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A wealth of post-secondary opportunities abound in Gwinnett

spotlight onPREPARING FOR COLLEGE

SundayFebruary 12,

2012

By Frank ReddyStaff Writer

[email protected]

LAWRENCEVILLE — Parker Stone still visits his parents from time to time. The 19-year-old freshman at Georgia Gwinnett College knows home-cooked meals are only a five-minute drive away. And washing laundry there is free.

Other than the occasional trip home, the young man has grown accustomed to life in his dorm room at Georgia Gwinnett College, a space he shares with other stu-dents at the college who are getting their first taste of independence.

Students at GGC and beyond sometimes struggle — and sometimes thrive — in an environment they will come to call their new domain as they begin a post-second-ary education. College students say they do a number of things to put their personal stamp on living quarters: plastering post-ers on their walls, piping familiar music through the rooms and hooking up video game systems can all help to make it feel a little like home.

Stone, an information technology major, is liking life in the dorm. Whether it’s hitting the books in his room, heating dinner in the microwave or taking a PlayStation 3 study break with roommate Ryan Smith, living on his own is starting to feel pretty good.

Smith said a big part of being indepen-dent for the first time is learning the im-portance of dependence on peers.

“Once you get into college, you should immediately go out and start meeting peo-ple, start talking, mixing, finding common ground with others,” said Smith, a 20-year-old student who shares living quarters with Stone. Smith said that from what he’s seen

it generally takes fellow students about a month or less to get acclimated to the new lifestyle.

The college’s acting vice president agreed.

“Research shows that when a student comes to college, if they can get involved, get to know their faculty get to know oth-ers around them, they tend to do better,”

Lois Richardson said. “We have mentor-ing, clubs and organizations, and they’re each in place to help these young people who are out on their own for the first time.”

Local college student Danielle Penton said getting involved is what helped her as she transitioned from high school.

‘Real world crash course’Staff Photo: John Bohn

Ryan Smith, right, a student at Georgia Gwinnett College, is a resident assistant at his dorm. Smith shares a spacious dorm suite with Parker Stone, 19, center, of Lawrenceville and Josh Randall, left, of College Park and several other students. Smith and Stone regularly play action games on the supplied flat screen television in the largest room of the dorm suite, the game room.

Students find independence through life in post-secondary education

File PhotoStudents walk to and from class at Georgia Gwinnett College.

t“Everything was planned out for you when you were in high school. In college, it’s all about how you manage your time personally, finding a good balance of your time and accomplishing all the things you’d like to accomplish within that time frame.”

University of Georgia student

Mallory Davis

•See Independence, Page 5C

2C • Sunday, February 12, 2012 • www.gwinnettdailypoSt.com

spotlight on preparing for collegewww.gwinnettdailypost.com • sunday, February 12, 2012 • 3C

A wealth of post-secondary opportunities call Gwinnett home

Ashworth CollegeThe Norcross-based institution offers diplomas in high school, college prep, specialized career and certifica-tion as well as associates, bachelors and master’s degrees.According to its website, Ashworth is “a worldwide leader in comprehensive, nationally accredited online education.”The college offers more than 115 career-relevant online programs.Nationally accredited by the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council, the institution aims for a “lifestyle-friendly curriculum that lets you learn when, where and how you want.”For more information, visit www.ashworthcollege.edu, or call 1-800-957-5412.Ashworth College is located at 6625 The Corners Parkway, Suite 500, Norcross.

Brenau University’s Evening and Weekend CollegeLocated in Norcross, the North Atlanta campus offers undergraduate degrees in the fields of education, inte-rior design and business. In addition, master’s degrees in occupational therapy and nursing are offered at the local campus.Programs are designed for people who work, and classes are offered in an accelerated format. According to its website, Brenau aims to “challenge students to live extraordinary lives of personal and professional fulfillment.“As students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees or non-degree programs at Brenau campuses and online, each prepares for a lifetime of intellectual accomplishment and appreciation of artistic expres-sion through a curriculum enriched by the liberal arts, scientific inquiry and global awareness.”For more information, visit www.brenau.edu or call 770-446-2900.Brenau University’s North Atlanta Campus is located at 3139 Campus Drive, Suite 300, Norcross.

DeVry University Duluth CenterLocated next to Gwinnett Place Mall in the Koger Center complex, DeVry University Duluth Center of-fers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in some of today’s fastest-growing career fields. In close proximity to Fortune 500 corporate headquarters, ma-jor financial institutions, and Atlanta’s thriving business and high-tech community, DeVry University Duluth provides access to possible career opportunities in a wide variety of industries.The Duluth Center offers spacious classrooms, a fully wired computer lab, and a commons area. Once enrolled at the Duluth Center, students may also take courses at Atlanta-area locations or online.For more information, visit www.devry.edu or call 770-381-4400.

Georgia Campus—Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine

Located in Suwanee, Georgia Campus—Philadel-phia College of Osteopathic Medicine aims to train students from Georgia and nearby Southern states to practice osteopathic medicine and encourage them to locate locally upon completion of programs.Enrollment at the college is projected at 687 for the 2011-2012 academic year, compared to 86 students in attendance when the campus first opened in 2005.In total, 228 first-year medical and pharmacy stu-dents at Georgia Campus-PCOM were presented their white coat jackets in November during a cer-emony at the Gwinnett Center for the Performing Arts.Georgia Campus—Philadelphia College of Osteo-pathic Medicine is located at 625 Old Peachtree Road NW, Suwanee.For more information, visit www.pcom.edu or call 678-225-7500.

GWINNETT’S POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION AT A GLANCE

lawrenceVille — when it comes to post-secondary education in gwinnett county, there are a wealth of

opportunities. Locals seeking a career that requires a college education need look no further than their own county.

Nearly a dozen institutions make their home in gwinnett county, offer-ing a variety of choices for just about

any career or trade one might want to pursue.

— Frank Reddy

Staff Photo: Jason Braverman Students work in a microbiology lab at the Life Science building at Gwinnett Technical College.

Georgia Gwinnett CollegeStill a new college, the institution continues to grow. Georgia Gwinnett College opened its doors on Aug. 18, 2006, as the nation’s first four-year public college founded in the 21st century and the first four-year public institution created in Georgia in more than 100 years.Since 2006, the college has grown from 118 students to nearly 8,000.According to its website, the college aims to “provide access to targeted baccalaureate level degrees that meet the economic development needs of the growing and diverse population of the northeast Atlanta metro-politan region.”For more information about Georgia Gwinnett College, visit www.ggc.edu, or call 678-407-5000.Georgia Gwinnett College is located at 1000 University Center Lane, Lawrenceville.

Gwinnett CollegeThe mission of Lilburn’s Gwinnett College is to pro-vide diploma and associate degree higher education programs. These programs of high quality are designed to prepare a diverse student population to meet the needs of em-ployees in the legal, medical, and business fields.GC has its goal of preparing students academically, intellectually, personally, and professionally for success-ful careers and advancement.With day and evening classes available, students can get associate degrees in business, legal administrative and medical assisting.Students can also become certified in accounting, mas-sage therapy and computer operations.For more information, visit www.gwinnettcollege.com or call 770-381-7200.

Gwinnett Technical CollegeSince opening in 1984, the local technical college has sought to provide career-focused education and training that support economic and workforce development in the community.During its history, Gwinnett Tech has expanded its cam-pus to include a variety of new facilities, including the new life sciences center, the corporate training center, environmental horticulture center, the computer training facility and the George Busbee International Center for Workforce Development.For more information, visit www.gwinnetttech.edu or call 770-962-7580.Gwinnett Technical College is located at 5150 Sugarloaf Parkway, Lawrenceville.

Saint Leo UniversitySaint Leo University’s Gwinnett County location at 3555 Koger Blvd., has served the educational needs of adult learners in Atlanta for more than 30 years, offering bachelor’s degree programs for working adults.Based in Florida, the Duluth satellite of this Catholic university offers graduate and undergraduate degrees in several subjects such as criminal justice, teaching and business administration.Rooted in the 1,500-year-old Benedictine tradition, the University seeks balanced growth in mind, body and spirit for all members of its community. According to its website, Saint Leo University aims to create a “student-centered environment in which love of learning is of prime importance.For more information, visit www.saintleo.edu

University of Georgia Gwinnett CampusThe local satellite of University of Georgia aims to be “a highly accessible and vibrant center of advanced learning for non-traditional and working professionals in greater Atlanta and northeast Georgia.”The campus offers 11 master’s degrees, four educa-tional specialist degrees, three doctoral programs and three graduate certificate programs.The full-service campus facility offers IT support, stu-dent affairs, a library, UGA Bookstore, security guards, 21 state-of-the-art programs, 60,000 square feet of learning space and computer labs.The campus is located at 2530 Sever Road, Law-renceville.For more information, visit http://gwinnett.uga.edu or call 678-985-6800.

University of Phoenix Gwinnett Learning CenterThe University of Phoenix Gwinnett Learning Center in Duluth caters to adults who need to balance their educational needs with professional and family commit-ments. It’s facilities are focused on those who are considering changing jobs or want to advance within their current company, or are considering going back to school to earn a bachelor or master’s degree. The local University of Phoenix location largely focuses on business and nursing degrees, but it also offers de-gree programs in technology, psychology and criminal justice.The campus is located at 2470 Satellite Blvd., Duluth.For more information, visit www.phoenix.edu or call 678-731-0555.

Visit us online at www.gwinnettdailypost.com.

spotlight on preparing for college4C • Sunday, February 12, 2012 • www.gwinnettdailypoSt.com

By Frank ReddyStaff writer

frank.reddy @gwinnettdailypost.com

lawrenceVille — two of the county’s larg-est colleges had cause for celebration in 2011 as they opened new major facili-ties on campus, marking milestones for both insti-tutions.

Students, teachers and legislators came out in September to mark the grand opening of the new 78,000 square-foot life sciences center at gwin-nett tech.

the center, which opened for fall semester classes in august, serves 3,000 students annually, enabling the technical col-lege to accept additional life sciences and health care professionals.

combined with its ex-isting facilities, the col-lege now has more than 140,000 square feet in two buildings on campus dedi-cated to health science education.

Fellow college of-ficials over at georgia gwinnett college cel-ebrated the opening of a new 24,000-square-foot instructional laboratory facility on campus in au-

gust.the state-of-the-art

building serves an estimat-ed 900 biology majors.

Funded by the universi-ty System of georgia, the $7 million structure fea-tures modern, multi-disci-plinary laboratories and an instrumentation core.

georgia gwinnett col-lege is located at 1000 university center lane, lawrenceville. the insti-tution opened its doors on aug. 18, 2006, as the na-tion’s first four-year public college founded in the 21st century and the first four-year public institution cre-ated in georgia in more than 100 years.

gwinnett technical college is located at 5150 Sugarloaf parkway, law-renceville. during its his-tory, gwinnett tech has expanded its campus to in-clude a variety of new fa-cilities, including the new life sciences center, the corporate training center, environmental horticulture center, the computer train-ing facility and the george busbee international cen-ter for workforce devel-opment.

For more information, visit www.gwinnetttech.edu or www.ggc.edu.

Gwinnett Tech, GGC open new buildings in 2011By Frank Reddy

Staff writerfrank.reddy

@gwinnettdailypost.com

l aw r e n c e V i l l e — applying for a post-sec-ondary education can be an arduous affair with heaps of paperwork.

However, a local college official said planning ahead is the key to navigating the ap-plication process.

“what we try to stress to prospective students is to ap-ply early,” said tee mitchell,

director of admissions with georgia gwinnett college.

Students who apply in oc-tober of their senior year of high school are more likely to have “wiggle room” for any potential hold-ups in the ap-plication process.

the following is a check list of things to consider when applying:

• Apply early and apply to multiple schools. narrow it down to a list of three pro-spective institutions in case anything falls through.

• Visit the campus. mitch-ell said campus visits are the “number one conversion rate during the decision-making process. it’s one thing to ap-ply and another to actually go on to the campus and see what it has to offer with your own eyes.”

• Get financial aid squared away early, pref-erably in tandem with the application process. Said mitchell: “we try to stress it’s critical that January of each year is when students should

complete a FaFSa (Free ap-plication for Federal Student aid).”

• Choose an orientation date. use the event to get acquainted with clubs and or-ganizations as well as faculty members. the orientation will provide facts about the college and registration infor-mation for classes specific to each institution.

For more tips and insights into the college application process, visit www.colleg-eboard.org.

Planning ahead key in applying to college



lawrenceVille — a wide range of financial aid is available for students who need funding help in order to get into college and get their degree.

at the federal level, the most basic eligibility require-ments for financial aid are that students must be a u.S. citi-zen or an eligible noncitizen, have a valid Social Security number, and students should be able to prove that they have qualified to obtain a post-secondary education with a

high school diploma or a gen-eral educational development (ged) certificate.

paid federal financial aid can cover expenses such as tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies and transportation.

according to the u.S. de-partment of education, there are four federal categories of student financial aid.

• grant money generally does not have to be repaid. most u.S. department of education grants will be based on financial need.

• Scholarship-u.S. depart-ment of education money is awarded based on student’s

academic success and does not have to be repaid.

• work-study money is earned by students through a job on or near campus. the job is held while attending school. it also does not have to repaid.

• Federal loan money must be repaid with interest.

For more about federal fi-nancial aid, visit www.studen-taid.ed.gov.

at the state level, financial aid is available through Help-ing outstanding pupils edu-cationally, or Hope, geor-gia’s scholarship and grant program.

the grant “rewards students with financial assistance in de-

gree, diploma, and certificate programs at eligible georgia postsecondary institutions. For more information about Hope, visit www.gacol-lege411.com.

according to tee mitchell, director of admissions with georgia gwinnett college, “financial aid and admissions go hand in hand when stu-dents apply in october.”

added mitchell: “we try to stress that it’s critical that stu-dents complete their Free ap-plication for Federal Student aid, or FaFSa, each year. it’s an important component of the college admissions process for those seeking financial aid.”

Financial aid available to students in need



lawrenceVille — most colleges will accept either the Sat or act for student admission. Some stu-dents will fare better on the Sat, while others do well on the act, according to the college board.

many high school students will take prep courses for one or both of the college readi-ness exams.

the best way to prepare for either of these exams is to take challenging courses, accord-ing to academic experts.

it does, however, help to become familiar with the or-ganization and structure of the tests before taking them.

Sat practice tests are avail-able at www.collegeboard.org, and act samples can be viewed at www.act.org.

the Sat tests mathemat-ics, critical reading and writ-ing skills, while the act grades based on english, mathematics, reading and sci-ence.

many colleges will often use the Sat tests for admis-sion, course placement and to advise students about course selection.

Some colleges will specify

the Sat and act subject test areas that they will require for admission or placement.

it takes three hours and forty-five minutes to take the Sat test, and it costs $49. possible test scores range from 600 to 2400, combin-ing results from three separate 800-point sections.

it costs $34 to take the act, and it lasts about four hours to take. a composite score and test score can range from 1 to 36. the composite score is the average of all four test area scores, rounded to the nearest whole number.

For more information or to find out how to register, visit

www.sat.collegeboard.org or www.act.org.

Tips for students looking to take standardized tests

spotlight on preparing for college

Independence

Penton, 20, said she would “greatly encourage new college students to get involved ... it helps them out, and it gives them more pride in their college. It’s also an opportunity to meet more people. Once I got in-volved, I developed better study habits.”

Penton said she would encourage new college stu-dents to develop good study habits as well. “You have to get into a new routine and stick with that routine,” she said.

Students should expect their teachers to be more hands-off in encouraging those good study habits, she added. “It’s all up to you how well you do in col-lege,” Penton said. “You’ve got to learn how to study and study hard.”

Mallory Davis, a Uni-versity of Georgia student from Grayson High School,

said that more than any oth-er time in a student’s aca-demic career they are “on their own” in college.

“Everything was planned out for you when you were in high school,” said Davis, who is currently president of the Student Government Association at UGA. “In college, it’s all about how you manage your time per-sonally, finding a good bal-ance of your time and ac-complishing all the things you’d like to accomplish within that time frame.”

Added Davis: “You’re away from your parents, and in many cases, it’s the longest you’ve ever been away from home. You have to start learning how to budget, how to cook, how to do your laundry.”

“It’s a real world crash course,” Davis said.

Stone agreed. “It’s a little interesting at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s a great feeling.”

•From Page 1C

Staff Photo: John BohnRyan Smith, a student at Georgia Gwinnett College, is a resident assistant at his dorm. Smith shares a spacious dorm suite with other students. Smith enjoys having a large closet in his room to house his clothes and a large collection of shoes.

By Frank ReddyStaff Writer


LAWRENCEVILLE — Going to college can often mean moving away from family and friends and other loved ones.

A lack of involvement in college can mean un-necessary isolation during a time when support struc-tures and lifelines are of the utmost importance.

Tomas Jimenez, dean of students at Georgia Gwin-nett College, said students need look no further than their peers for that kind of support.

“A key component of being successful in col-lege is getting involved,” Jimenez said. “That in-cludes being engaged as early as possible in student organizations and associa-tions.”

He said the first year

spent in college “is such a critical time. If students can find a program or two or student organization or two to be a part of, it’s very helpful.”

Added Jimenez: “It al-lows students a comfort level to feel like they have a place they can call their own. Developing that con-nection helps with process. That means starting some-thing new, making sure you’re in a place where

you know some people.”Involvement during the

college experience can ex-tend to forming and culti-vating relationships with faculty.

According to the Col-lege Board’s website, most professors “enjoy talking to students who show a genuine interest in their subject, and some of the best teaching occurs in after-class discussions.”

Forming or joining af-

ter-class study groups with fellow students can boost grades and form bonds to bolster post-secondary success.

According to the Col-lege Board, group study offers other advantages in addition to gaining a deeper understanding of the class material.

“Members often have common goals, such as good grades. Each per-son’s work affects the oth-

er members, which results in making members sup-portive of one another.”

Student organizations and associations may include student govern-ment, intramural athletics, academic clubs as well as faith-based groups.

Jimenez said it’s “very beneficial to get involved with others during the college experience ... it’s one of the most important things you can do.”

Participation is key to establishing new relationships in college

www.gwinnettdailypost.com • sunday, February 12, 2012 • 5C

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spotlight on preparing for college

By Justin PopeAP Education Writer

When US News & World Re-port debuted its list of “America’s Best Colleges” nearly 30 years ago, the magazine hoped its col-lege rankings would be a game-changer for students and families. But arguably, they’ve had a much bigger effect on colleges them-selves.

Yes, students and families still buy the guide and its less famous competitors by the hundreds of thousands, and still care about a college’s reputation. But it isn’t students who obsess over every incremental shift on the rankings scoreboard, and who regularly embarrass themselves in the pro-cess. It’s colleges.

It’s colleges that have spent billions on financial aid for high-scoring students who don’t actu-ally need the money, motivated at least partly by the quest for rank-ings glory.

It was a college, Baylor Univer-sity, that paid students it had al-ready accepted to retake the SAT exam in a transparent ploy to boost the average scores it could report. It’s colleges that have awarded bo-nuses to presidents who lift their school a few slots.

And it’s colleges that occasion-ally get caught in the kind of cheat-ing you might expect in sports or on Wall Street, but which seems especially ignominious coming from professional educators.

The latest example came last week at Claremont McKenna, a highly regarded California lib-eral arts college where a senior administrator resigned after ac-knowledging he falsified college entrance exam scores for years to rankings publications such as US News.

The scale was small: submitting scores just 10 or 20 points high-er on the 1,600-point SAT math and reading exams. Average test scores account for just 7.5 percent of the US News rankings formula.

Still, the magazine acknowledged the effect could have been to move the college up a slot or two in its rankings of top liberal arts colleg-es. And so it was hard not to notice Claremont McKenna stood at No. 9 in this year’s rankings, which to people who care about such things sounds much sweeter than No. 11.

“For Claremont, there is, I would think, a psychologically large dif-ference between being ninth and 11th,” said Bob Schaeffer of the group FairTest and a rankings critic. “We’re a top 10 school,’ (or) ‘we’re 11th or 12th’ — that’s a

big psychological difference. It’s a bragging rights difference.”

If it was an effort to gain an edge, it backfired badly. Another popular list, Kiplinger’s “Best College Values,” said Friday it was removing Claremont McKenna from its 2011-12 rankings entirely because of the false reporting. The college had been No. 18 on its list of best-value liberal arts colleges.

Competitiveness may be natu-rally human, but to many who work with students, such behavior among fellow educators is mysti-fying. Contrary to widespread per-

ceptions, they say, students typi-cally use the rankings as a source of data and pay little attention to a school’s number.

“When I started in this business, I thought, ‘The rankings are ter-rible,’” said Brad MacGowan, a 21-year-veteran college counselor at Newton North High School out-side Boston. “But spending all this time with students, I just don’t hear that much about them. I’m sure it’s colleges that are perpetuating it.”

It’s hard to know how com-mon cheating like that reported at Claremont McKenna is, given

that while US News cross-checks some data with other sources, it relies largely on colleges them-selves to provide it. Modest forms of fudging through data selection are undeniably common, espe-cially in law school rankings. The most high-profile case of outright cheating involved Iona Univer-sity in New York, which acknowl-edged last fall submitting years of false data that boosted its ranking from around 50th in its category to 30th.

As colleges obsess over rankings, students shrug

•See Rankings, Page 7C

The Associated PressStudents walk through the campus of Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, Calif. When US News & World Report de-buted its list of “America’s Best Colleges” nearly 30 years ago, the magazine hoped its college rankings would be a game-changer for students and families. Arguably, they’ve had a much bigger effect on colleges themselves. A senior administrator at Claremont McKenna, a highly regarded California liberal arts college, resigned after acknowledging he falsified college entrance exam scores for years to rankings publications such as US News.


For more information, contact Valerie Greenat 770.963.9205 ext. 1201 or email [email protected]

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spotlight on preparing for collegeRankings

But most rankings critics say by far the most pernicious failure of colleges isn’t blatant cheating, but what they do more openly — allowing the rankings formula to drive their goals and policies.

Colleges, they argue, have caved to the rankings pres-sure in a range of ways. A big one is recruiting as many students as they can to apply, even if they’re not likely to be a good fit, just to boost their selectivity numbers. And they’ve showered financial aid on high-achieving, and often wealthy, kids with high SAT scores.

In the mid-1990s, roughly one-third of grant aid, or schol-arships colleges of all types awarded with their own mon-ey, was given on grounds other than need (typically called “merit aid’). A decade later, they gave away three times as much money — but well over half was based on merit.

Yes, some colleges recruited better students, but there was a price to be paid. Consider a 2008 study by The Institute for College Access and Suc-cess that examined the $11.2 billion annually four-year col-leges were awarding in grant aid. Of that, $3.35 billion was awarded as merit aid. That would have easily covered the $2.4 billion in unmet need-based aid that the colleges said their low-income students still faced.

Rankings critic Lloyd Thacker, founder of the group Education Conservancy, calls that a shift in financial aid from “charitable acts to competitive weapons.” Or, as Schaeffer de-scribes it, “they end up giving the money to rich white kids.”

The vast majority of stu-dents attend college within three hours of home, so nation-al rankings have little meaning. What matters? Usually more

mundane or subjective con-cerns. One student who went to MacGowan’s office last week for a college planning meeting, junior Bridget Gil-lis, said she’d yet to even see a college ranking guide. Her criteria: “If they have my ma-jor, if it’s a nice campus, how big it is, if they have the sport I want to play in college (field hockey).”

The latest version of a huge national survey of college freshman conducted annually by UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute asked stu-dents to list various factors af-fecting their choice of college. Rankings in national maga-zines were No. 11 for current college freshmen, with rough-ly one in six calling them very important, well behind factors such as cost, size and location.

Those findings may be somewhat misleading. The leading factor cited, by al-most two-thirds of students, was their college’s “academ-ic reputation,” which can be hard to disentangle from its ranking. A reputational sur-vey ranking accounts for 25 percent of a college’s score in US News, and fame from a high US News rankings con-tributes to reputation, even if students say the ranking itself wasn’t a factor. Such circularity is one of many things critics dislike about the US News methodology.

But the survey data do sug-gest students generally heed the magazine’s advice not to use the rankings to make fine-grained distinctions between schools.

“As someone who is asked

every year to comment on the rankings, it seems to me that who cares most is the me-dia,” John Pryor, who directs the UCLA survey, wrote in a blog post last year. “Second would be college presidents and development officers. Way down the list seem to be those who are actually trying to decide where to go to col-lege.”

Thacker says the rankings do have negative psychologi-cal effects on students, though usually only the top 10 to 15 percent who are applying to competitive colleges. But it has affected a much broader swath of colleges that have been un-able to suppress their competi-tive urges for the educational common good.

“It has more an impact on

colleges, presidents and trust-ees than it does on students,” Thacker said. “The colleges have shifted resources and changed practices and poli-cies that were once governed by educational values to serve prestige and rank and status.”

That effect, he says, is dis-honorable, even if some col-leges at least feel guilty about it. More than 80 percent of college admissions officers surveyed for a report last fall by the National Association for College Admission Coun-seling felt the US News rank-ings offered students mislead-ing conclusions, and roughly the same proportion agreed they caused counter-produc-tive behavior by colleges. Yet more than 70 percent said their schools promoted their

ranking in marketing materi-als.

The fact that the highly regarded dean apparently in-volved in the scandal at Cla-remont McKenna may have been driven to submit inflated test scores is an indicator of the scale of pressure that sur-rounds the rankings, said David Hawkins, director of public policy and research at NACAC, the counseling group. That pressure comes from all corners of the univer-sity — trustees, alumni, presi-dents, even politicians,

“It’s clear from the (Cla-remont McKenna) story that admission offices are under pressure,” he said. “The key question is, how do you stop the madness?”

Bob Morse, who oversees the US News rankings as di-rector of data research, says many of the behaviors the rankings have incentivized in colleges are benign. He points to universities like Northeast-ern and Southern California that have moved up in recent years through concerted ef-forts to improve their stats in variables that go into the for-mula — but which also are good for students. Things like more small classes, programs to boost retention, higher faculty-to-student ratios. And why, Morse asks, should col-leges be criticized for casting a wider recruiting net?

But even Morse, who says colleges paid the rankings little attention when they debuted in 1983, says he’s been shocked by how seriously they now take their standing, and the lengths they go to move up.

“None of those things when we first started we had in mind would even happen or even could happen,” he said. “It’s evolved in ways that have taken on a life of their own. To us, it’s proof people are paying attention.”

•From Page 6C

The Associated PressClaremont McKenna, a highly regarded California liberal arts college, is at the center of the US News & World Report college ranking scandal when a college official resigned after acknowledging he falsified college entrance exam scores for years to rankings publications.


your community8C • Sunday, February 12, 2012 • www.gwinnettdailypoSt.com

Community calendar prints periodically and as space permits. Send items for the Community Calen-dar to [email protected] or the Gwinnett Daily Post, P.O. Box 603, Lawrenceville, GA 30046. The fax number is 770-339-8081. Please include event name, time and date, location, with address, phone number and cost. Deadline is two weeks prior to the event.

OngoingJourney Into Black

HistoryThe United Ebony So-

ciety of Gwinnett County Inc. is preparing for their annual Black History Month Exhibit titled B”lack women in American Cul-ture and History” through Feb 29 in the Gwinnett County Administrative and Justice Center. Exhibits will be open daily, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more infor-mation, call 770-822-4046 or visit www.unitedebony-society.org.

Petticoats and Slide Rules

Petticoats and Slide Rules, a historical exhibit on women in engineering from the Society of Women Engineers, will be on display at the Gwinnett En-vironmental and Heritage Center through April 1.

Living in SpaceThe Gwinnett Environ-

mental and Heritage Cen-ter is proud to announce that the Living In Space exhibit will continue its orbit at the GEHC through March 3. The exhibit is in-cluded with GEHC admis-sion. For more information about this exhibit, visit www.gwinnettEHC.org.

Aurora Theatre’s ‘A Body of Water’

Aurora Theatre will be presenting “A Body of Wa-ter” today. For more infor-mation, visit auroratheatre.com or call 678-226-6222.

MondayKen Gohring

presents program on Native Azaleas

The Mountain Shadow Garden Club will host Ken Gohring to present his pro-gram on “Native Azaleas” at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Eastminister Presbyterian Church on 5801 Hugh Howell Road in Stone Mountain. For more infor-mation, call 770934-4726.

WednesdayThe Gwinnett County

Soil and Water Conservation District monthly meeting

The Gwinnett County Soil and Water Conser-vation District monthly meeting will be held on Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. at the GJAC Building, 75 Langley Drive, 2nd Floor, Conference Room A, Law-renceville. For additional

information call 770-761-3020.

Feb. 24Taste of Collins HillThe 8th Annual Taste of

Collins Hill will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. February 24 at the high school, 50 Taylor Road in Suwanee. Ticket cost is $10. For more infor-mation, visit www.Chhs-band.org or to order tickets online, email [email protected].

Feb. 28Capturing the LightThe Buford Artists’

Group will host the Captur-ing the Light exhibit at 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday through Feb. 28 in the George Pierce Park Community Recre-ation Center, 55 Ga. High-way 23 N.E. in Suwanee. For more information, call 770-932-4423.

March 2North Metro First

Baptist Church Mops Consignment Sale

North Metro First Bap-tist Church MOPS Spring Consignment Sale will be held 9 am to 8 pm March 2 and 8 to noon March 3 at 1026 Old Peachtree Road in Duluth. For seller, volunteer or advertising information and registra-tion visit www.northmetro.net/mops.

community calendar

Marine Corps Kristin E. Chow was promoted to her current rank while serving with Headquar-ters and Support battal-ion, marine corps base, camp pendleton in los angeles, claif. She is the daughter of Zobeyda and Jose V. chow of nor-cross and a 2010 gradu-ate of meadowcreek High School.

Marine Corps Randy L. Rogers graduated from the marine corps basic combat engineer course at marine corps engineer School, marine corps base in camp lejeune, n.c. He is the son of San-dra l. Scruggs af logan-ville and roy. l rogers of morrow. He is a 2009 graduate of grayson High School.

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Eren C. Villa was promoted to his cur-rent rank while serving with marine wing Sup-port Squadron 172, de-tachment a in okinawa, Japan. He is the son of annabela Villa of law-renceville and Fidel V. martinez of lawrencev-ille. He is a 2010 graduate of central gwinnett High School in lawrenceville.

Navy Seaman Appren-tice David C. Griffin Hall was promoted to his current rank upon gradua-tion from recruit training at recruit training com-mand in great lakes, ill. He is the son of gayle d. griffin of tulsa, okla., and corey r. Hall of dac-ula.

Navy Seaman Garrett C. Burroughs recently completed u.S. navy basic training at recruit training command in great lakes, ill. He is a 2005 graduate of brook-wood High School in Snellville.

Navy Midshipman Kristy A. Yau completed plebe Summer training at the u.S. naval acad-emy. She is the daughter of dinh and James yau of dacula.

Navy Midshipman Mi-chelle K. Yau completed plebe Summer training

at the u.S. naval acad-emy. She is the daughter of dinh and James yau of dacula.

Navy Midshipman Christopher E. Joseph completed plebe Summer training at the u.S. naval academy. He is the son of debra Joseph of Snell-ville and darryl Joseph of conroe, texas.

Navy Midshipman Charles P. Jordan com-pleted plebe Summer training at the u.S. naval academy. He is the son of eleni Jordan of norcross.

Navy Midshipman An-drea R. Howard complet-ed plebe Summer training at the u.S. naval acade-my. She is the daughter of marleen Kooker of nor-cross and Steven Howard of atlanta.

Navy Midshipman Anna E. Dilks completed plebe Summer training at the u.S. naval academy. She is the daughter of lori and darrell dilks of lawrenceville.

Army Pfc. Rotrisha L. McGee graduated from basic combat training at Fort leonard wood in waynesville, mo. She is the daughter of darlena and robert mcgee of du-luth.

Army Pvt. Kenidee DeVentura-Benitez grad-uated from the multiple launch rocket System operations/ Fire direction Specialist advanced indi-vidual training course at Fort Sill in lawton okla. He is the son of Hilario and elizabeth Ventura of lawrenceville.

Army National Guard Pfc. Kevin A. Contre-ras graduated from basic combat training at Fort Sill in lawton, okla.

Navy Seaman Charles Liu completed u.S. navy basic training at recruit training command in great lakes, ill. He is the son of georgia chen and Frank liu of lawrencev-ille.

Coast Guard Seaman Karen A. Little gradu-

ated from the u.S. coast guard recruit training center in cape may, n.J.

Army National Guard Pvt. Trevor A. Hol-brooks graduated from basic Field artillery can-non crewmember ad-vanced individual train-ing at Fort Sill in lawton, okla. He is the son of Fred Holbrooks of cum-ming and angie page of Suwanee.

Navy Fireman Ap-prentice Andrew L. Bullock participated in detainee handling train-ing aboard the uSS new orleans in San diego, ca-lif. He is the son of Susan mcdanal of Sugar Hill and peter bullock of Su-wanee.

military notes

atlanta — Students from brookwood High School came together Feb. 3-4 to join the governor’s office of Highway Safety at the 2012 youth and young adult leadership confer-ence at callaway gardens.

the conference, which was attended by about 400 students and advisers from nearly 60 high schools and colleges across geor-gia, was designed to bring together student advocates of highway safety and focus on new ways to communicate life-saving ideas to their fel-low high school and college students.

“we were proud to include the students from brookwood High School in this year’s youth and young adult conference,” said goHS director Harris blackwood. “we lose far too many young people to crash deaths every year and we went directly to the source to discuss new ways of saving the lives of our teen and young adult drivers.”

goHS launched the an-nual youth safety conference concept nearly 10 years ago to spread the message of buckling up, slowing down, not drinking and driving and eliminating texting while driving.

For more information,

visit www.gahighwaysafety.org.

Lanier Cluster gets grant for eReaders

Sugar Hill — the lanier cluster education Foundation was recently awarded a $5,000 grant from insperity, a consulting firm based out of Kingwood, texas, to purchase ereaders

for lanier middle School.the lceF provides

grants to teachers and schools that support the academic programs of the schools in the lanier cluster. the foundation promotes community awareness and participation in the life of the cluster schools.

Funds provided through the insperity grant will be used to purchase ereaders and ebooks to promote read-ing to students. the eread-ers will be used to target students who struggle with critical reading skills and need additional support.

For more information, visit www.laniercluster.org.

Frank Reddy writes about education. Good News from Schools appears in the Sunday edition of the Daily Post.

Students attend highway safety event

Special PhotoFrom left, Sarah Chico, Obum Imonugo, Amber Simmons, Yohanna Hailegebriel, Selam Tesfa-mariam and Malahkai Pizarro attended a highway safety conference Feb. 3-4.

Good news from schools

frank reddystaff writer

TM

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your community

Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Casey L. Shoptawhas been mobilized and activtated at Joint base dix-mcguire-lakehurst, n.J., in prepa-ration for deployment to serve in support of either operation new dawn in the iraqi theater of operations or operation enduing Free-dom in afghanistan and the southwest theater of op-erations. she is the daughter of david and lisa shoptaw of dahlonega.

Matthew J. Izzo entered basic cadet training at the u.s. air Force academy in colorado springs, colo. He is the son of Thomas and Pattie Izzo of Lilburn.

Eugene Glenn III entered basic cadet training at the u.s. air Force academy in

colorado springs, colo. He is the son of Debra and Eu-gene glenn of lilburn.

Air Force Reserve Air-man Christopher Bauer graduated from basic mili-tary training at lackland air Force base in san an-tonio. He is the son of mel-anie smith of lawrencev-ille.

Army Pvt. Jingxin C. Perkins has graduated from basic combat training at Fort sill in lawton, okla. she is the stepdaughter of Michael S. Larson of Lil-burn.

Army National Guard Pvt. Syed-Momin Ali graduated from the infan-tryman one station unity training at Fort benning in

columbus. He is the son of syed-muzuffar and bibi a. ali of lawrenceville.

Air National Guard Airman Alexander C. Lit-man graduated from basic military training at lack-land air Force base in san antonio. He is the son of dana litman of suwanee.

Navy Seaman Thea Marie B. Ritchie Haugh-ton completed u.s. navy basic training at recruit training command in great lakes, ill. she is the daughter of sharon m. and edward Haughton of stone Mountain.

Army Pvt. Mark W. Barton graduated from the Infantryman One Station unit training at Fort ben-

ning in columbus. He is the son of sharmin barton of Norcross.

By Camie YoungSenior Writer

camie.young @gwinnettdailypost.com

norcross — nor-cross activists will plant a tree this week in honor of Arbor Day.

the turkey fig will be planted at the site of the city’s community garden near the welcome center, an email from the Nor-cross Tree Preservation board said.

the planting is sched-uled for 11 a.m. Friday, which is arbor day, and refreshments will be served afterward in the welcome center.

“trees are a very impor-tant part of our city and the Norcross Tree Preser-vation board is excited to be adding another beauti-ful tree to our town,” said an email from board mem-bers martha scarbrough, co-chair, Jane remaley, co-chair, dick bare, rob-ert Forro and blake man-ton.

on saturday, another tree will be planted in hon-or of the holiday.

That event is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at the nor-cross cooperative minis-tries on mitchell road and will include giveaways for children.

Arbor Day tree plantings scheduled in NorcrossRight to Hike to

host inagural fundraising golf tourney

the right to Hike ina-gural spring golf classic will be held at the tpc at sugarloaf on march 26. Proceeds from the tourna-ment will benefit right to Hike, a local charity that supports causes and provides college scholar-ships in honor of the late Meredith Emerson.

the cost is $125 per golfer and the organization is looking for sponsors at various levels. registra-tion and a putting contest will begin at 9 a.m. with a shotgun start slated for 10. dinner and awards are scheduled for after the tournament.

For more into or to register, visit www.righttohikeinc.com. For questions and sponsorship information, send emails to [email protected].

New fees for mountain bikers at state parks

atlanta — the georgia department of natural resources has announced new moun-tain bike trail fees and passes at three state parks, including Fort yargo in barrow county. begin-ning march 1, a $2 daily or $25 annual pass will be required at Fort yargo, Hard labor creek and unicoi state parks. the

existing $3 trail fee at Fort mountain state park will not change.

at the four parks that require mountain bike trail fees, riders without an an-nual pass will be required to check in at the park of-fice during regular hours.

Gwinnett Gab appears in the Thursday and Sun-day editions of the Gwin-nett Daily Post. To submit an item to Gwinnett Gab, email [email protected].

gwinnett gab

military notes


family record

John and annie Fields of lawrenceville an-nounce the engagement of their daughter, Kate-lin olivia Fields of law-renceville, to gregory Scott custer of warner robbins, son of Scott and connie custer of warner robbins.

the bride-elect is the granddaughter of lind-say and diane wilson of Sandwich, mass. She is a graduate of collins Hill High School and is pur-suing a degree in english and english education from the university of georgia.

the future groom is a graduate of Houston

county High School and is pursuing a degree in biomechanical engineer-ing from the university of georgia.

the wedding is planned for June 2 in Su-wanee.

Fields — Custer

Gregory Custer and Katelin Fields

pauline mcgee of lawrenceville recently completed five genera-tions with the birth of her great-great grandson braylon bowers on Jan. 10. mcgee, center hold-ing braylon, is shown here with her granddaughter Kim bowers, on left, her daughter carolyn Smith, on right, and great-grand-

son blake bowers, back, all of lawrenceville.

Five generations

dr. and mrs. John e. west of grayson, announce the engagement of their daugh-ter, Kathryn lee west of grayson, to Jonathan paul leathers, of covington, son of mr. and mrs. Steve leathers of covington.

the bride-elect is a 2009 graduate of Valdosta State university, where she re-ceived a bachelor’s degree in fine arts. She is pursuing a master’s degree in educa-tion from the university of georgia. She is employed with rockdale public Schools.

the future groom is a 2011 graduate of georgia college and State univer-sity, where he received a

bachelor’s degree in busi-ness administration. He is employed with Quarry Ser-vices.

the wedding is planned for may 19 in auburn.

West — Leathers

Jonathan Leathers and Kathryn West

engagements

generations

Air Force Airman Roie I. Felix recently graduated from basic military train-ing at lackland air Force base in San antonio. He is the son of tywona Speller of Snellville.

Air Force Airman Lou-is A. Ramos recently grad-uated from basic military training at lackland air Force base in San antonio. He is the son of louis and ronilynn ramos of Su-wanee.

Air Force Reserve Air-man Hannah L. Rice recently graduated from basic military training at lackland air Force base in San antonio. She is the daughter of eric and lisa rice of duluth.

Air Force Airman Sherilee A. Edwards re-cently graduated from basic military training at lackland air Force base in San antonio. She is the daughter of arlene graham of Queens Village, n.y., and ericardo edwards of buford.

Air Force Airman Jon T. Clines recently gradu-ated from basic military training at lackland air Force base in San antonio. He is the son of Jon clines Sr. of lilburn.

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric R. Foster re-cently completed navy le-galman accession training at the naval Justice School in newport, r.i. He is a 1999 graduate of Stephen-son High School in Stone mountain.

Air Force Col. Phillip B. Barks became commander of the 18th air Support op-erations croup at pope air Force base in Fayetteville, n.c. He is the son of wil-liam and Julie barks of nor-cross.

Air Force Airman 1st Class David H. Linke re-cently graduated from basic military training at lackland air Force base in San anto-nio. He is the son of dave and debra linke of norcross.

Air Force Airman Jes-sica L. Carson recently graduated from basic mili-tary training at lackland air Force base in San antonio. She is the daughter of the-resa liaguno of lawrencev-ille.

Navy Seaman Appren-tice Justin D. Johnson re-cently completed a 10-month shipyard availability aboard the guided missile cruiser uSS mobile bay deployed to yokosuka, Japan. He is the son of bonnie and Frank e. Johnson.

National Guard Special-ist Aaron Findley is mobi-lizing to guantanamo bay, cuba with the 170th military police battalion, g.a. army national guard, to support the global war on terror.

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Alvin K. Lee was pro-moted to his current rank while serving with the ma-rine air control 18, 1st ma-rine aircraft wing, marine corps air Station, Futenma, Japan. He is the son of Sara S. and Jim K. lee of nor-cross.

military notes

Katie Simpson of buford celebrated five generations for her family. Simpson, front row sitting, is shown here with her granddaugh-ter, Katie Keneipp of buford,(second row left to right), great-great grand-daughter, annabelle taylor potts, great-granddaughter Katie potts of winder, and daughter ruth Keneipp of buford.

Five generations

Call 770-963-9205 or visit www.gwinnettdailypost.com to subscribe to the

Gwinnett Daily Post.


your community

By Tyler EstepStaff Writer

tyler.estep @gwinnettdailypost.com

sugar Hill — sugar Hill residents can now sign up to receive weather alerts via text and email.

The city recently an-nounced the service, which will relay local alerts from the National Weather Ser-vice to registered users. In order to receive the texts, emails or both, interested residents must read a dis-claimer posted on Sugar Hill’s website — www.

cityofsugarhill.com — and complete a form before turning it in at sugar Hill city Hall.

The form must be signed and returned in person to be processed. registrants should allow up to 30 days for the information to be processed.

The offering comes on the heels of sugar Hill ac-tivating a series of severe weather sirens throughout the city. When residents hear those sirens, they are urged to seek shelter and listen to the radio or TV for

updates on the active severe weather action.

Those sirens are also connected to the National Weather Service.

Sugar Hill residents offered weather alerts via text messaging, email

By Meghan KotowskiStaff Writer

meghan.kotowski @gwinnettdailypost.com

lawrenceVille — Considered the largest St. patrick’s day celebration in gwinnett county, the annual spring green Festi-val will be hosted by New Lawrenceville on March 17.

this year, the organiza-tion has added a 5K run to the mix, which starts the daylong party. at 7 a.m., participants can reg-ister for the Chick-fil-A 5K race series. at 8 a.m., the 1-mile fun walk begins and is followed by the road race. People can register

in advance for the event at cfaraceseries.com.

The rest of the celebra-tion kicks off at 10 a.m. where attendees can troll around the vendors sur-rounding Gwinnett Coun-ty’s Historic courthouse. there will be food, art, crafts and other various products for sale, plus sev-eral local businesses will be available to talk to the public.

organizers didn’t forget to include the children. there is a Kid’s cor-ner with sand art, tie die, bounce houses and face painting to keep the little ones entertained through-out the day.

after the festival ends, New Lawrenceville hosts a free concert at 6 p.m. on the gwinnett Historic Courthouse lawn. Local bands and performers from around the county will be front and center through-out the evening, putting on a st. patty’s show.

New Lawrenceville is raising money for three charities with this event, which include the Law-renceville Police Depart-ments benevolent Fund, the Special Needs of Gwin-nett and Gwinnett Medical center Foundation. the money will come from some of the funds raised by purchasing booths,

various sponsorship levels, advertising space or run-ning in the 5K.

There are still vendors booths, sponsorship and volunteers opportuni-ties available. For more information, visit www.newlawrenceville.com or contact wendy ryoul at [email protected] or 678-469-5667.

New Lawrenceville is a nonprofit organization of volunteers in the city of Lawrenceville dedicated to “bringing community to-gether and never using tax payers’ dollars for promot-ing the city of Lawrencev-ille.”

Spring Green Festival announces activities

By Josh GreenStaff Writer

josh.green @gwinnettdailypost.com

winder — in a given year, the national weather service counts 10,000 se-vere thunderstorms, 5,000 floods and some 1,000 tor-nadoes across the united States. So hefty is the load of potential catastrophes, the weather pros often need help.

Which is where the Sky-warn program comes in.

introduced in the 1970s, Skywarn trains emergency personnel and regular folks to become spotters for all types of weather hazards — and to report back to NWS officials. The volunteer program counts nearly 300,000

trained spotters nation-wide. They are the first line of defense against severe weather, the nws says.

And the program is gaining steam in barrow County.

Fifty-six students at-tended a recent two-hour Skywarn training class put on by barrow county Emergency Services in conjunction with barrow County Skywarn.

“Class participants learned the basics of thunderstorm develop-ment,” said barrow coun-ty Emergency Services Emergency Management Coordinator Penny Clack. “They also learned the fundamentals of storm structure, how to identify

potential severe weather features, what information to report and other topics.”

Since the program start-ed four decades ago, the information provided by skywarn spotters, coupled with Doppler radar tech-nology, improved satellite and other data, has en-abled NWS to issue more timely and accurate warn-ings for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and flash floods, according to the nws’s website.

in barrow, the class was taught by barry gooden of the NWS. Attendees included regular barrow county citizens, barrow county employees, mem-bers of the barrow county Community Emergency response team, per-

sonnel from the Oconee county Fire department and others.

“We were very pleased with the attendance of this class and the knowledge the participants received,” said barrow county Emergency Services Chief Dennis Merrifield.

Barrow County’s Skywarn program a big hit

dulutH — the southeastern railway museum will recognize black History month by hosting a program called: “From John Hen-ry to rosa parks: african American influence on transportation History” on Feb. 18. the program will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and visitors can set their own pace on the self-guided tour that will inform about some of the black who changed trans-portation history.

Among the topics to explore are black inven-tors who were important to transportation and

freed slaves and how they helped build the railroad. The tour will feature three interactive stops, including a Jim crow era passenger car. There will also be crafts and other special activities during the event.

cost is $6 for children, $9 for adults and $7 for seniors, which includes admission to the museum and all activities. Train rides are also available for a cost of $3 per per-son.

For more info, call 770-495-0253, ext. 2, or go to www.srmduluth.org.

— From staff reports

Southeastern Railway Museum recognizes Black History Month



Visit us online atwww.gwinnettdailypost.com


lifestyles

a few days ago, i got another email from my old friend mon-sieur nicolas garreau, the parisian gentlemen whose company apoteo Surprise offers a variety of different “romantic scenarios” for Valentine’s day.

you may remember that i told you about some of these a couple of years ago. the only catch is that you have to go to paris, but if you have the time and money, m. gar-reau can definitely help you orchestrate a, um, unique experience.

For example, did you know that it’s possible to “say i love you with

a human heart?” that’s right — but only in paris, or maybe on the set of “indiana Jones and the temple of doom.” (turns out it’s a guy, or maybe even a guy, dressed up in a giant heart costume.)

Here are some other possible parisian ro-mantic scenarios offered

by apoteo Surprise, as expressed by m. garreau:

“Say i love you with a delivery man.” (you know, i think that’s how my neighbors got di-vorced.)

“Say i love you with a dove.” (yes, but will it still respect me in the morning?)

“Say i love you with a bellboy.” (note to self: when in paris, keep wife away from fancy hotels.)

“Say i love you while flying with a poem.” (i used to fly with poems all the time, until the airlines started charging me extra for them.)

“Say i love you on an advertising van.” (will it

be parked or moving?)“Say i love you on the

wings of an airplane.” (but will anybody be able to hear me over the wind? and hey, can i at least bring my poem?)

“Say i love you in a drive-in theater.” (are we talking about the paris in France or the one in texas?)

“Say i love you with a laser.” (i know that’s always been a dream of mine: “oh, Sweetheart! i love you so—aHHH! aHHH! aHHH!”)

apparently the big seller this year, however, involves “saying i love you by projecting under the eiffel tower.” i’m

thinking that might go something like this:

“well, honey, here we are, right under the eiffel tower.”

“you’re afraid of com-mitment, aren’t you? aren’t you??”

“calm down, honey. i think you’re projecting.”

oK, this “scenario” actually involves having your photograph, along with “a personalized message of love,” pro-jected onto the bank of the river Seine, directly underneath the famous landmark.

consider the following anecdote from apoteo Surprise’s promotional materials (yes, i’m

on their mailing list): “michel, 32, was to-tally astonished when he suddenly saw his photo appearing on Seine banks with the message ‘mi-chel, you are the man of my life, i love you more than all.’ with emotion, the young man kissed his lady-love while the yacht crew cheered and served champagne to the two lovers.”

i suppose it could have been worse. the crew could have broken out the lasers.

Rob Jenkins is a local freelance writer and col-lege professor. Email him at [email protected].

From Paris with love: More unique ideas for Valentine’s

i’ll bet everyone read-ing this has invented something. or at least improvised, innovated or improved something. really, is there anyone out there who’s never gotten out of a jam with a twisted paper clip?

actually, inventing is usually the easiest part of the process. the patent-ing, manufacturing and marketing are where the trouble comes in.

enter the inventors as-sociation of georgia which meets at ryan’s restaurant in norcross the fourth Saturday of every month. inventors from all over the state gather to share con-nections, resources, advice and knowledge about inventors’ needs.

“we provide guidance and websites loaded with information for begin-ners,” longtime member dave Savage said.

and there are always experienced inventors willing to mentor, like Jan Janicek of Stone moun-tain. Janicek, the most se-nior member of the group who has been paying his dues since 1967, has only one patent to his credit.

“it was for a homestyle soft drink dispenser, but it was too expensive to manufacture,” Janicek said, noting that he knows the ropes from both ends.

For many, the old adage “necessity is the mother of invention” was the driving force in their cre-ations. terry dellinger of lilburn holds five patents for inventions related to computers and construc-tion he created while working in each of those fields.

members don’t all have degrees from places like georgia tech, either. carlyen cumbie, also of lilburn, left home in 1949 at age 16 to make it on his own. after working for 50 years as a plumber, he retired to pursue his first love in life, inventing.

For years cumbie made miniature farm wagons

and received a patent for a lock he designed for a retainer pin in a miniature tractor.

“details like that make the difference between these things being worth a few dollars or a few hundred dollars,” cumbie said.

today he focuses on inventing devices to make life easier for people with disabilities.

“when i see people struggling to do some-thing, i want to do what i can to help out,” he said. “a Vietnam vet told me how it’s impossible to wheel a chair and hold an umbrella at the same time, so i invented an umbrella holder for his wheelchair.”

larry woods of nor-cross never set out to invent anything.

“i stumbled into the world of packaging when i was young and discovered it’s a field of continuous invention,” woods said. His company, South-pak, inc., can custom mold cases for anything anyone ever invented.

these “everyday edi-sons” as some members call themselves, always welcome newcomers like Victor Speight, a real estate agent from law-renceville, who visited iag to sound out some experts on an idea he had in his head regarding recording studios.

if this column has put any ideas in your head, visit www.gainventors.org.

Susan Larson is a writer who lives in Lilburn with her husband, who has sev-eral patents. Email her at [email protected].

Does anyone out there have inventive ideas?

viewpoints

rob jenkins

viewpoints

susan larson

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Yes! Send me more information on Florida & Daytona Beach!

Mail completed entry to Kidsville News!/Daytona BeachP.O. Box 603, Lawrenceville, GA 30046 or visit

kidsville.com/gwinnett to enter at

ENTER BY FEBRUARY 29, 2012!Rules: No purchase necessary. Must be 18 years old or older to enter. Sponsors and their

families are not eligible. All entries must be completely filled out to be eligible. Trip winner is responsible for any and all taxes and/or liabilities associated with the value of the trip pack-age which is estimated at $1,919.80 and which must be claimed as income in the 2012 tax year. The Gwinnett Daily Post is required by law to furnish a federal form 1099 to the Internal Revenue Service and this form will state the $1,919.80 value of the trip package. Trip certifi-

cate is valid for one year and black out dates apply. Winner’s acceptance of prize also grants permission to publish the winning entry information in future Kidsville News! and/or

Gwinnett Daily Post publications. Once winner is notified, they have three days to accept the trip. If confirmation of acceptance is not made, a new winner will be drawn.

PLUS Passes for four to Daytona Lagoon Water Park, Ice Skating at Daytona Ice Arena, The Marine Science Center, Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse and tickets to see the Daytona Cubs play at Jackie Robinson Ballpark!

AND A $75 gift cardfor Aunt Catfish’s on the River!

Have you been spotted?

To see and share photos from local events, visit

spotted.gwinnettdailypost.com



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