Thursday, August 27, 2015
forum
6A
Now known as only history Y ou might not know Beloit College in Wisconsin, but a group of faculty and staff members have put the college on the map with their annual Mindset List. This year, the list is 18 years old, the same age as most college freshmen. The list for the class of 2019 is very telling about young people beginning their four-year (wink wink) journey through college. For example, this year’s group of college freshmen only knows Turner Field as the home of the Atlanta Braves. By the time they arrived on the planet, the old Atlanta Fulton County Stadium had been razed and turned into a parking lot. People they only know as historical figures include Princess Diana, Jacques Cousteau, Mother Teresa and, of course, rapper Notorious B.I.G. He was also known as Biggie Smalls and recorded his first album, “Ready to Die” in 1994. Ready or not, he was killed in a drive by shooting in 1997. The freshman class has never licked a postage stamp and believes hybrid cars have always been mass produced. When you speak to these young folks about “turn of the century,” they may ask “which one.” A few things were true when they were mere toddlers. Cell phones were expensive big devices and kept in the car for emergencies. It’s a shame that had to change. Now, teachers can’t tell if kids are using their phones to take notes or plan a party. The Internet has gone from something parents encouraged their children to use to something they beg them to get off. When I was a kid, my mother thought Paul McCartney needed a haircut and Elton John needed a less flashy wardrobe. This class only knows them as two British entertainers who have been knighted by the queen. The Commonwealth of Virginia has been without
Harris Blackwood a state song all of their lives. The state did away with “Carry Me Back to Old Virginny” and never could settle on a new one. The Houston Oilers are a footnote in the NFL history books to this crowd. Incidentally, they are now the Tennessee Titans. It pains me to say this, but the freshman class looks at email as formal communications, while texts and tweets are the informal. This is yet another of the reasons I am unhappy Al Gore invented the Internet. To this group, “The Lion King” has always been on Broadway. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. I have been a member of my church long enough to have seen the current freshman class grow from toddlers to young men and women. Some of my fondest memories are of their cute little baby-like faces with melt-your-heart smiles. As they head off to college, they are still in the stage where they know more than their parents. They did, however, accept their parents’ generous purchases of bedding, lamps, a dorm-sized refrigerator and a new computer. The computer will soon be outdated and dorm decorations will only be useful until they move into an off-campus apartment. A year from now, Beloit College will likely return with a new list for the class of 2020 and we will be amazed again at how much stuff we think of as new is standard fare for them. In some ways the list makes them look so young and makes me feel so ancient. Harris Blackwood is a Gainesville resident whose columns appear weekly.
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Publisher Charlotte Atkins General Manager Norman Baggs Editor LeAnne Akin
Feeling less like an orphaned adult No one, regardless of how old we are, likes to be an orphan. It feels oddly like a ship that has been securely moored in a harbor but then is set free to drift without anchor. There is even a point when you feel you are without rudder. We accept it as a passage of life and tend to look upon it as a mantle of age as parents grow old and die. Since we know that the very young are sometimes orphaned, we tend to save our pity for them but losing the ones who raised you is hard at any age. No one likes it. I know that much is true. It is, as Daddy was oft to say about an undeniable truth, the law and the gospel. “What,” asked a woman of me who was 80 and stood over the casket of her 96-year-old mother, “am I gonna do without Mama?” It doesn’t set well with me even now years after the loss of my last remaining parent who disappeared as a vapor into the heavens. I don’t like being an orphan. These days, particularly, I yearn for their counsel and commonsensical insights into a world that is spinning quickly into something
Ronda Rich that I cannot recognize or understand. I need Daddy, who was my rudder, and Mama who was my anchor. It is, perhaps, my disdain of being an orphan and missing the wisdom and stories of my parents that I have taken up with my father-in-law as I have, the man I always, to the amusement of many, call by both of his names. “Hello Grant Tinker!” I will call out cheerfully either in person when we walk into the house or talk on the phone. I even write notes to him that begin, “Dear Grant Tinker.” In person, I always see the twinkle it teases from his eyes while I hear it in his voice when my greet-
ings coax a smile from his voice. The other day on the phone, he chuckled lightly. “You always call me by both names. I don’t know why you do that.” Sometimes, he is both bemused and amused by it. “Because it’s such a lyrical name,” I replied happily. Bless him. I realize it could be an annoyance to him but he accepts it with humor and sweetness. I remember the day that I knew it would be all right to call him by both names as I do even in the midst of conversation such as, “Well, Grant Tinker, it’s like this.” After a long visit, we were leaving his house and Tink turned the car around which had us drive back by the front door where he stood, as a good host, to watch until we had driven up the steep drive and out of the wrought iron gates. As we drove past, I waved and called out the window, “Good-bye Grant Tinker! We love you!”
I am grateful he is willing to share his father... It helps to make me feel less like an orphan.
He threw back his head, filled with an abundance of beautiful silver strands, and laughed merrily. Chuckling still, he waved until we could see him no more. I shall hold that memory always because of the beauty, light and kindness it gave to this orphan. He is around the same age that my parents would be and he has seen the evolution of America that began with the Great Depression, slipped into World War II then recovered to become a strong country industrially. He remembers when radio was young and when black and white television was born. His experiences are vast and his stories many. Sometimes, he and I will set off into a storm of conversation while Tink sits quietly and listens, smiling proudly at the rapport between two of the most important people in his life. I am grateful he is willing to share his father with me. It helps to make me feel less like an orphan. Ronda Rich is the bestselling author of several books. Sign up for her newsletter at www.rondarich.com. Her column appears weekly.
Gov. Deal, GEMA/HS encouraging Georgians: Get ready during National Preparedness Month
Survey shows improved preparedness, but room for improvement More than three out of four Georgians are at least somewhat prepared for an emergency, but many have not taken all of the essential steps to get ready, according to a new statewide survey by the Georgia Emergency Management Agency/Homeland Security (GEMA/HS) Ready Georgia campaign. To promote the importance of preparing before disasters strike, Gov. Nathan Deal has proclaimed September as National Preparedness Month in Georgia and encourages residents to take action and get fully prepared. According to the annual survey, 80 percent of Georgians report being at least somewhat prepared for a largescale disaster or emergency, a 27 percent increase since the Ready Georgia campaign launched in 2008. Ready Georgia promotes three key steps to readiness: be informed about potential threats and protective measures to take in emergency situations; make a plan for communicating and reconnecting with family members if you are separated during an emergency; and build a kit of emergency supplies that allows you and your family to be self-sufficient for up to 72 hours following a disaster. Most Georgians have stocked key emergency supplies at home, including a flashlight with extra batteries (85 percent), a first aid kit (71 percent) and a three-day supply of water and nonperishable food (67 percent). However, only 36 percent of Georgians
have arranged a family meeting place or reconnection plan, and just 27 percent have purchased a NOAA Weather Radio. “It’s great to see that more Georgians are stocking supplies, but it’s also essential to have a plan. Disasters don’t wait to strike when you’re at home. They may hit when your family is separated at work or school,” said GEMA/ HS Director Jim Butterworth. “At the beginning of September, we’re all getting used to the new school year routines. It’s the perfect time to for every family to develop and discuss a communications plan to figure out how you will reconnect after an emergency.” To make preparing easier, Ready Georgia offers a Ready profile tool on its website and mobile app. Creating a profile allows Georgians to develop a tailored communications plan and supplies checklist and take it with them wherever they go. The 2015 survey also shows that personal experience with emergency situations plays a large role in preparedness. Twenty-six percent of respondents indicated they had not stocked emergency supplies, because they hadn’t experienced a disaster and don’t think one will strike. In contrast, more than one-third of survey participants reported that they had personally experienced a large-scale disaster, and of those, 72 percent said they were then motivated to prepare for emergencies, and most stocked more supplies.
National Preparedness Month was founded after 9/11 to increase awareness and encourage action for emergency preparedness nationwide. Throughout September, the GEMA/ HS Ready Georgia campaign will join a nationwide coalition of thousands of private, public and nonprofit organizations, each hosting local events and initiatives designed to motivate people to prepare their homes, workplaces and communities for emergencies of all kinds. Many groups have already committed to supporting the National Preparedness Month message locally. Notable Georgia chefs like Hugh Acheson and Kevin Gillespie will be competing to create the tastiest recipe using nonperishable foods in the second annual No Power? No Problem! Recipe Contest taking place Sept. 8-30 on the Ready Georgia Facebook page. On Sept. 5, The Home Depot stores statewide will provide a preparedness-themed activity book to all participants in the company’s monthly Kids Workshop. The month-long observance concludes Sept. 30 with National PrepareAthon! Day, when everyone is encouraged to participate in an activity to get prepared. More National Preparedness Month events across the state can be found on Ready Georgia’s community calendar. Visit www.ready.ga.gov or download the recently improved Ready Georgia mobile app to get prepared and stay up to date on weather conditions.