Book Burning - Can It Happen Here?

One fateful day in Germany - May 10, 1933 - university students burned books, thousands of books. Giant bonfires were fueled by works from such legendary authors as Helen Keller, Ernest Hemingway and Sigmund Freud.

The book burners were 'cleansing' Nazi society from books that didn't meet the requirements of German spirit.

Could book burning happen here? Sometimes I wonder when I people urge libraries or book stores not to display, rent or sell books that those people don't like. Many years ago in Gwinnett County, D&B fought back when a mother demanded that a book by Judy Blume be banned from all Gwinnett school libraries.

Our daughter had read that book - after we reviewed it and okay-ed it (which is the role of a parent). Interestingly, the woman who led a media campaign for the Blume book banning had never read the book. She had just heard it wasn't appropriate.

It's this type of "I don't like this book so get rid of it" attitude that is the cursor to book burning and controlling what people read and how they think.

This type of control could result in book burning here, just like in Germany. To learn more about book burning, plan to see the traveling exhibit, Fighting the Fires of Hate: America and the Nazi Book Burnings, at the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega, Ga. Produced by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the exhibit is on display until March 15, 2013. A lecture series accompanies the exhibit.

For more information, call 706-364-1520.

A Bernard by Any Other Name

When the announcement came in January that North Georgia College and State University and Gainesville State College were combining, faculty, students and grads all were concerned about what would happen to school programs, curriculum, and staffing.

Few people, at that time, thought about the fate of the Fighting Geese and the Saint Bernard. (The aggressive birds and the reverent canine are the mascots for Gainesville College and NGCSU, respectively.)

The joining of the two schools meant either one of the mascots would be killed off or, worse yet, both would have to disappear to make way for a new mascot for the soon-to-be University of North Georgia?

Gainesville's Fighting Geese  Laker

What should the newly formed university do? Keep the Saints or the Geese? Or perhaps combine the two, i.e. the Fighting Bernards, the Saintly Geese, the Fighting Saints, or maybe even Bernie the Goose.

The NGCSU Saint

A Name that Mascot committee pondered the dilemma and came up with three possible mascot contenders: Golden Eagles, Nighthawks and Warriors.

Then, the students, faculty, staff and others were asked to vote for one of the three. Votes are in and tallied...and  the winner is the Nighthawks.

The reviews for the new mascot are mixed."Not tough enough for me...nighthawks just fly around eating insects," said one student in a Gainesville Times interview. Another declared, "I LOVE IT....NOBODY else has this mascot anywhere near us!"

To be honest, we think we know why no other schools in the area are Nighthawks. It's a weird selection. Maybe the Fighting Saints would have been better. Oh well, the election is over. Can't wait to see the Nighthawk mascot parading around at a UNG basketball game!

Lessons Learned at Lumpkin Learning Summit

Literacy (or the lack of) is a problem in Lumpkin. That's what we learned at the Adult Learning in Lumpkin (ALL) Summit here in Dahlonega on Oct. 10.

Over 100 people - judges, county commissioners, state representatives, Lumpkin and NGCSU educational leaders and other area dignitaries - attended the half day summit presented by State Senator Steve Gooch.

One of the highlights of the event (besides a keynote address from Georgia's First Lady Sandra Deal) was a panel of leaders talking about literacy and how we (the county and state) are tackling the issue. Here's what we learned from the panelists:

Lumpkin County Sheriff Stacy Jarrard - Not being able to read is a problem with inmates. The jail had to video tape the reading of the Do and Don't jail handbook because so many inmates couldn't read it. The Sheriff's department strongly supports the GED program, offering GED classes for jail inmates."We have had 50 to 60 graduates from our GED program." Sheriff Jarrard sees that education is key to lowering the crime rate, and he needs volunteers for the GED program.

Dr. Bonita Jacobs, President of NGCSU - With the upcoming consolidation (NGCSU and Gainesville College), the soon-to-be University of North Georgia can create multiple paths for people to work for advanced degrees. "I long for the day," she emphasized, "when we are bringing in more businesses so that our graduates who want to stay here can."

Tricia Pridemore, Executive Director, Governor's Office of Workforce Development - "The most frequently asked question when businesses look to Georgia," said Ms. Pridemore, "is 'Can the work force do the job?'" Businesses want to know what it will take to train people for their jobs, she added. (Oh by the way, did you know that Georgia is the 33rd largest economy in the world?)
 
Roger Yonts, HR Director, Koyo Bearings - According to Yonts, when the large Lumpkin employer Koyo hires, they first look at the applicants' education qualifications because "Education is critical...everything our employees do is based on their being able to read." Yonts also confirmed what we already new job competition is fierce in Lumpkin. At a recent job fair, 400 applicants applied for 45 openings at the Dahlonega Koyo plant.

Dewey Moye, Lumpkin County Superintendent of Schools - The Lumpkin school system is committed to a 100 percent graduation rate and for students to be on level at the third grade. The school system is also pushing parental involvement, especially in the high school years. The goal, Moye stressed, is to get each parent on the high school campus at least once.

In summary, at the we learned that the more educated the community, the more appealing the community. Education is the only way we can be successful.