name, I’m sure,
but his mother could hardly push open the rusty iron gates
that squealed her arrival long after
the sun had set and the air begun to cool.
The nurses brought her in, each at arm’s length,
touching only as much of her as was necessary
to keep from dragging her feet on the rough stone floor
of the clinic. She collapsed in a bed,
legs and arms strewn about like so many of the
black-skinned men and women dotting stark white cots,
lining the clinic like a string of dominoes.
Each would fall before their time, like the mother,
who did not wake for water or to the cries of her child.

It has been four hours now,
and the boy has been given a name.
Tumaino, I call him. Hope in Swahili.
The nurses shake their heads. There is no hope here,
they say. Here is where the sinners come to die,
the ones who do not follow God’s will,
and keep their bodies for Him.
She is with Him now, I said, still cradling her son.
What sin has Tumaino committed, being born
to a woman in a country ravaged by AIDS,
where people are taught only to abstain, told that
condoms carry HIV, and only the wicked will be stricken?
Tumaino is not wicked, I tell them,
but I am ignored. America, they say,
has poisoned my mind. The medicine I have returned to share
is welcome, but not my thoughts of our God.

Love is left turns

If I’d ever ask my dad what is motto is,
I imagine he’d smirk at me
and toss his broad shoulders in the air,
or maybe force a raspberry sound
out from under his mustache.
I imagine his motto to be something like
The past is the past, what’s done is done.
Why else would he shrug off questions
and leave the stories to my mother?

When Dad was a boy, and would go on trips
with his family, they’d bypass stores,
restaurants and attractions that billboards
would announce miles from their coming.
His father would go to the Shoney’s, but not
the In-N-Out across the street.
They’d go to the hunting lodge up the road,
but not the tackle shop they’d just passed.
Hotels and bathroom breaks were always
ahead, never behind, and always
on the right side of the road.
But now, years later, our
‘Dad, go back’, is always met
with the turning of the wheel.


published in Creative License

On The Other Side

published by The Mandala Literary Journal, Spring 2009


Though Marley had always been comforted by the clip-clip-clip of her high-heeled boots on the sidewalk, tonight she was very aware of the black ice scheming to throw her over the thick, concrete railing.

'Bridge may ice in winter', the sign warned as she approached it, her thick knuckles and cold-shrunken fingers in an icy clutch at the faux fur trim of her white bubble jacket, the one her mama told her made girls look like the Michelin man. The comment last year has sparked the first of many arguments between mother and daughter, and they were always about the same thing.

The bridge itself arched like a cat stretching after sleep, its belly as far away from the freezing river as the taught extension cables could manage. It was because of the bowing James T. Hooper Memorial bridge that Marley didn’t see him until she was high on its slope.

He must have heard the slowing of her previously steady clip-clip-clip, Marley thought, though he hadn’t turned toward her direction yet. The sounds of her hesitance would have carried on the river, like the brown bottle the haggard man had pitched over the side and was watching intently. As if the bob of the bottle was tapping out a private message in Morse-code, naked fingers gripped the railing’s edge and drummed with the bottle’s rise and fall.

Marley clutched her jacket tighter at the sight of him, her arms trapping her purse to her as her arms pulled closer to her body. Her Mama had shouted at her today, telling her not to go walking home after dark.

“Ain’t good for a girl goin’ out by herself late at night—‘specially one dressin’ like you dress.”

“There’s nothin’ wrong with my clothes,” Marley snarled. “I’ll do what I wanna do!”

“I won’t have you windin’ up like I did, Marley Mae!” Mama screamed, hands thrust in the air as if she could stop all the evils of the world from getting near her daughter. Marley didn’t stop to think as she stared down her mama, the woman’s face flushed, circled by a cloud of brown strands come loose from her bun.

“I’m not gonna wind up like you,” she said, voice sharp. “I’m not a white girl walking the street at three in the mornin’ like a goddamn target.”

Marley had felt bad about what she’d said to her mother, considering the night that had ushered Marley into existence. She knew that she’d be fighting the image of her blood rushing from her mother’s face and the stunned look that replaced it.

But now, just for a moment, Marley felt the flash of fear her mama had felt that night. The night that… Marley shook her head clear of the thought. Every once in a while during a fight, her mama would whip it out, throw her choice in Marley’s face when she thought her daughter was being ugly.

Marley picked up the pace, stepping off the sidewalk and onto the cracking pavement. His head turned at the change of the clip-clip-clip, and regarded her under bushy white brows. She could feel his eyes on her, taking in the jacket, the skirt and the boots.

The scowl that further creased his wrinkled face made the hair on her legs push up against her stockings uncomfortable. Just like that, he turned back to the river, chucking another bottle out over the bridge. Both hands braced over the edge to watch it fall. He had to shove the worn heels of his sneakers off the ground so he could see clearly into the crested black waters below.

Her mother was short, too, just like her mama’s daddy. She’d only seen him a few times, like at the funeral for her; mama never called her anything else and never talked about him at all. Not after Marley was born. Marley didn’t even know her grandfather’s first name. The man now unbuttoning his faded green jacket could have been a relative of her mama’s.

As if he’d heard the absurd thought, he turned his flint-colored eyes on Marley again and caught her staring. Jerking her head to the side, Marley kept walking, near to passing him on the other side of the bridge.

The clip-clip-clip got faster, faster than the push of air heating up the night in front of her, but not quite matching the beats against her thin rib cage. In her rushed step, the heel of her boot, her damned boot, caught the patch of slickness lying in wait, and she tumbled to the waiting pavement.

Through the pain that exploded from her knee and the coldness of the ground, Marley felt the man fast approaching her, and flipped quickly from her knees. Seeing him crouching, advancing, Marley scrambled away from him, crab-walking it backwards though the cracked blacktop bit into her palms.

“Get away from me!” She screeched as he closed in.

Marley was surprised when he stopped, giving her a look that could have been called devastated as it appeared on a less-weathered face. The scowl crept back into his features, as if from the folds of the wrinkles. His face was a pallid gray color up close, his pores large, his eyebrows making up all the hair on his head for three good inches above them. The man shifted his focus from her face to her torn stockings and bloody knee cap.

“Was just trying to help—”

“I don’t need your goddamn help,” Marley bit out, her cheeks heating up now with embarrassment.

The tightening of his jaw made the sunken face look a bit less rounded. Fear shot back through Marley as the face above her hardened.

“Get you home, young lady,” he drawled finally, taking off his coat as he walked back to the side of the bridge. Marley stared to stand, ignoring the pain, her eyes still on him.

“Stupid white girl, walking out here alone,” he mumbled.

“I’m not white!” Marley snapped, suddenly wanting, needing him to know she was black. She needed to claim that part of herself that made her different from her little brother, from her mother. From him.

“You’re a white, rude little thing,” he said, shrugging the coat off his bony shoulders and placing it on the railing.

“I’m black. Black,” Marley affirmed to his back.

“One of your parents, maybe, but…” He stared to say something else, but shrugged instead.

“I’m not like you,” Marley spat, brushing off the road from her clothes. When she looked back up at him, he was facing her, face grave. “Let’s hope not, girl.”

“Don’t call me ‘girl’,” Marley said, scrapped hands running over the back of her shirt. “It’s racist,” she said, imaging him calling a black man ‘boy’ in a grocery store in the 60s or 70s. Or now.

“You got a name then, girl?”

She blurted it out before thinking. He huffed. “I hate reggae. Damn drums and jerk chicken.” For some reason, his mumbled nearly made her smile, but for the fact that her Mama had named her Marley after the singer because he was black. Marley was lucky, her mama would say, ‘cause the other option was Cosby after the only other black she knew. Her mama had done it because she’d wanted her kid to have some part of her heritage. It was something Marley had been chasing for years.

Marley asserted again that she wasn’t white as he bent down to his ratty sneakers.
“What’s wrong with being white?”

Marley’s mama had said those words, too. She didn’t really remember how she’d replied, or shouted, really. The argument had come when Marley blew off her old friends in middle school who’d used to come by their cramped apartment every day after school. Marley had told her mama she didn’t need anybody else who couldn’t understand her and her ‘people’. Marley had been 14. Her mama had been pissed.
She didn’t have to respond to this man, though. Not when she was distracted by him taking off his shoes.

“What are you doing?”

He was silent for a moment, took off the other shoes, and then backed up to the railing.

“Why would I tell you?” He asked. As Marley’s eyes widened in surprise, he hoisted himself up on the railing and swung his feet over the side like a gymnast half a century younger.

“Oh my God! You white people are so dramatic!” Marley complained.

His head pivoted. “My kids are like you—damned stubborn and mean. You should be ashamed to talk like that. You probably even talk to your parents like that.” He looked back over the water, searching for something—maybe the bottles—and then added, “I bet they want to jump off a bridge, too.”

Marley took a few wobbly steps toward him. “You can’t jump! You said you had kids!”

“They don’t want me. Wife didn’t want me neither. I didn’t really want her, but us men… some of us men… that’s just what you did.” He hung his head though his frail back was straight. Marley thrust her arms out to her sides as another patch of ice threatened her balance just shy of the sidewalk.

“So you got divorced. Lots of people get divorced.”

“You ever been divorced?”

“Of course not,” Marley snapped, then bit her tongue. Even she knew that snapping at a suicidal man wasn’t a good idea. “What do you mean, that’s what you did?”

“Faggots. That’s what we did.”

Marley straightened at the crude word. More the implications of the word, something that made her uncomfortable—something society and her mama told her was wrong.

“So your wife caught you having sex with a guy?”

He turned on her, his scowl firmly in place. “I didn’t cheat on my wife. She knew what I was, and when she found out, she left.” He turned away from Marley when she reached the railing a few feet from him. “Kids were grown, wasn’t a reason for it anymore. But them… they won’t talk to me. Won’t even claim me. Tell their wives and kids I’m dead.”

Marley didn’t know what to say. “Oh, you have grand kids. That’s great.”

That, apparently, wasn’t what she should have said. The man scooted away from her a few feet.

“Bottle took seven seconds to hit the water,” he said after a tense minute, watching it break on a gathering of rock and debris on the left bank. “It’s not too deep, but it’s the best bridge for it, though.”

Marley fisted her cold hands in anger. “So you’re gonna jump off a damn bridge because no one accepts you? That’s crazy!”

“Coming from someone who can’t accept herself?” He shouted, his face bright red in anger, redder than her mamas ever got.

“I accept myself,” she denied, but even that sounded whinny and false to her ears.

“You can’t even see yourself as white and black in the same skin,” he shouted, wobbling on the bridge as he thrust a finger at her. “You’re worse off than I am!”

The man shoved his age-spot covered hands on either side of him and swung back down from the railing, ranting at himself and at her as he put on his shoes about the stupid girl who couldn’t even let him die in peace.

Marley didn’t hear most of it, his earlier words too loud in her ears. Marley stood as he swung on his coat, putting distance between them and snarling a few choice words. She stood at the railing, peering down the slope of the bridge and watching the figure of the old man disappearing. Just like her grandfather, who had never accepted her, she didn’t know the man’s name.

You’re worse off than I am.

Marley stayed on the bridge, the cold biting into her scraped skin, and looked out over the water. The old man wasn’t in the river tonight, and she wasn’t sure that he would have even jumped. For all she knew, he would be back on the bridge tomorrow, ready to jump again.

When the clip-clip-clip kept her company across the bridge that night, Marley knew she wasn’t worse off than the old man. The two parts in her that defined most people hadn’t yet blended like her skin, but Marley had come across that bridge in her mind. She knew where it was now, and though it might take a while to get across, she knew she’d be able to reach the other side.

How

How am I supposed to tell you
that the mistake I made last year—
the one that you forgave through tears—
will never be a memory?

How can I prepare you for
the pain of loosing loved ones?
Should I tell you, Remember—
know that I will be with you,
help you shoulder stigma
that I have given you.

How can I comfort you when
the family that loves you
fears the thing, the label that
you will always be known for?

How can I apologize
for taking away your hope?
And now, how can I ask you
to stay with me, love me, and
care for me until we’re done?

How am I supposed to look
in the mirror every day
only to see our judge, jury,
and our executioner?

All because of one mistake
I made and brought home to you.
How can I say I’m sorry
for taking the lives we had
yet to live? I never meant
for this to happen to you.

GPC Writer-in-residence pens new book, The Fireman's Wife

by Jennifer Johnson
The Collegian
Issue date: 11/5/08

Jack Riggs, Writer-in-Residence and instructor at Georgia Perimeter College, will have a new novel on bookstore shelves this December.

The Fireman's Wife, set in the Lowcountry Carolinas and areas in the 1970's South, tells the story of Cassie and Peck, a couple struggling with their relationship after 15 years of marriage.

The author-whose previous novel, When the Finch Rises, won him the Georgia Author of the Year Award for First Novel-works with The Writer's Institute at GPC and arranges the college's many literary events and author visits.

The complex characters are the focal point of the story, though readers may be draw into the incidents that fireman Peck encounters on a daily basis. For these encounters, Riggs did a lot of research. "The internet is an amazing thing," said the author.

Though the book began as a story about firemen, its beginning was more accidental. "I've always talked about the book as being a book of necessity rather than of love and inspiration. But as I was writing it, it became love," said Riggs.

The Fireman's Wife came about after pitching a book to his publisher, Ballantine Books, which didn't go through. Ballantine asked if Riggs had any other projects in the works. Riggs, sitting on the beach, talking to his agent, found his inspiration with the sound of a fire engine crying out in the distance.

"I told my agent, 'I'm going to write about a fireman," said Riggs. When he sat down to write the book, the first thing he put at the top of the page was the date June 1973.

"That's where it started. It became 1970 later, because I had to keep pushing it back for various reasons-things and hot button issues I thought would be in the book."

What started out as a fireman's book, said Riggs, became more of the story of the fireman's wife, Cassie.

Riggs observed his wife, not overtly, but unconsciously, as a writer often does, in order to write from a female perspective. Some of those who read early drafts of Fireman, said Riggs, weren't all that fond of the titular character.
"I always liked Cassie," said Riggs, "Because I always understood what she was trying to do. I love her because she struggles. It’s taken her 15 years to get up the courage, to take that leap."
Riggs was able to craft Kelly, the couple's 15 year-old daughter, with a lot of inspiration from his 12 year-old daughter, "a bundle of emotion" he watched and imagined interacting with him a few years from now.

Crafting characters has always been important to Riggs. That was one of the challenges about The Fireman's Wife.

"One of my concerns was that I didn't want either one of the characters to be a bad guy," said Riggs of Peck and Cassie, "because it was a relationship story, and it was about both of these people's dynamic personalities, separating and battling back towards each other in a way." To achieve this, Riggs opted for a dual-narrator approach, featuring both Cassie and Peck's perspectives through the summer of 1970.

Riggs is pleased with the work, though when he was writing it, he didn't know how the book would end.

"That's where the love comes in for the work… this began as a work of necessity, but once I understood my characters in the geography, the setting for which they live, they start telling me the story."

The first time Riggs let a character tell him the story he describes as a life-changing experience. "I'll never forget it, I'm learning a lesson… and no one is teaching it to me."

The Fireman's Wife will be available in December and would make the perfect Christmas gift for fans of Southern writers.

Clarkston Student Life finds new ways to get you fit

by Jennifer Johnson
The Collegian
Issue date: 10/6/08

Clarkston's Student Life office is coming up with new and interesting ways to encourage students to incorporate healthy activities and behaviors into their lives.
One of these ways was a free belly dancing class held during the Clarkston Club Fair on Sept. 10 in the new College center.

The event drew many more spectators than participants as dancing instructors taught simple techniques and low-impact moves. Participants shook their belly dancing hip scarves for more than an hour between classes, laughing and enjoying themselves in the process. Students expressed a desire to attend events like these in the future, and Student Life is providing.

Upcoming events include the African Diaspora, a presentation of African dance, on Oct. 8 at 12:30p.m. in the College Center, with a second presentation later in the month. Stay after the show for a chance to try your hand at some of the dances presented. Also scheduled: Self-defense classes in the gym on Oct. 16 & 30 at 12:15p.m., Family Night on Oct. 11 at the Galaxy Funplex Theater in South DeKalb Mall, where students can see the movie I, Chihuahua in the late afternoon. A Casino Night on Clarkston campus is also in the works, and will be announced soon.

High-speed training offered at GPC

by Jennifer Johnson
The Collegian
Issue date: 11/5/08

Under the auspice of GPC's physical education and recreation, a new, effective type of workout is being taught to those willing to get a little sweaty.

Sessions on high-speed training for overall conditioning and weight loss are being held Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4 p.m. on the Clarkston campus.

High-speed training, with the goal of manipulating fast-twitch muscle fibers, causes the body to burn more calories and lose more fat. By correctly implementing these techniques, students and faculty can train their bodies to fire more motor units using explosive-type movements, essentially combining anaerobic and aerobic training.

Quick and aggressive movements using lots of power and energy are the basis of the repertoire. The focus of each session is teaching people how to move.

For novices, instructor Roy Reynolds recommends going at a comfortable pace. However, he says, recent studies have found that even better conditioning and fat-burning results are achieved through some type of vigorous training.

Though moderate physical activity is, of course, good for overall health, more results can be achieved by working bouts of vigorous training into a exercise routine.

These small classes of about 12 people, taught on the tennis courts of Clarkston campus, are attended by both faculty and students, which "really builds the camaraderie among the faculty and the student body," says Reynolds.

The class accommodates a wide-spectrum of physical fitness and training levels. Each session lasts 45 minutes and consists of three stages; a dynamic warm-up, a 30 minute vigorous conditioning bout and then a slow, progressive cool down.

Interested parties can venture over to the tennis courts on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons at 4 p.m. to get a thorough, vigorous workout.

Building bridges on the Clarkston campus

by Jennifer Johnson
The Collegian
Issue date: 8/11/08

The bridge that connects the upper level of a new four-level 500-space parking deck to the concrete walk-way directly behind H-building on the Clarkston campus has been completed.

Construction efforts also include the renovation of the entry way to the bottom of H-building, which currently houses the Nursing Department(as well as classrooms and instructor offices), and a new paved walkway between H-building and the tennis courts that leads to other classroom buildings.

According to Lewis C. Godwin, architect and director of Campus Planning and Projects at GPC, as reported in The Collegian October 2007, the design of the parking deck will allow 500 additional spaces to be added at a later date.

At press time, the shiny red bridge had been erected, though the gap between the bridge and the stone-flanked entrance to Clarkston campus had not yet been completed. In October 2007, Godwin estimated that completion of the project was scheduled for this month.

As the papers have hit the stands, the new parking structure has been opened to students and staff, right on schedule.

Currently, there are two ways to access the new parking deck; the first is by entering the stadium parking lot owned by DeKalb County on Memorial College Ave., after the entrances to GPC parking lots 3 and 5. This parking lot, however, is in dire need of repair, with its wide and unavoidable gaps in
broken concrete.

The second access point to the deck is the entrance from Memorial Drive that GPC shares with neighboring DeKalb Technical College.

However, a more convenient entrance is being planned, which would connect traffic from the busy street off of I-285 to the parking deck for easy access to the campus.

Look to the September edition of The Collegian for news of Dunwoody campus's newest construction projects.

Despite a closing campus, summer enrollment reached all-time high

by Jennifer Johnson
The Collegian
Issue date: 8/11/08

Temperature and gas prices are not the only things that have been soaring lately.

Georgia Perimeter College enrolled 13,540 students in its 2008 summer courses, setting a new record in GPC's 43-year history.

This increase of 6.6% over last year's numbers is surprising, given that the Lawrenceville campus is being phased out of the GPC system.

Nearly 4,000 students enrolled in summer courses at Lawrenceville campus last year, according to Dr. Anthony Tricoli, President of GPC. This summer, no regular classes were offered at the campus.

From this point on, only joint enrollment students and students in the Nursing program will continue to take a limited number of courses at Lawrenceville campus.

In a press release by the college, Tricoli speculated that the rise in summer enrollment is due to students becoming aware of the non-traditional hours offered, the
value of lower tuition costs and the extensive online classes offered at our institution.

"At GPC you can find students with families and students who already have full-time jobs," Tricoli stated. "Online coursework increases our accessibility to these nontraditional students."

Kerli is Walking On Air

Interview with rising Pop Star Kerli

by Jennifer Johnson
The Collegian
Issue date: 7/8/08

She's 21, has a long blonde mane, and was excited about going to see 'Sex And The City' with her girlfriends. She's a first-time dog owner, the proud parent to a Chihuahua whose yaps punctuated some of her sentences at the beginning of a telephone interview in late May, chatting about how strange it is when people come up to you and your dog and start up a conversation out of the blue.

Kerli, whose debut album 'Love Is Dead' arrived in stores July 8, sounds like someone you know. But this self-described "creepy little girl" is shaking things up with her alterna-pop/world music sound and has critics scratching their heads as they try to locate her home country on a map.

The Collegian asked a few questions of Kerli the day after the video for her song 'Walking on Air' debuted on MTV's 'Total Request Live.'

The Collegian: You're from Estonia, and Eastern European country with 1.5 million people. You used to dream of coming to this country. Now that you've recorded your album in New York and Los Angeles, how do you feel about America?

Kerli: Everybody is talking shit about America, because America is the shit. When they say that this is the land of free, it is. It really is. Little kids… their dreams are supported from a very young age. They say Americans are very self-centered and they don't leave the country, don't go [abroad]. Why would you? America, it's like a real melting pot. Different people, people cultures… everybody comes together.

TC: Now you're living in Los Angeles, California.

K: It's a skanky city, but you know, the weather is great… I came here a year and a half ago. My first year, I was lonely. Now I've got a good group of friends and I really love it. But it's different. I really wish I could bring my family here. One day, I will. I will.

TC: You've said that you don't really claim a lot of musical influences because everything influences you. What are you listening to right now?

K: I'm listening to a lot of 'Future Sounds of London'. I don't know if its because of my soul, but it took years for me to name the influences… and its not that I've got a big ego-trip bullshit snob thing… I studied piano for five years and listened to a lot of classical music. But its hard to pick out a few people. Nobody specific has influenced me. There's too many to pick a few.

TC: You wrote the lyrics to your songs on your forthcoming album. What was that process like for you?

K: I wrote this album over the course of five years; I wrote 150 songs for it. They're all from a time [when I was] going through a lot of emotions and depression, because I used to be really depressed. The album is like my diary of the last five years. Some songs that didn't make it to the album I really loved. The album was about finding myself, my imagery, my look….
I'm writing more music on my own, all the time now. [For the next album] I know exactly how it needs to sound, needs to be. I know what kind of producers I want to work with. I'm definitely going to produce myself for my second album. On the first album, there is no song that I wrote completely on my own, even if they [the songs] were my life.

TC: In the video for 'Love Is Dead', your image morphs from old to young before a background which also transforms with you, growing vibrant flowers and butterflies. Is there any significance to the butterflies in this video and the video for 'Walking on Air?'

K: I have a [butterfly] tattoo on my arm that represents living each day as it was your last one, because there are some butterflies that live only one day. It represents that I am never going to leave a person I love without letting them know I love them, because you just never know. You never know. Its me choosing to be the best person that I can be everyday.
In the video for 'Walking on Air', there are glass dots under my eyes that represent tears, and when they fall, they become butterflies. They represent overcoming the obstacles in your life. After the rain, the sun will always come out. 'Walking On Air' is about this little weird girl who nobody understood, who had no support. Its about finding the strength in yourself and becoming what you want to become.

TC: Do you think that your music is reaching young people who might have felt the way you felt?

K: That is pretty much the only reason I'm doing this. Girls are saying to me on MySpace that they felt like they were the only ones who felt this way, and then they heard my songs, and felt not so alone. When I was younger I never felt like I belonged. I was always writing poems, stories and songs. I was always escaping into my dream world.

In Estonia, which was communist when I was a little girl, you couldn't express yourself. That suppression inspired my music more than anything. I was always very dramatic, expressive, and I questioned authority when it didn't make sense to me. We weren't supposed to laugh and cry, or have an opinion. It was like everybody was trying to break your spirit. That's actually what 'Walking On Air' is saying. I grew up a creepy little girl in a creepy little town of 5,000 people in a forest, where it was narrow-minded. I felt like a freak of the town.

TC: One of the most interesting things about your music is that you manage to handle dark subjects like death with a delicate hand.

K: The song 'Death Is In Love With Me', I don't know if it will be on the album. Its supposed to be a hidden track, but I don't know right now. I actually wrote it, kind of produced it… I know that I'm going to die. That's life. I wrote it after a pretty bad car accident I was in. I could have died, but I lived. So I wrote a love song to Death. Its human nature that we're really scared of death, and the song is saying 'I know that you're going to be with me one day, but don't take me away yet; I have so much to do with it.' I'm scared of death, too, but the world constantly is dying and being reborn again. Like flowers, they only die to bloom again. Because of all the big cities, the pavement on mother earth, the houses-we're getting so far from the nature, which was a totally natural thing for ancient cultures. With all the internet and MySpace, everyone is the center of their own universe. Death is natural.

TC: What do you hope to accomplish in the next few years?

K: I… I don't really like to answer questions like, where do you see yourself in five or ten years. I don't really like to know. Life is so much about finding yourself and creating your own reality. I only have one big dream, and that is to be happy. If in two years, I decide I want to live in a mountain and grow herbs and have seven kids, that's what I'm going to do. I want to be happy.

Tricoli talks communication

by Jennifer Johnson
The Collegian
Issue date: 4/1/08

GPC President Dr. Anthony Tricoli hosted a series of open forum meetings about communication on each campus from March 17- 27 to discuss strategic planning, governance and communication, as well as trust issues and student, faculty and staff concerns.

At the culmination of the meetings on the GPC campuses, there will be a "one day Communication Summit event to discuss what we heard at our campus forums," according to a message from the President dated Feb. 14. At the Clarkston campus' forum on March 19, about 50 faculty and staff members listened to Tricoli's presentation, which was augmented by the viewing of the school's new mission statement on the projection screen in room N2220.

"The entire goal of these meetings is to roll out the new strategic agenda that was developed by faculty and staff to develop a governance model which will help us to carry out our new mission," Tricoli said after the two-hour meeting. In a past interview with The Collegian, Tricoli indicated that the current plan to re-vamp GPC includes each department being reviewed by a task force of faculty and staff members.

During his Communication open forum, Tricoli specifically mentioned customer service, advising and admissions. One of the president's goals over the last year was to establish an office of customer service, which has been done.

"Colleges don't have offices of customer service. We had enough customer service issues that we needed a force to deal with them," Tricoli said before addressing the fact that some faculty and staff were not happy about the new customer service focus of the college. "I feel for you, get over it," he said.

One of the reasons for the creation of the office, Tricoli admitted, is that GPC has "great services, but some people who don't provide these services very well." He expressed a need for both more faculty training and training for administration.

"We don't do a lot of training for administration-we just go, 'Hey! You are now an administrator!'" Tricoli said, mentioning possible efforts to being succession planning.

After the need for transparency of the process was reemphasized by faculty at the meeting, Tricoli turned to the lectern's computer and pulled up his website (http://www.gpc.edu/~presoff/) on the screen. From there, he navigated to the Task Force page and selected the Enrollment and Registration PDF which displays the names of over 220 faculty and staff involved in various task forces, see the recommendations made, and the initiatives underway.

Beth Wallace, Clarkston ESL instructor, emphasized the importance of faculty and staff 'buying into the system' and said, "We need to see things completed. That helps with the buy in." Dean Lisa Fowler suggested posting progress reports online until task completion, giving faculty and staff what one member said they needed.

Perhaps the biggest part of the Communication summit was discussing issues of trust. "Do you trust me?" Tricoli asked the faculty. "I trust you. Generally, I trust you. I trust some of you more than I trust others," he joked. Christine Smith of the Sign Language Interpreting program responded, "When you first came here, we had no reason to trust you. You earn trust. Trust requires work. I think you've done that work. You have us on your team. We're behind you and this college." Associate professor of history Marc Zayac addressed Tricoli from the back of the packed room. "It's reasonable to want our trust. We're reasonable people… We trust you. We want you to know we're doing our jobs and you don't need to look over our shoulders." Zayac then mentioned the practice of addressing an issue at GPC by addressing the masses with reprimands, contracts and 'new policies each week.'" Smith echoed the sentiment a few minutes later when she mentioned not needing to "pound everyone over the head for the sins of a few."

Clarkston campus Journalism instructor Robert Knowles pointed to the recent purchasing card scandal. "We've been hammered on that as if we didn't know it's wrong to steal," said Knowles, the room erupting in laughter. Tricoli responded with risen eyebrows and a shake of his head. "Some people don't know its not all right to steal," he said.

On the issue of trust and in response to the mention of the purchasing cards, new Clarkston Student Life Director Angela Avery-Jones stood before the room and encouraged faculty to trust in the Student Life offices as they are rebuilding. "Trust in us," she said. Tricoli urged faculty and staff to continue sending their suggestions to him as he prepares for his Communication Summit.

"I don't have the answers. That's why I'm asking the questions," he said. "I need your suggestions."

He can be reached at atricoli@gpc.edu.

Voices heard at Diversity Forum

by Jennifer Johnson
The Collegian
Issue date: 4/1/08

The 5th Annual Diversity Forum was held on the Clarkston campus March 27.

The Forum, themed "Voices," took a different direction in showcasing Diversity by not having a panel or keynote speaker and instead relying on the voices of students, faculty and staff in attendance.

Students trickled in and out of the three-hour event, but filled the Jim Cherry Learning Center auditorium with their voices in response to questions and topics brought up by event coordinator Joe Odom and 'co-host' Courtney Godfrey of Clarkston SGA.

"Diversity if one of our defining features and makes Georgia Perimeter College a premier community college," said Odom.

Odom encouraged students to attend the International Festival April 4 and surprised the audience by including that, depending on the semester, 145 to 150 different countries are represented on the Clarkston campus.

Odom stressed that there are many types of diversity; racial, ethnic, cultural, age, ability, disability, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and financial and class status.

Odom began a long slideshow of celebrities' images, featuring the remarks they had made over the last year that were in some way bigoted, including quotes from Don Imus, Mel Gibson, Isaiah Washington, Kanye West, Halle Berry and Sally Kern. Audience members jumped to respond when Odom asked if any of the celebrities or their comments surprised them.

Dialogue across the room included most audience members, the number of which waxed and waned, though did take home the colorful water bottles and the Diversity Forum's signature jellybeans in campus gift bags on their way out.

"Racism is straight across the board," one student said. "We need education. Social education, not just classroom education. The biggest problem is lack of tolerance."

Odom, who zigzagged across the auditorium to bring the microphone to students, passed it on to Godfrey, who worked the audience while images appeared on the projection screen. Godfrey warned students to be mindful of others when stating how each image made them feel.

A male student from the back of the auditorium had the opportunity to address the audience when images of terrorist appeared on the screen. "Terrorists don't represent Islam," he said. "Just like Timothy McVeigh doesn't represent Christianity."

The atmosphere remained respectful through sensitive subjects, which was the goal of the Diversity Forum.

Toward the end, the three entries for the Student Film Competition, sponsored by the Humanities department were viewed and awards given to the students. Third place went to Melissa O'Steen with her film Concrete and Wood, second to students Jalen Reddish and Brian Little for their film What Really Matters?, and first place went to Misty Novitch for her film We Are All Concerned About Humans.

Before audience members broke for ice cream and special Forum-themed cakes, Odom gave Shinning Star awards to Godfrey, Margie Bright-Ragland, Dr. Terri Lampe and Ms. Lois Shelton for their support of the Diversity Forum 2008.

Students get a taste of Vietnam at IPA Coffee Hour

by Jennifer Johnson
The Collegian
Issue date: 3/5/08

The International Peer Assistants (IPA) held a Vietnam-themed Coffee Hour Feb. 13 in N2220 of the College Center on Clarkston campus.

The lunch-time event centered on a presentation called "Journey to Vietnam," given by students Khoa Dao and Khuyen Nguyen. The presentation provided some basic facts about the Southeast Asian country, including information about its economy, language, education, climate, daily life, night life, large cities and tourist attractions.

The hour began with a few announcements about Study Abroad from The Center for International Education's Adrianne Langston (the event occurred a day before Study Abroad applications were due), and a March tax workshop for F-1 students. Afterwards, IPA members lead the 30 or so students in attendance in an icebreaker that thrust the room into a flurry of activity.

After tables and chairs were replaced, and the PowerPoint begun, Vietnamese students in the audience were asked to point to their birthplaces on a map of Vietnam (pictured). In addition to sharing information about where they came from, both presenters shared personal pictures of schools and tourist spots. Nguyen gave the presentation in a pink Ao Dai, traditional dress in Vietnam, and at the presentation's end, treated the audience to a slow dance that she said was intended to "represent the purity of Vietnamese women."

After attendees learned a little about Vietnam, they got a taste of it: in addition to refreshments, different kinds of rice, noodles, basil and shrimp rolls and sweets were available for students to sample as a slide-show of Vietnam's scenery continued on screen.

Most students said they'd heard about the Coffee Hour from friends, through email, or on campus bulletin boards. But some students attended through different means; Criminal Justice major Kaled Ali, 20, and Drafting/Architecture student Robert Sims, 19, were hanging out in the student center when an IPA member told them about the Coffee Hour and invited them to join.

"I had no idea what it was really about, you know, but they were cool. 'Just come and have a good time,' they said. And now I'm eating fried rice and shrimp rolls," said Sims.

The next IPA Coffee Hour on Clarkston campus will explore Venezuela on March 25 at 12:30 p.m. in N2220.

'Art and The Spiritual' collection on display at Dunwoody Jennifer Johnson

by Jennifer Johnson
The Collegian
Issue date: 2/1/08

The Dunwoody Campus Library is currently hosting a vivid and interesting exhibit of abstract art by Associate Professor Charles Phillips, who has been teaching art history and art appreciation at GPC since 1990.

The exhibit is entitled 'Art and The Spiritual,' and is a collection of mixed media pieces inspired by his "emotional and spiritual interpretations" of what he sees.

Phillips was born in Ghana and taught there for many years before becoming an Advisor to the Minister of Art and Culture. He left his post there after regime change in 1982, and regrets the impact the politics of his position had upon him.

"It is important that my work should challenge the viewer optically, intellectually, and philosophically," and this is certainly the effect his works tend to have.

Upon first glance many of the pictures do not lend themselves to obvious or immediate interpretation. There are many colors and sweeping lines and curves that can appear chaotic, at first, and require much of the viewer to discover the communication within each piece.

One of the students' apparent favorites is entitled 'Jubilation,' which Phillips said was inspired by a picture of ballet dancers.

Phillips' favorite piece is entitled 'Keep Watch,' a picture is of a bird watching over its nest, which Phillips said depicts how we must all be mindful of our thoughts, our words and our actions.

Deep feelings and a sense of the invisible influences in our lives are evident throughout his work, which will be on exhibit at Dunwoody until Feb 28.

Phillips ended his interview by giving his basic philosophy of how to live; "Make sure you place yourself where people will enjoy you -not admire you, but enjoy you," said Phillips. "[It is always best] to be a team player, to love people. And in order to love others, you must first love yourself."