Just a reminder that the Sentinel newspapers will be closed the week after Christmas – the 26th thru the 30th, in order to be our families and friends. There will be no print edition for this week and all on-line content will be placed the following week. Have a safe and happy Holiday- The Sentinel Newspaper

College students expected to play a major role in the election

By Frank Bradley

Sentinel writer

When Irma Nichols came to work on Monday, October 10th, she had a surprise waiting for her. Irma is the county voter registrar, a position she has held for the past 21 years.

“There was a bundle of voter registration forms that came from the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office that had 167 Young Harris College students who had registered to vote in the Young Harris City election which is to be held next Tuesday,” she told me. “They all had their address listed as 1 College Street in Young Harris. “They have registered to vote in that city election with the understanding they could vote in the presidential preference election in their home county on March 6, 2012.

She said this was the first time they had had so many YHC students registered to vote in the city election. “Back in 1996, there were a lot of students registered, but not this many,” she said. “One of the electors in the county challenged their registration and they were all removed at that time,” she said.

NIchols said she had checked with other counties that contained colleges and was told that while it is a grey area in Georgia law that it nonetheless legal. She said there were some problems initially with some of the registration forms that didn’t have copies of drivers license or other identification. She said her office sent out letters and had to call some of them.

She told me that aside from the 167 new students who had registered, that the City of Young Harris only has 184 other registered voters who are permanent residents.

NIchols said the upcoming election on Tuesday will be for one seat on the Young Harris City Council that is now occupied by Jennifer Mulkey. Mulkey has opposition from Deborah Edwards, a retired Union County teacher, who lives in Young Harris. Another candidate who also qualified for this seat is Stuart Miller, who is director of resident life at Young Harris College.

Also on the ballot is a special election for the State Senate seat formerly held by Jim Butterworth, who resigned to accept the governor’s appointment as commander of the Georgia National Guard.

There are five candidates running for that office: Rick Austin, Curtis Burgor, David R. Strickland and John K. Wilkinson (all of whom are Republicans) along with Mary Beth Focer, who is a Democrat.

Additionally, the ballot will hold a straight up or down vote on a Homestead exemption/School District. It exempts property owners from ad valorem taxes for educational purposes in the amount of $8,000 of assessed value of the homestead for residents in the county. The Young Harris City ballot also has a provision which could exempt another $10,000 of the homeowner’s assessed value.

Edwards told the Sentinel she thinks the student vote will distort the election playing field. She said non-student registered voters all have addresses and could be contacted by the candidates, but that since the registered students all had the same address, how can they be contacted?

She said when it was learned that Mr. Miller had qualified, the mayor had offered to hold a forum where voters would have a chance to get to know the candidates before voting, but that Mr. Miller said he could not make it.

She also pointed out that the regular Young Harris registered voters pay taxes, while the students do not.

“It is like representation without taxation,” she said.

In a phone conversation with Stuart Miller, he told the Sentinel that he had thought about running for a long time. “I’ve lived here for almost four years,” he said. “I  love my job and I want to be active in my community. While I don’t know everything there is to know about how the council works, I think I know enough to be helpful. I am also willing to learn, and I intend to approach all issues with an open mind.”

Miller said he would like to see a more vibrant downtown, where there are more businesses and where they flourish. He said he was open to the idea of restaurants serving alcohol, and for practices that would encourage growth.

“My main focus has been on students,” he said. “To see that bad things don’t happen to them.”

Regarding the large number of students who have registered to vote at the college rather than at their parents home, he said he has heard many of them saying, “I don’t want to drive back to my parents house if I can vote here and not have to drive back.”

Miller said he is excited that the students will have a voice in government. He said while it is difficult for them to see they are having much impact on the national level, it is easy for them to see the kind of impact they can have locally.

While I was unable to reach Ms. Mulkey to get her views on the student vote, I did talk to one of the City Councilmen who is not up for reelection. He said he knew Mr. Miller, had spoken with him and that he appears to be a reasonable person. One who would vote his own conscience. However, he told me he felt that because Mr. Miller worked for the college, he would have to recuse himself when it came to matters dealing with the college.

Whatever the outcome of Tuesday’s election, Ms. Nichols if there are still three candidates in the race, only one would be eliminated on Monday. The two highest vote getters would face off against one another in the runoff which will take place on December 6.

2nd Annual Towns County Product Drive & Struts help Community

Last weekend Struts Shoe Store in Hiawassee held their 2^nd Annual Towns County Product Drive with great success. Folks from our communities brought products the TC Food Pantry are not able to obtain at wholesale prices such as, paper, hygiene, baby & pet products. The barrel was full of all these types of products! In addition, Struts held a drawing at $1 per entry to raise cash so the Food Pantry can purchase food at the wholesale price of $.13 a pound. Jenny Poole, Owner of Struts Shoe Store pictured here with Teresa Stephens of the Towns County Food Pantry, handed her a check for $165! Other businesses also participated in helping Struts Shoe Store hold this event. Special thank you to King’s BBQ & Catering, 95.1 Real Country Radio, Here’s the Scoop Ice Cream & Len Poole of Fine Line Builder’s. Thank you to all the community who came out & supported this event!

GED® Graduates achieve milestone

Proud and happy family members filled the North Georgia Technical College Clegg Auditorium to standing room only for the 2011 GED® Graduation on Thursday, October 6, 2011.  Nearly one hundred of the more than 500 who achieved their GED® this year were there to process down the aisle and take their seat for this important celebration.

“You’ve made an important investment in yourself, and have set an important example for your families,” said NGTC President Steve Dougherty.  “Not only have you increased your own economic prospects, you have also increased the prospect for your children.  Your children are likely to match or exceed your education.”

The audience then listened attentively as four students gave stirring testimonials of the courage and hard work demonstrated by this achievement.

Jennifer Wilson of Clarkesville was NGTC’s 2011 Exceptional Adult Georgian in Literary Education (EAGLE).  She shared that her inspiration for going back to school was her 8-year-old son’s disappointment when he realized she had not finished school.  “He deserved more than the stack of bills I couldn’t pay due to a lack of education,” she declared.  “If you or someone you know has a desire to earn a GED®, let me encourage you,” Wilson finished.  “Yes, it will be hard, but in the end, it is worth it.”

Charlee Cleghorn from Clayton delighted everyone with a peek inside a bright young mind with a world of possibilities before her.  A homeschooler, Cleghorn went for her GED® so that she could enroll in college to pursue her life’s ambition to be an ambassador to the country of Ethiopia.  “The GED® is an excellent first step towards this goal,” she said, encouraging all present to, “Seek happiness and peace in all things.”

Michael Jarrett of Blue Ridge testified that his learning started with God.  “He called me into the ministry and later he gave me the opportunity to go back to school and learn how to read,” Jarrett said.  He ruefully admitted he thought the Math would be easy, “But Math is not the same as it was several years ago.”  Michael finished his speech with, “This GED® has helped me tremendously.  Since I have gotten it, I have already had two job interviews I wouldn’t have had without it.”

Christine Canup of Toccoa told of her progression from pregnant high school dropout teenager to successful homemaker and college student.  “I want to thank my amazing husband who inspired and believed in me; my two sons who make me so proud to be their mom!” she said.  “And to my teachers and my classmates, I have learned so much from you all.  Congratulations, Class of 2011!”

At the beginning go of the conferring ceremony, Cody Wood was recognized as being a member of the 800 Club for achieving a perfect score on one part of the GED® exam.

Individuals who have not received a high school diploma have a greater chance of success in earning a GED® if he or she attends free classes sponsored by North Georgia Technical College’s Adult Education Department.  The six learning centers offer traditional class room settings or the option to work online from home.

NGTC has an excellent record with 83% of the graduating students entering postsecondary education compared to 57% statewide.   For the last several years, an average of 54% of students who enrolled in adult education classes made gains in their education. This compares to an average of 39% of students in adult education programs statewide.

Photos of the ceremony and videos of the four student speeches are posted on www.facebook.com/NGTCAdultEd.  For more information on the Adult Education programs at North Georgia Technical College, contact 706-754-7717 or visit www.northgatech.edu.

Picture:  GED Graduate Michael Jarrett addresses audience at commencement.

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NORTHEAST GEORGIA MEDICAL CENTER RECOGNIZED AS

GEORGIA’S #1 HEART HOSPITAL FOR THE SEVENTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR

HealthGrades® study finds Northeast Georgia Medical Center is one of only six hospitals in the nation to rank #1 in all four cardiac categories

GAINESVILLE, Ga. – Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) is ranked number one in Georgia and in the top 5% in the nation for cardiac care for the seventh year in a row (2006-2012), according to a comprehensive study released today by HealthGrades®.  Specifically, for 2012, NGMC is:

• #1 in Georgia for Overall Cardiac Services
• #1 in Georgia for Cardiac Surgery
• #1 in Georgia for Non-Surgical Cardiology Services
• #1 in Georgia for Coronary Interventional Procedures

In fact, for 2012, NGMC is one of only six hospitals in the nation to rank number one in all four cardiac categories.  The study also found NGMC is five-star rated for:

• Coronary Bypass Surgery
• Valve Replacement Surgery
• Treatment of Heart Attacks
• Treatment of Heart Failure

“We’re ecstatic that our formula for success continues to work, year after year,” says J. Jeffrey Marshall, MD, an interventional cardiologist with Northeast Georgia Heart Center and medical director of Cardiac Cath Labs at NGMC. “Talented physicians and skilled staff, teamed with the latest technology and experienced research, leads to excellent care for our patients.”

“The care our surgery patients receive is a direct reflection of the collaborative relationship fostered by the cardiologists and surgeons at NGMC,” says Alan Wolfe, MD, a cardiothoracic surgeon with Northeast Georgia Physicians Group Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgeons.  “My partner, Dr. Dan Winston, started the surgery program at NGMC nine years ago.  I left Atlanta after two decades specifically to join him, and Dr. Clifton Hastings, on the #1 heart surgery team in Georgia.”

The fourteenth annual HealthGrades® Hospital Quality in America study also found patients admitted to the nation’s top performing (five-star rated) hospitals, like NGMC, are approximately 54 percent less likely to die compared to the national hospital average.

“The teamwork of our cardiologists, cardiac surgeons, anesthesiologists, clinical and support staff has established Heart & Vascular Services as the cornerstone of the institution we continue to build,” says Carol Burrell, NGMC President and CEO. “People don’t need to drive to Atlanta when Georgia’s #1 heart program is right here in Gainesville.”

ABOUT HEART & VASCULAR SERVICES AT NGMC

In addition to offering emergency cardiac services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, Northeast Georgia Medical Center also offers:

• Cardiac surgery, including advanced minimally invasive valve repair
  (visit www.nghs.com/heartvalve to watch the video)

• Interventional procedures in the Cardiac Cath Lab

• Around-the-clock inpatient care at the Ronnie Green Heart Center

• Internationally-renowned electrophysiology services

When you suffer a heart attack, it’s a race against time to restore blood flow to your heart.  That’s why we collaborate with EMS in 15 counties so they can electronically send EKG’s from the ambulance to NGMC, where cardiologists decide if heart attack patients need to bypass the ER and go directly to the Cath Lab for immediate treatment.  The door-to-treatment times put this collaboration among the most efficient in the nation.

Learn more at www.nghs.com/heart.
ABOUT HEALTHGRADES

HealthGrades’ hospital ratings and awards reflect the track record of patient outcomes at hospitals in the form of mortality and complication rates. HealthGrades rates hospitals independently based on data that hospitals submit to the federal government. No hospital can opt in or out of being rated, and no hospital pays to be rated.

For 28 procedures and treatments, HealthGrades issues star ratings that reflect the mortality and complication rates for each category of care. Hospitals receiving a 5-star rating have mortality or complication rates that are below the national average, to a statistically significant degree. A 3-star rating means the hospital performs as expected. One-star ratings indicate the hospital’s mortality or complication rates in that procedure or treatment are statistically higher than average. Because the risk profiles of patient populations at hospitals are not alike, HealthGrades risk-adjusts the data to allow for apples-to-apples comparisons.

More information about today’s HealthGrades study, including the complete methodology, can be found at www.healthgrades.com.

U.S. Senators Chambliss and Isakson at YHC

Town Hall meeting with 500 students and adults

By Frank Bradley

Sentinel writer

YOUNG HARRIS–Reduce federal spending, rescind federal regulations, and require the federal government to deal with illegal immigration seemed to be U.S. Senator Saxbe Chambliss and U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson’s mantra during an hour-long town hall meeting on the campus of Young Harris College on Tuesday.

Chambliss called illegal immigration a federal issue. The federal government needs to prevent illegals from coming across the border. It’s a federal responsibility, not one to be handled by the individual states, he said. “Otherwise, we’ll wind up with 50 different immigrations policies.”

Chambliss did not elaborate on how the federal government might do that.  Perhaps, it would be done by a  significant increase in border guards, although that would run contrary to his call for a smaller government work force. He said he thought the Republicans and Democrats should get together and figure out a long-term solution.

Isakson said he and Chambliss had held town hall meetings across most of the state during the month of August and had found two issues on the minds of most Georgians: jobs and the economy.

He said he wanted to make five points: 1) the federal government needs to not spend beyond its means; 2) adjustments needs to be made to the social security for the long run; 3)medicare needs to be fixed or it will break the country by 2017 to 2024; 4) there needs to be tax reform–the last time the tax code was rewritten was 25 years ago; 5)regulations need to be rescinded for they are crippling businesses.

Chambliss said our country’s national debt is the number one threat to our national security. “Our debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is currently at 63 percent,” he said. “Historically when a country’s debt reaches 90 percent it is at a point of no return. Currently, we running deficits as far as the eye can see.”

Chambliss said the government needs to figure out a way to increase revenues other than raising taxes. He said the government needs to do what President Ronald Reagan did in1986, eliminate $1.2 trillion in tax credits and expenditures; bring the corporate rate down and expand the tax base by putting more people to work.

“It worked in ‘86,” he said. “I think it will work now.”

Both senators said they favored a balanced budget amendment. That they felt it is what most Georgians want.

“If everybody else in their state felt like Saxbe and I, it would pass (in the U.S. Congress),” Isakson said.

Regarding foreign aid, Isakson said the percentage of the federal budget that goes to foreign aid amounts to less than 1 percent. “I disagree with about how two-thirds of it is spent,” he said. “Much of it goes to people who don’t like us very much. I think we should fund our friends, but not fund our enemies.”

A student asked why the congress is taking action to cut Pell Grants, saying 40 percent of Young Harris College students need them.” Isakson said there is a lot of pressure to cut programs including educational ones. “We have to prioritize the money we spend,” he said. “It is important that we invest in our students, but we have to hope we can maintain the level of spending we already have.”

Asked about the high price of gasoline, both said they support drilling for oil in the United States.

Speaking about the US trade policy that seems to be favoring China, Chambliss said the country has to be careful negotiating with other countries. That it is a sort of tit for tat. That Georgia is a large agriculture exporter. He added that the US currently has a foreign trade agreement on the table with Columbia, South Korea and Pannama. “We can’t compete with China and Vietnam on labor, he said, “We’ve got to keep ahead of them on technology.”

Isakson said that the Senate cannot pass much unless it is done in a bi-partisan way. “You’ve got to understand, Democrats are not going to get everything  they want, and Republicans are not going to get everything they want. We have to bridget the differences, find common ground.”

A the beginning of the town meeting, YHC President Cathy Cox introduced both senators, said she had know both of them for a long time, and that they were friends. Both senators are University of Georgia graduates. Chambliss took his law degree from the University of Tennessee and practiced law for many years before entering politics. He was elected to the U.S. House in 1994; elected to the Senate in 2002 and again in 2008.

Isakson went to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1999. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004 and again in 2088

Republicans are the driving force in Georgia’s redistricting

By Frank Bradley

Sentinel writer

The General Assembly, with the Republicans in charge of both chambers, convened Monday, Aug. 15 for a special session to create new legislative and congressional districts based on data from the 2010 census. This process occurs at least once every 10 years after the U.S. census.

While Yogi Berra’s caution that “It ain’t over ’til it’s over” still applies, it looks like the boundary lines have been pretty much drawn with respect to Georgia’s redistricting. Georgia has lost population in the south while gaining population in the Atlanta area and north Georgia. Also over the past decade, the state has gained about a million and a half more residents, which results in Georgia gaining an additional congressional seat in Washington.

While there is to be some reshuffling of the lines in north Georgia, it doesn’t look like there will be much change for either Towns or Union counties with respect to the Georgia General Assembly. A look at the proposed maps show that they continue to keep both counties in House District 8 along with Rabun County and parts of White County. There has been some opposition by Commissioners in White County because the new lines carve it up into three separate House districts. So we will have to see how that washes out. Another possible pitfall is Hall County(Gainesville) which is proposed to be carved up from the four House districts as it now is into seven separate districts which will be parts of other counties. It appears the local leaders there are unhappy with with that bit of gerrymandering.

On the Georgia Senate side, Towns is slated to continue in Senate District 50 along with Rabun, Habersham, Stephens, Banks, Franklin and a part of Jackson County.

Union County is slated to remain in Senate District 51 along with Fannin, White, Lumpkin, Gilmer, Dawson and a part of Pickens County.

Kevin Harris, Executive Director of the Georgia Republican Party spoke to Republicans in Blue Ridge on Monday saying Republicans are drawing maps that make sense. He also said that the proposed maps were released Friday, before the special session so citizens would have a chance to see them before a vote is taken.

“We are not splitting counties unless we really have to–to meet the population goal, and we’re trying to keep counties with like interests in the same district,” Harris noted.

Harris said the concept of “one-person, one-vote” requires that every district have a nearly equal number of residents. For example, every Georgia House district should have roughly 54,000 people. To accomplish this, lines must be redrawn to reflect growth in certain areas or a loss of population in others.

Georgia law also requires districts to be contiguous, meaning all parts of the district must be adjacent. It also says mapmakers must preserve “communities of interest,” which are defined as “groups who likely have similar legislative concerns, and therefore would benefit from cohesive representation. These interests might include social, geographic, cultural, ethnic, racial, economic, religious, and/or political.”

Harris contrasted Senate and House district maps drawn by the Democrats in 2002 with the proposed maps released Friday. “You can see that these (2011 proposed) maps show that precincts are important…but even so, everyone is not going to be happy with the new districts,” he said.

According to Harris, redistricting does not just affect the house, senate and congressional members, but appointed board members and authority members for the counties.

In this special session, all committee meetings and sessions of the House and Senate are open to the public. Many committee meetings also stream live on the Internet, and daily meetings of the chambers also will be shown live online.

Harris said even though top lawmakers and the governor have all vowed that the special session will be “short,” there is no set end date and he thinks the process will take two or three weeks.

Once the maps have been finalized, they will be posted to the redistricting committees’ website: /www1.legis.ga.gov/legis/2011_12/house/Committees/reapportionment/gahlcr.htm.

Harris did not have a proposed map for the 9th (includes Union) and 10th (includes Towns) congressional districts however, he emphasized that any congressional district maps are not the same as the House District or the Senate District maps and the implementation of this proposal does not change those district boundaries. He did not provide the following information that was gleaned from other sources.

Proponents of changing the 9th District say that the district should be true to the north-south corridor, which means following I-75 North from north Cherokee County through Gilmer up to Fannin. Right now, the 9th District goes as far west as Dade and as far east as Hall County and consists of Union, Dade, Walker, Whitfield, White, Catoosa, Murray, Gordon, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Lumpkin, Dawson, Hall, and Forsyth counties.

The proposed district removes Union, Lumpkin, Dawson, White, Hall, and Forsyth and adds Bartow, Floyd and Walker, with the option of adding Polk, Northern Parts of Cherokee, or combining parts of the surrounding areas. Each of these options would give the district the mandated population of 691,975. The new district reduces the distance from east to west from 180 miles to 140 miles, making it easier for Representatives to travel from county to county.

According to those who advocate for this change, they say it would reflect the economic bonds of the community, promote better networking of local governments, reduce travel time between one end of the district and the other, link more closely the economic needs of the region and increase the trust level of elected officials in the area. In short, the new district would create an area where the counties have more in common economically and geographically.

Similarly, Congressional District 10 which stretches from Augusta to Clayton north along the South Carolina border, and from Just north of Miledgeville north through Cornelia to Hiawassee in the shape of a two-legged man with a narrow neck and flat head would also be altered to reduce distances and better reflect a more community akin network of governments, although we have yet been unable to discern just how this would shape out. One positive aspect of it though would include both Towns and Union in the same congressional district.

Once the maps are agreed upon and signed into law by Governor Nathan Deal, they must receive approval from either the U.S. Department of Justice or the federal courts.

Editor’s note–Fannin Sentinel editor Elaine Owen provided much of the information included in this article.

Thanks to many from PUP

Members of Operation PUP (Prevent Unwanted Pets) thank the many Towns County residents and out-of-towners who stopped at the square in Hiawassee on Friday and Saturday, May 6-7, to buy flowers. Thank you to Michael Clark, English Country Gardens, who supplied the beautiful hanging baskets and trays of annuals. The profits brought in from this Mother’s Day event will continue our work to help Towns County citizens to spay and neuter their pets and/or strays.

We also had darling doggies in a “Kissing Booth” who came both days. Thanks to owners Pam Brock and Izzy, Edie Wendel and Roxanne, Val Waldroup and Sunny, Wanda Gray and Scampi, and Donna Reynolds and Bandit.  Also many thanks to Robin and Lee Roberts who made the Kissing Booth, along with local artist, Carol Duckworth, who painted her whimsical rendition of “Dogs Rule.”

Operation PUP is a non-profit, 501(c)3 that not only helps with the cost of spay/neuter, but works in the schools to teach students the benefits of fixing their pets. Call l-888-496-2387 if we can help you. Remember: Spay-neuter is the kindest way to end cat and dog overpopulation.

CUTLINE:

Doggie Kissing Booth participants: Izzy, Sunny, and Bandit.

Happy 155^th Birthday

Blending the old with the new on the square in Hiawassee, the Towns County Historical Society is inviting you to this big birthday party on Saturday, May 14^th, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. This is the weekend! There will be lots of fun and games, food, live music and fun for the whole family. Do come and celebrate your county’s history. We will also have reprints of Towns County Pictorial History on sale in the gazebo–a much asked for book with photos from early days and people in the county.

Here is the day’s agenda, come enjoy it all:

11:00 Dignitaries – Commissioner Bill Kendall, Hiawassee Mayor Barbara Mathis, Young Harris Mayor Andrea Gibby, Police Chief Jimmy Wright, Sheriff Chris Clinton

11:30 Fontana Ramblers – Jack Brooms, Franklin NC

12:15 Byron Herbert Reece – Narrator Joan Crothers

12:30 Enchanted Valley Squares, Western Square dancing

1:15 Cake Walk – Betty Phillips

1:30 Brasstown Dance Team – Susan Vardeman

2:15 Betty Sellers & nephew, Micah, playing on the spoons

2:30 Elementary School Choir, Director, Ms. Seis

3:00 Birthday Cake, School Re-Union Photos, Animal Groups: Castaway Critters, Humane Society, NG SPCA, Operation PUP, Whiskers

3:30 Cheerful Sounds – Master’s Peace

4:15 Poetry reading: Bruce Sims/Idell Shook

4:30 Elvis performance (High School Principal, Roy Perron)

CUTLINE:

The Towns County History Quilt will be on display in the gazebo.

YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – The annual Reece Lecture at Young Harris College will feature award-winning poet and fiction author Enid Shomer on Thursday, March 24, at 7 p.m. in Wilson Lecture Hall of Goolsby Center on the Young Harris College campus. Presented by the Division of Humanities, the event is free and open to the public.

Shomer will also participate in a question-and-answer session earlier in the day at 3:30 p.m. in Wilson Lecture Hall of Goolsby Center. This event is also free and open to the public.

A widely published writer, Shomer is the author of four collections of poetry: Stars at Noon: Poems from the Life of Jacqueline Cochran, Black Drum, This Close to the Earth and Stalking the Florida Panther, which won the Washington Prize. Her poems have appeared in numerous publications, including The Atlantic Monthly, Poetry, Paris Review, Best American Poetry, The New Criterion and Kenyon Review.

Her collection of stories, Imaginary Men, won the Iowa Fiction Prize as well as the LSU/Southern Review Prize, both given annually for the best first collection of short fiction by an American author. Her stories have appeared in The New Yorker, New Stories from the South, New Letters, Prairie Schooner, Shenandoah and Virginia Quarterly Review, among others. Her stories, poems and essays have been included in more than 50 anthologies and textbooks, including POETRY: A HarperCollins Pocket Anthology.

Shomer’s many awards include two fellowships in poetry from the National Endowment for the Arts, three fellowships from the State of Florida, the Eunice Tietjens Prize from Poetry, the Celia Wagner Award of the Poetry Society of America, the Randall Jarrell Prize, Wildwood Prize and Eve of St. Agnes Prize. She also won the H.E. Frances Prize, the Iowa Woman Prize and the 2004 Emily Clark Balch Prize from the Virginia Quarterly Review.

As a visiting writer, Shomer has taught at the University of Arkansas, Florida State University and The Ohio State University, where she was the Thurber House Writer-in-Residence. Her book reviews and essays have appeared in The New Times Book Review and The Women’s Review of Books. Two of her books, Stars at Noon and Imaginary Men, were the subject of feature interviews on NPR’s Morning Edition and All Things Considered. She was recently appointed Poetry Series Editor for the University of Arkansas Press.

Shomer lives in Tampa, Fla., and is currently at work on a novel titled The Twelve Rooms of the Nile that will be published by Simon and Schuster in 2012.

The Byron Herbert Reece Lecture Series was established in 1966 in memory of noted poet and YHC alumnus and former instructor Byron Herbert Reece, ’40. This lecture series honors his memory and contributions to the world of letters by bringing noted writers to campus. Past visiting writers include novelist Terry Kay, Irish poet Evan Boland, former Poet Laureate of the United States Billy Collins, novelist Sharyn McCrumb and former Poet Laureate of Georgia Bettie Sellers.

To learn more about Byron Herbert Reece, visit www.byronherbertreecesociety.org.

For more information about this event, call (706) 379-5136.

About Young Harris College
2011 marks the 125th anniversary for Young Harris College, a private, baccalaureate degree-granting college located in the beautiful mountains of north Georgia. Founded in 1886 and historically affiliated with The United Methodist Church, Young Harris College educates, inspires and empowers students through the highest quality liberal arts education. Long known for nurturing students during the first two years of college, Young Harris College received accreditation in 2008 to grant bachelor’s degrees. The College currently has approximately 800 students across four divisions—Fine Arts, Humanities, Mathematics and Science, and Social and Behavioral Science—and plans to increase enrollment to 1,200 over the next few years. The historic campus in Young Harris, Ga., is currently undergoing major campus improvements to accommodate the College’s growth, including recent completion of a 200-bed, LEED Silver-certified residence hall, Georgia’s first higher education facility north of Atlanta to achieve this certification, and a 57,000-square-foot, LEED-certified recreation center, the second higher educational recreation facility in Georgia to achieve this certification. For more information, visit www.yhc.edu.
Young Harris College Staff Member and Student Volunteer for Locks of Love

YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – YHC Admissions Counselor and alumna Kari Webb, ’07, and sophomore athletic training major Kelsey Herbert, of Covington, Ga., volunteered to have their hair cut and donated to Locks of Love during halftime of the YHC women’s basketball game held at the YHC Arena on Feb. 12. Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis.

Webb and Herbert stood at center court during halftime and each had 10 inches of hair cut off by Leisa Shook of Head Shots Hair Salon in Blairsville, Ga., who volunteered her time to cut and style the ladies’ hair. Leisa’s daughter and YHC student Megan Shook, a senior business and public policy major from Young Harris, Ga., assisted in the hairstyling.

“Kari, Kesley and Leisa all demonstrated such positive acts of kindness. Kari has a passion for children and felt this was a great way to help,” YHC Assistant Athletics Director, Senior Women’s Administrator and Women’s Soccer Head Coach Kathy Brown said. “Kelsey is a member of the College’s softball team. She joked that her hair was so long that it would get caught under her arm while she was pitching, so this seemed like a great opportunity to help out a child and also solve her pitching problem.”

Feb. 12 was declared “Cancer Awareness Day” by the College’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee. During the game, members of the committee distributed slips of paper to fans that included hundreds of facts about cancer.

About Young Harris College
2011 marks the 125th anniversary for Young Harris College, a private, baccalaureate degree-granting college located in the beautiful mountains of north Georgia. Founded in 1886 and historically affiliated with The United Methodist Church, Young Harris College educates, inspires and empowers students through the highest quality liberal arts education. Long known for nurturing students during the first two years of college, Young Harris College received accreditation in 2008 to grant bachelor’s degrees. The College currently has approximately 800 students across four divisions—Fine Arts, Humanities, Mathematics and Science, and Social and Behavioral Science—and plans to increase enrollment to 1,200 over the next few years. The historic campus in Young Harris, Ga., is currently undergoing major campus improvements to accommodate the College’s growth, including recent completion of a 200-bed, LEED Silver-certified residence hall, Georgia’s first higher education facility north of Atlanta to achieve this certification, and a 57,000-square-foot, LEED-certified recreation center, the second higher educational recreation facility in Georgia to achieve this certification. For more information, visit www.yhc.edu.
Dr. Fraser Harbutt to Deliver Young Harris College’s Annual Ragsdale Lecture on March 18

YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. – On Friday, March 18, Fraser Harbutt, Ph.D., professor of history at Emory University, will deliver the annual Ragsdale Lecture at 4 p.m. in Wilson Lecture Hall of Goolsby Center. Dr. Harbutt’s lecture, titled “The Cold War in Historical Retrospect:  Myths, Manipulations and Realities,” will address the origins of war. The event is free and open to the public.

The lecture will take place in conjunction with “Remembrances: Constructing Narratives of Wars of the 19th and 20th Centuries,” a history conference at Young Harris College sponsored by the Department of History, Friday-Saturday, March 18-19. This conference on war-time narratives and remembrance will feature lectures, presentations and panel discussions by YHC faculty, guest speakers and students.

Dr. Harbutt earned his B.A. and LL.B. from the University of Otago in New Zealand, his LL.M. from the University of Auckland in New Zealand and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. His research and scholarly interests include international history, United States diplomatic and political history and U.S.-Soviet relations.

Dr. Harbutt has written three books on the history of the Cold War, including The Iron Curtain: Churchill, America and the Origins of the Cold War, The Cold War Era and Yalta 1945: Europe and America at the Crossroads. He received the Stuart L. Bernath Memorial Book Prize in 1986 from the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. He has published articles in esteemed publications including Political Science Quarterly, The Encyclopedia of United States Foreign Relations, The Oxford Companion to United States History and the Dictionary of American History, among others.

Students, academic professionals and community members are encouraged to attend the lecture and conference.

For more information and a full schedule of events, visit www.yhc/edu/remembrances.

About the Ragsdale Lecture Series

The Ragsdale Lecture Series brings national speakers to Young Harris College to discuss relevant governmental and political issues. It was established in 1983 by Mr. and Mrs. H.D. Paris to honor Mrs. Paris’ cousin, Warner B. Ragsdale. Ragsdale was a 1917 graduate of Young Harris College who achieved a long and distinguished career in journalism.

After leaving Young Harris College, Ragsdale completed his education at Georgia Institute of Technology. He then began his journalism career serving on the staff of newspapers in Atlanta, Jacksonville, Fla., Hendersonville, N.C., Charlotte, N.C., Birmingham, New Orleans and Louisville. He joined the Associated Press in 1924 and was transferred to Washington, D.C. in 1927. He became Associate Editor and Political Editor for the U.S. News and World Report in 1941, and remained in these roles until his retirement in 1970.

During his career in journalism, Ragsdale covered every national political convention held by the Republican and Democratic parties from 1928 to 1968. He traveled with Herbert Hoover in his 1928 campaign, with Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932, 1940 and 1944, and with Harry Truman in 1948. One of his career highlights was his coverage of the Scopes Evolution Trial in Dayton, Tenn., in 1925.

In 1937, he was honored by the National Headliners Club for “best feature story of the year” for his story about Al Capone and the Purple Gang. He served as a part chairman of the Executive Committee of the Congressional Periodic Press Gallery, on which he served from 1949 to 1970. At the time of his death, on Dec. 25, 1986, Ragsdale was engaged in writing “A Century of Presidential Elections, as seen from over the hill and back of the bus.”

About Young Harris College
2011 marks the 125th anniversary for Young Harris College, a private, baccalaureate degree-granting college located in the beautiful mountains of north Georgia. Founded in 1886 and historically affiliated with The United Methodist Church, Young Harris College educates, inspires and empowers students through the highest quality liberal arts education. Long known for nurturing students during the first two years of college, Young Harris College received accreditation in 2008 to grant bachelor’s degrees. The College currently has approximately 800 students across four divisions—Fine Arts, Humanities, Mathematics and Science, and Social and Behavioral Science—and plans to increase enrollment to 1,200 over the next few years. The historic campus in Young Harris, Ga., is currently undergoing major campus improvements to accommodate the College’s growth, including recent completion of a 200-bed, LEED Silver-certified residence hall, Georgia’s first higher education facility north of Atlanta to achieve this certification, and a 57,000-square-foot, LEED-certified recreation center, the second higher educational recreation facility in Georgia to achieve this certification. For more information, visit www.yhc.edu.