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A more customized educational experience for your child Darlington School is offering an innovative and more customized approach to early childhood education, beginning in 2013-14. Students who would traditionally enroll in pre-k, kindergarten or pre-first will instead be part of Darlington’s Early Learning Academy, a progressive program in which instruction is based on the students’ individual needs.

Our goal is to build more creative, collaborative learners by meeting the children where they are and pushing them as far as they can go.

David Powell, Academic Dean

Students in the Early Learning Academy will work collaboratively on big ideas and break out into small, ability-based groups for the core areas of reading, writing and arithmetic. This will allow Academy teachers to build a directed, customized curriculum that takes into account the students’ strengths and levels of ability.

Program Highlights Customized curriculum that accounts for various levels of ability Small group, ability-based instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic Allows students to progress at their own pace Curriculum serves as the foundation for Darlington’s entire academic program Exposes all students to three highly qualified teachers, and to teaching and learning styles that are best suited for the students’ needs Provides structured classroom time with peers of the same age Integrates life skills and character education Promotes independence and self-control Builds creative, collaborative learners

The Early Learning Academy has a limited enrollment of 42 students. For more information or to enroll your child, please contact Lea Duncan in the Admission Office at LDuncan@darlingtonschool.org or 706-802-4378.

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V3 FEATURES+FACES COLUMNS+OPINION

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HEARD YA LOUD 'N' CLEAR

GEORGIA SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF SHOCKS THE SYSTEM

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ROCK-BOTTOM FEEDING

J. BRYANT STEELE PROPOSES A RETURN TO SETTLING WASHINGTON'S DISPUTES WITH 10 PACES AND A PAIR OF MUSKET BALLS

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7

M

arch is here, and with it comes the promise of spring. For sports fans it delivers great college basketball, as well as the beginning of the baseball season and The Masters—all of which get me very excited.

But while each of the aforementioned events definitely help me to cope with my lifelong, annual bout of chronic PFSD (Post Football Stress Disorder), it always takes a few months to accept that my Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays won’t be dominated by grown men concussing one another.

For the most part, I fill this offseason void with more meaningful activities in lieu of football, like spending time with my wife and children. Secretly, though, I will confess to you all that I’m not really cutting back on my addiction.

Instead, I have found a handful of “fixes” to serve as a sort of pigskin methadone, one of which is the yearround, high-stakes reality show that is college football recruiting in the 21st century. National Signing Day took place on Feb. 6, and the event has evolved—or devolved, depending on your side of the fence—into an event filled with real-life drama, as these incredibly gifted but incredibly young kids decide where they will spend their college football careers.

Many who follow the sport complain that “recruitnicks” are foolish for putting so much stock into players who have never even taken a snap in Division I play. But, for better or worse, it is no coincidence that Nick Saban IAN GRIFFIN and the University of Alabama have managed to put Managing Partner/ together the number one-ranked class (Rivals.com) five Chief of Advertising

PUBLISHERS' NOTE

out of the last six years—not to mention having gone on to win three of the last four BCS National Championships.

On a more sour note, thanks to the likes of Barry Bonds, Lance Armstrong, Manti Te’o, Alex Rodriguez and many, many more, and star athletes and coaches in today’s sports world are almost always presumed to be cheating. And while, yes, I completely understand why looking at this list of names causes people to assume the worst, it still doesn’t justify the ridicule taken by the Ole Miss Rebels on signing NEAL HOWARD Creative Partner/Lead day. I am no Rebels fan, believe me, but it really got under Designer/Editor-in-Chief my skin when sports media pundits made underhanded comments about what “incentives” Coach Hugh Freeze must be offering his recruits to convince them to play in Oxford. They just couldn’t believe the young, second-year head coach had landed a top-10 class.

Well, maybe, just maybe, the guy is great recruiter. Ever think of that? A more obvious theory could be that because he legitimately landed the most coveted recruit in the country, other big talents follow his lead and decided to roll the dice on an SEC up-and-comer.

Could Ole Miss have cheated? Absolutely.

Did they? Who knows.

If they did, someone will find out and they’ll pay.

And finally, good luck filling out your 2013 March Madness brackets. May you lay claim to the spoils of your office pool and bask in the sweet glow of your 12-month license to gloat.

IAN GRIFFIN, MANAGING PARTNER

M AG A Z I N E EDITOR-IN-CHIEF + PRODUCTION MANAGER + ART&DESIGN Neal Howard WRITERS J. Bryant Steele, Luke Chaffin, Holly Lynch, Mandy Loorham, Kim Treese, Robb Raymond III, Ian Griffin, Neal Howard PHOTOGRAPHY Derek Bell, MFA 706.936.0407 CHIEF OF ADVERTISING + OFFICE MANAGER/ SALES DIRECTOR Ian Griffin AD SALES + CLIENT RELATIONS Shadae Yancey-Warren, Chris Forino AD DESIGN + CREATIVE ENGINEERING Ellie Borromeo PUBLISHER V3 Publications, LLC CONTACT One West Fourth Avenue Rome, Ga. 30161 Office phone_706.235.0748 Email_v3publicatons@ gmail.com

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READ SIGNS BETWEEN THE Each one armed with an iPad 2, an unfailing safety net of staff support, and a whole lot of personal gumption, the students of Cave Spring’s

GEORGIA SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF

are not only challenging antiquated notions about deaf education, they’re reformatting our hard drives and throwing in a universal upgrade

TEXT BY LUKE CHAFFIN PHOTOS BY DEREK BELL

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JACKIE WILLIAMS FOUrTH GRADE

DARISON DAGGETT FOUrTH GRADE

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E

ntering the beautiful 480-acre compound that surrounds the Georgia School for the Deaf (GSD), one has certain expectations. Yet, at the same time, you really have no clue what to expect. Coming from small-town west Georgia, I had grown up having very little contact with the deaf prior to this day.

Walking through a set of glass doors at GSD, a placard greets me: “100% signing environment.” Right away, I am caught off guard. If I didn’t feel like an outsider before, I do now. I had “learned” a scattered American Sign Language (ASL) alphabet when I was much younger, and I can still spell my name. Thankfully, though, being fluent in ASL is not a requirement for GSD visitors.

Principal Leslie Jackson greets me warmly. She is not deaf, but after learning how to sign for Sunday services at her church, she became bilingual in both speaking English and signing ASL. Over the next two hours, Jackson will help break down any preconceptions I may have had about deaf education preceding my arrival, and open up my mind to a culture with which I had enjoyed no prior acquaintance.

from a $5,000 grant, would go on to open doors and opportunities for the deaf children of Georgia.

GSD was established as only the eleventh school for deaf students in the nation, and has operated non-stop (minus a three-year hiatus during the Civil War) since its founding.

When the war arrived on Cave Spring’s front doorstep, GSD’s downtown buildings were used as hospital wards. Also during

WE CAN BLESS OUR OWN HEARTS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH

Georgia School for the Deaf was opened in 1846, with its original campus located in Cave Spring’s picturesque Rolater Park. Countless people have passed by the historic buildings that once functioned as a part of GSD, but the oldest building was actually a log cabin nearby. A concerned educator named O.P. Fannin, with help

this brief hiatus, many students were sent north to the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, Conn.

“In the 1970s, there was a huge influx of deaf children in America because of an earlier rubella epidemic in the 1960s,” Principal Jackson explains. A common side effect of rubella when contracted by pregnant women is giving birth to deaf children. Because of this, GSD’s enrollment ballooned to approximately 600 students in the 1970s, compared to the 110 enrolled today.

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Given the segregationist policies of the day, a campus across town had been established for deaf African-American students. But as the whites-only GSD grew and concerns arose over asbestos at the original campus, the separated schools came together on the newer, Perry Farm Road site. Subsequently, two school days were established to accommodate the new, much larger student population: one school that started in the morning, and a second that started at noon.

Deaf students from 58 different Georgia counties are currently educated

by GSD, from as far as Camden County on the southeast corner of the Georgia Coast. Students who do not live within a commutable radius are bussed to Cave Spring from Macon. Free transportation is provided for middle Georgia’s hearingimpaired kids, a perk intended to encourage parents who may find the travel daunting.

Because many families with deaf children have moved to the area seeking better education opportunities, Floyd County has the largest population of students currently taking classes at GSD, approximately 20 percent of the school’s total enrollment. By classification, GSD is a “residential” school—i.e. students stay on campus during the week and spend weekends at home with their families.

Otherwise, it works much like a traditional public school. There is no cost to send your child, and the only requirements for students are that they be Georgia residents

and have hearing loss that interferes with their educations.

In addition to more traditional subjects, students here focus considerable time on learning practical skills like advocacy, and for recreation they can elect to play football, basketball and/or volleyball. They also participate in math competitions and academic bowls, and are said to compete well in matchups with other area schools.

The hearing range among GSD students runs the full gamut, from partial hearing loss to total deafness. Any level of hearing loss that hampers a child’s prospects for development will likely qualify him or her for enrollment. Students come to the school after being referred by the county where they claim residence, once all placement options have been discussed.

“There has to be a continuum of services for every child,” Jackson says.

Fortunately for those who find a way to make it work in a school environment tailored to hearing students, not every deaf

student will end up at GSD. In some cases, these children are already being adequately educated by their home school systems.

GSD is a state-operated public school, as opposed to a city- or county-operated public school. In addition to a free education, three daily meals and housing are also provided free of charge. “While it does take more money to send a student here, it is important to remember that it is the only kind of place where they can get [the] free and appropriate public education that all children in the United States are guaranteed,” Jackson says. “One of the biggest misconceptions of deafness is that it is a disability. Deafness is not a disability, it is a culture. This culture has its own language, its own social mores, its own traditions. It meets all of the qualifications of a valid and real language, as well as a ‘culture.’ ” Jackson, an Atlanta native, came to Floyd County as a teenager. After graduating from West Rome High School and Berry College, she began working at GSD following a short stint at Pepperell Middle School. Through her many years experience, the veteran administrator has honed in on two primary misconceptions regarding the deaf: the “bless their hearts”

Camp Juliette Low

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fallacy and the notion that just because the students are deaf, it means they are “slow.”

History reveals that before society gained a better understanding of what it means to be deaf, there was an erroneous public belief that if you could not speak, then you clearly lacked intelligence. Sadly, a small strain of this thinking still exists to this day.

FACE-TO-FACETIME Toward the middle of my conversation with Principal Jackson, I have a real a-ha! moment. The principal kindly notifies me, “Sitting here in this school, you are the one handicapped.” And this is so true. By today’s societal definitions, the tables have indeed been turned. Walking the tic-tactoe hallways of this special school, I, the “normal” one, had needed an interpreter.

To get another perspective on the culture here in Cave Spring, I sought out the testimony of Paul Saunders, a popular GSD High social studies teacher.

“At a mainstream school, it was fine,” says Pennsylvania native and 10-year GSD educator, “but there was limited communication between the hearing faculty and staff and those who were deaf.

Not everyone could sign. Ultimately, we always had to wait for an interpreter.”

While I had never before done an interview via video phone, the initial awkwardness melted away rather quickly, as Paul communicated and I furiously wrote it all down. He was doing his thing, I was doing mine. Saunders, who attended the Pittsburgh School for the Deaf, was once of the previous generation’s mindset, and had always thought of a school for the deaf as a place where deaf kids are taught to lip-read as a primary means of communication.

A third party liaison speaks Paul’s words into the video phone, “No one is a perfect lip reader. I struggled with it, and that is why I love American Sign Language.

When I use it, I feel at ease.”

I had the privilege of meeting Paul in person earlier that day. Like so many others, you wouldn’t have been able to tell that he was deaf if you didn’t already know it. His wife is also deaf, but together they have three hearing children, all of whom are—no surprise—bilingual.

“In general, people tend to think that we dumb down the curriculum here,” Saunders explains, “and that we have low expectations for our students. We have to work very hard to prove that we don’t do that. We try to help provide a future for the students, so that they can become

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successful.” According to Paul, one of the things that makes GSD so unique is the proportion of deaf staffers to hearing staff (all of whom sign) in comparison to other deaf schools. The employees are better able to relate to one another, in turn, and, even more importantly, to their students.

Teachers at the school are expected to teach the same standard as any public educator, but face far different practical challenges than many teachers in hearing schools.

For instance, a staggering 97 percent of GSD parents do not themselves know how to communicate in sign language.

Because of this, many students come to GSD lacking entirely the everyday background knowledge and incidental learning that traditional kindergarteners might absorb by simply listening to their parents interact or from watching television. Many of these children have no consistent language at all when they pass through GSD’s doors for the first time.

“We spend a lot of time trying to pry that [languagelearning] window back open and pour language into them,” says Jackson.

“A lot of times, we have to scaffold by providing the background knowledge that you assume a student would already know. We also use a lot of visual representation.”

Every classroom at the school is equipped with a 72-inch SMART Board, in addition to an iPad 2 and laptop for each student. I was also privileged to take a tour of the 21stcentury marvel that is the new media center, completed just last summer.

“It is critical for us to have these visual components of learning,” Jackson adds.

On the statistical front, state-mandated learning standards and standardized testing scores for GSD students continue to climb each year. Observing positive, signing role models like Jackson and Saunders, these students, more often than not, manage to find their way in a world dominated by a

hearing public. “It greatly improves their self-esteem,” says Saunders.

Towards the end of the interview, Principal Jackson uses the FaceTime app on her iPhone to call her son Eric, who is deaf. For the tech-savvy hearing public, FaceTime is a fun way to connect with friends and family with live video on

continued on pg. 51 >>>>

"NO ONE IS A PERFECT LIP READER, AND THAT IS WHY I LOVE AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE. WHEN I USE IT, I FEEL AT EASE."

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Cents&

Sensibility . with J Bryant Steele

u.s.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss recently announced he would not seek reelection in 2014. When I shared this news via email with fellow political junkie friends, two of them—one from Houston, the other from St. Louis— recalled the vicious campaign Chambliss oversaw in defeating then-incumbent senator, Max Cleland, a man who lost three limbs in the Vietnam War. Chambliss, who has tried to work in a bipartisan manner to solve the country’s fiscal ills, cited in his decision the partisanship in Congress and not being able to get enough done.

Stupid Is as Stupid Does

If you long for a return to the days when our Congressmen settled their feuds with dueling pistols instead of blustering lunacy, maybe it's safe to say we have officially hit rock bottom 22

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One might even call some in Congress “vicious,” as well. If a board of directors conducted business this way, shareholders would throw their collective butt on the sidewalk.

Join the rest of us, Senator. We, the citizens you represent, are fed up with Congress. Only thing is, when you talk to people out on the street, there are some who are just as thoughtlessly entrenched on either side as our elected officials.

There is a vast middle crowd, however, that wants to see the finger-pointing stop and compromise begin. The fear of acrossthe-board spending cuts seems to be a bigger concern than tax hikes because, let’s face it, states depend on Washington for jobs and, in turn, revenue.

Recent punditry suggests that the Tea Party movement, and its influence in the Republican Party, is losing steam. Consider the following facts from recent news reports: Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a possible GOP presidential candidate in 2016, ridiculed some Republicans as the “stupid party” and suggested Washington Republicans “get over their obsession with cutting budgets.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is down in the polls but is sticking to his guns—literally, he opposes any measure of gun control, even in the wake of Newtown, Conn. Democrats are pushing actress Ashley Judd to run against McConnell in Kentucky, which might be one of those “God help us either way” situations.

Right-wing Fox News has dismissed two pundits, Sarah Palin and Dick Morris, who were network dolls during the 2012 election cycle coverage. Famously, Morris predicted Mitt Romney would beat Barack Obama “in a landslide,” and had to eat his words in an embarrassing way. Palin predicted that she would go shopping—and

she was right for the very first time.

Conservative punching bag and soon-tobe-former House Speaker John Boehner called some in the GOP “hard heads.”

Former presidential candidate John McCain, who picked Palin as his running mate in 2008, said he supports a plan for undocumented immigrants to become legal citizens. That’s easy to do when you’re no longer running for president and trying to win votes nationwide, but Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a rising GOP star now being whispered as a potential candidate for the party’s 2016 presidential nomination, has taken the same position.

But back to Chambliss and who we might see competing for his Senate seat: U.S. Reps.

Phil Gingrey and Jack Kingston have been mentioned, and are at least putting out feelers. But Rep. Paul Broun of Athens seems determined to run, as well.

That’s a scary thought, considering Broun is the man who said that scientific theories such as evolution and the big bang are “lies straight from the pit of hell.”

This from a man who is not only a doctor, but a high-ranking member of the House Science Committee. If he draws any more attention, he could prove to be the biggest embarrassment to Georgia since Lester Maddox. “All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and the big bang theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of hell. It’s lies to try to keep me and all the folks who were taught that from understanding that they need a savior,” was the full quote from Broun at Liberty Baptist Church in Hartwell, NBC News reported.

The Congressman is right, Washington

could use a savior. What it doesn’t need is another idiot.

t

Steele's Biz Bits

he first item of lesser news in all this kerfuffle: a proposal to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 an hour. It’s a good idea to raise the minimum wage, but a bad idea to raise it that much in one fell swoop. Do the math and predict the results. Businesses would raise prices, lay off workers, or both, and state revenues would plummet further.

get traffic reports. And I admit that I would be somewhat transfixed by Boortz’s rants.

He was unyielding. He hung up on callers who tried to engage in legitimate debate.

He was an entertainer, not someone to be taken seriously.

Unfortunately, though, some did. The worst thing I remember is that Boortz would beat down mercilessly on the poor.

One afternoon, as I tuned in, he went on a rampage skewering single mothers, as though every last one of them had a choice in the matter. One woman called in and tried to explain her personal situation, pleading a strong case for special circumstances. Boortz shouted her down, reduced her to tears. You could hear her muffled sobs over the car radio. Then, he hung up on her.

His body of work shouldn’t be held as a source of state pride, it should be donned like a scarlet letter. And WSB, once a beacon of broadcast news, should be ashamed to have profited from it.

Finally, this: Kroger in Rome has taken the ultimate preemptive strike before its new competitor, Publix, officially arrives, with a major in-store expansion and its second grand reopening in four years. The newly devised store and its new, higher-end offerings have befuddled and bedazzled customers, but you sense happiness, not frustration, in the aisles.

I talked to my cats about this one. They told me, “As long as you can find aisle 21, we’re good.” VVV

[Neal Boortz's] body of work shouldn't be a source of state pride, it should be donned in shame like a scarlet letter.

A better idea would be to raise the minimum wage gradually over, say, five years. We’ve done that before. Businesses can better prepare, and the fact is neither the minimum wage nor salaried cost-ofliving adjustments typically reflect the real cost of living. The way to keep pace or get ahead is merit raises, plain and simple.

In pundit news, WSB Radio’s Neal Boortz has retired (mostly) from his popular talk show broadcast out of Atlanta.

He is replaced by Herman Cain, who briefly—and inexplicably—led the vast array of Republican candidates for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.

Columnists have been very gracious to Boortz in his retirement; I won’t be. I tried not to listen to Boortz, but sometimes, when I lived in Atlanta, I would tune in WSB to

J. Bryant Steele is an award-

winning business reporter and feature writer based in Rome.

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Don’t ignore that nagging voice in your head any longer; it’s there for a reason. And when it tells you that the car store can replace your Clark Griswold-era station wagon with a swanky yet affordable set of pre-owned wheels—not to mention onestop shopping for maintenance—this time it might be in your best interest to listen

in it for the

longhaul text by mandy loorham

photos by derek bell

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W

e’ve all experienced that exact moment; that exact moment when we know that it’s finally time.

The car won’t start. Again. Your driver’s side window won’t roll down—or up, for that matter—even if you press the button in that just-right spot; the one and only spot that has worked marvelously for the last month or so.

Or maybe you’ve just learned you’ll be making yet another addition to the family; you’ve done a little number crunching and you’ve realized that the number of seats don’t match your sum. Or maybe it’s just that you’re flat out tired of belching around in a ride that looks like your Nana totaled it on the way to her weekly bridge game back in the spring of ’81.

At any rate, the blinders are off and you have admitted to yourself that you have a problem. That sputtering old clunker simply has got to go.

At this phase of the game, the first order of business is to determine whether you should buy new or used. Everyone loves that new car smell, of course, but not everyone loves that new car price sticker. Your wallet

hardly loves it, either. Even WSB TV and Radio “consumer champion” Clark Howard acknowledges that, in this economy, your best bet is purchasing a pre-owned vehicle.

Having made that determination, now what do you do? You’ve heard plenty of horror stories about what swill merchants used-car salesman can be, so your trust level going into the deal is depleted.

Enter the problem solvers. “We are your new car dealer without the franchise fee,” explains Jack Knight, owner of The Car Store, Rome’s only full-service used car dealer.

And Jack knows cars. His father, Seth “Pistol” Knight, started the family business in 1960, leading Seth Knight Nissan-Mazda to fixture status in the Rome business community. Jack joined on in 1986, later becoming a partner in Heritage Nissan and operating successfully in that capacity for 20 years. In 2012, he opened The Car Store in the former home of Heritage Nissan, located on the corner of John Davenport Drive and Martha Berry Boulevard. “This building was just sitting here empty, and I saw the need for a quality used-car dealership. We are the only full-service dealership.”

"This building was just sitting here empty, and I saw the need for

a quality used-car dealership."

Jack Knight spends a great deal of time studying market trends, and he

makes it a point to bring in new inventory twice per week.

Jack is referring to the myriad services offered by The Garage, The Car Store’s sister business. Both operate under the same roof, and The Garage, owned by Jack’s wife, Nancy Knight, is a state-ofthe-art automotive service center. This unique combination affords customers the convenience of buying a car and later having it serviced by the same people, under the same business umbrella. It’s also a critical

component in The Car Store’s overarching philosophy: the auto sales business is all about building and maintaining long-term relationships.

Just to drive the point home, Nancy adds that she and Jack wanted to make their mutualistic bases of operation the kind of environment in which people feel confident about their car-buying decisions.

They wanted it to scream “trustworthy,

affordable, reputable,” she says.

“Jack’s reputation is one of the reasons we’ve been so successful.”

Further evidence of the importance placed on building relationships can be seen in The Car Store’s social media-infused welcoming of each new customer.

A Facebook post congratulations with a photo of the new owner standing proudly beside his or her new vehicle is, in Jack Knight’s eyes, another way of letting his customers know they are appreciated. It is also rather common for customers and staff to be heard greeting one another on a first-name basis. The smell of fresh coffee and a smiling face greet each person who walks through these doors.

On display in The Care Store showroom, freshly waxed, lowmileage, late-model, highly affordable, pre-owned vehicles dazzle the consumer eye. Outside, it’s a whole lot more of the same.

Jack Knight spends a great deal of time studying market trends, and he makes it a point to bring in new inventory twice per week.

Day to day, he knows exactly what Georgians are buying, and these are the makes and models he ensures make an appearance at the dealership. Knight’s number-one job is to, ultimately, make sure he has the best cars available showing on the lot.

The top task for Chris Whittle, his general manager, is to make sure that perfect match between customer and car is made. Whittle has been in the business for 18 years, 12 of which he spent working alongside Knight at Heritage Nissan.

Nearly all of The Car Store’s models are still under factory warranty, with extended warranties available for the occasionally expired. They also offer financing on all cars and trucks. If Polk County is closer to home than Floyd, The Car Store has another location in Cedartown. The Rome location, however, is the only one to offer an onsite, one-stop maintenance shop.

VVV

For more on The Car Store and their current inventory, call 706.291.1002 and/or visit thecarstoreofrome.com

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The Atlanta Steeplechase would like to thank V3 Magazine for their generous sponsorship!

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POPGOES THEBUBBLE IF THIS 21ST-CENTURY SCHIZO-ROCK QUARTET HAS ITS WAY, THE MARCH 30, SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM FROM LIQUID COULD CHANGE THE FACE OF SOUND IN A REGION STILL DOMINATED

BY ACOUSTIC-DRIVEN HUMDRUM AND KITSCHY COVER ARTISTS

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V

iscously well-crafted riffs helped to pop the music bubble that once surrounded upand-coming Atlanta band, Liquid. Their mission is to take the listener on a ride, so says the band’s website, Liquidlovers. net. Rest assured that Liquid is a confident driver. The band tiptoes the line of edgy pop, oftentimes experimenting with nontraditional sounds and homing in on sonic frequencies that would make lesser bands wilt. They are explicit about their intentions publicly, in fact, even saying

TEXTRAYMARVIN

DEREK BELL PHOTOS via Liquidlovers. net, “All the elements of this band are torqued and tuned to precise specifications to perform at the highest level in every category. The songs, the vocals, the guitars, the sounds, the rhythms, the performance; all are parts that blend freely to create a complete musical wave.”

Liquid, composed of founding member/ guitarist Denis Rand, bassist Levi White, drummer Luis Madrid and vocalist Chase Breedlove, will soon host a CD release party for their self-titled debut album, Liquid, at Smith’s Olde Bar in Atlanta on March 30. Prior to the concert, on March

20, they will be giving out tickets to their concert and possibly play acoustic set at 2 p.m. on local radio station 95.7 FM The Ridge, as a featured act on the Mullins Show. With this CD release party, its corresponding radio interviews, and all the other hands-on work that comes with being in a rock band, it is hard to believe Liquid started with a Craigslist ad.

Dennis Rand, Levi White and Chase Breedlove are the three original members who date back to when Liquid first formed two years ago, with Luis Madrid being the newest edition after a switch in members a year later. In turn, the current Liquid

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lineup is rock solid—a task always easier said than done.

Band founder, Denis Rand, and Rome native, Levi White, were the first to meet online. It was a true shot in the dark, as with any internet startup. The world is full of half-talented rock star hopefuls and remarkable self-taught musicians, but how many really have what it takes to commit to making quality music? And even with commitment, how many are good enough to artfully contribute to an entire album, let alone seize the chance to show off this album in a hip Atlanta bar packed with scrutinous listeners?

Liquid’s sound is perhaps best described as future-synth pop spiked with rich

will be rolling off the tongues of Smith’s Olde Bar patrons come March 30. “We really like Smith’s Olde Bar,” Rand adds.

“It is a great venue for what we are trying to do. A lot of this band’s advertising has come through word of mouth and networking, so Smith’s is an intimate setup that will deliver a good live show.”

Rand is alluding to Liquid’s grassroots self-promotion. Like a tall blade of grass on a fresh-cut lawn, Liquid stands out, swaying to a higher rhythm than many of their contemporary counterparts. And this type of bottom-to-top self-advertising could be seeing a big payoff. They may have met online, but shaking hands and working hard has made this band so far.

"WE ARE TRYING TO GET PEOPLE INTERESTED IN EXPERIENCING THE SHOW, NOT JUST THE MUSIC.

WHEREVER 'IT' IS, WE ARE GOING TO GET THERE." melody; catchy enough to draw serious FM radio play, yet heady enough to earn the respect of the educated music Nazi.

Rand explains it this way: “Our sound is kind of more old-school rock with ’60sand ’70s-style lyrics, but modernized to the point where we look to artists like Pink or Coldplay—basically, updated sounds on a more familiar style of rock music. We are a rock band with a pop influence.

“It took a good, solid year of work, plus a few songs that were written way beforehand … It was definitely a labor of love, but it was fun. Not too many people realize what it takes to get a show together.”

Rand later confides that oftentimes the work had to be parceled out. “You don’t always have to have the full band together in order to prepare, but we often got together in Rome, just to ease Levi’s pressure of traveling all the time to Atlanta.”

With the Liquid release party looming a little over a month away—and only minutes from a photo shoot for which he is bleaching his hair—a calm and collected Denis Rand tells me, “The focus for this gig is to put on a good show. We are going to have someone out playing the sitar, a belly dancer—a lot of surprises.” If his confidence is an indicator of the band onstage prowess, it is likely that Liquid

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“We are trying to get people interested in actually experiencing the show, not just the music,” says Rome’s own Levi White. “Wherever ʽit’ is, we are going to get there. We meet together at least once a week. This is on top of Skype meetings, writing new music, and focusing on putting together a [live] show that is more than a band standing on a stage and playing. We want to be a full production.”

Speaking of tall blades, Liquid’s Rome connection is a tall and soft-spoken Levi White, who has had a strong hand in several other groups in North Georgia before hooking up with his newest bandmates. White is modest about his past work, but says of Liquid, “This type of show requires a lot of extra work time besides just playing. Denis has been spending a lot of extra time mixing [and] we have three new songs for this show in March. Part of the appeal to the show is that we have some things that are not on the CD, like all sorts of solos that will get the audience wanting to participate.”

Both onstage and in the studio, Liquid is striving to stand in a class all their own.

VVV FOR MORE ON LOCAL MUSICIAN LEVI WHITE AND LIQUID'S SELF-TITLED DEBUT LP, AS WELL AS INFO FOR UPCOMING SHOW DATES, VISIT LIQUIDLOVERS.NET

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Trends& Traditions

w

w i t h H o l l y Ly n c h

hen I was a child, my parents always purchased me a new Easter dress each spring. That dress was saved to wear to church on Easter, but was also worn for father-daughter dances, spring and summer weddings, and grandma’s special birthday dinner.

We remember this form of dress as our “Sunday best,” but with so many churches going to more casual dress—and so many people not going to church at all—this definition of attire is a bit vague, if not altogether misleading.

In America, we seem to invent new styles of dress every season, and often require it of our friends when we invite them to parties. According to my British friends, the rules across the pond are much more clearcut and more strictly followed.

But not over here.

Most recently, I was asked to clarify “festive cocktail” attire.

According to my friends at the Emily Post Institute (my go-to source for all things etiquette), this is not an officially outlined form of dress, but we all seem to know what is expected: cocktail dresses for the ladies, a dark suit for the men.

The Post Institute goes on to delineate 10 officially defined categories of dress: The most formal is white tie. You’ll almost never have to dress this formally unless you are attending a state dinner or meeting the Queen of England. For the guys, this means a black tuxedo with tails on the coat, a white vest and tie, and white gloves. Yes, gloves. For the ladies, don’t even think about showing your knees. You

will need a long, formal gown for a white tie event.

Black tie is a little easier to achieve. The guys need a black tuxedo, black bowtie and cummerbund (with a white shirt, of course).

No gloves needed for this occasion. The ladies have a little more flexibility in that they may wear a long gown or a shorter, dressy cocktail dress. A little black dress

the same rules as black tie, but can be a little more creative with accessories. They can even work in some dressy separates for black tie optional. To confuse things, some parties list ‘black tie preferred’ or ‘Texas black tie.’ Black tie preferred implies that the host really wants you to wear a tux, but doesn’t want to appear demanding. (So, wear a tux.) Texas black tie means add a pair of boots and a cowboy hat.

If you’ve ever been to a college dance or high school homecoming, you know what semiformal attire means. We even title events “semiformal.” For the guys, a suit is the best bet, complete with a conservative shirt and tie. Ladies, of course, have an exponentially greater range of options.

An afternoon or cocktail dress, the LBD, dressy separates, a dressy skirt; each of these falls into the category of semiformal.

This is why we see terms like ‘cocktail attire’, ‘coat and tie,’ or ‘daytime elegant.’

And now for the trickiest category of all: festive attire. This category, I swear,

Decoding the Dress Code Your Spring 2013 events calendar could see invitations requesting you dress for everything from 'beach elegant' to 'barnyard chic.' If you don't want to be remembered as the misguided girl in Kroger flip-flops or the hopeless dude in Duckhead plum-huggers, perhaps you should read on

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(LBD) is even okay here, but make sure it’s the dressiest one you own.

There are a few variations on black tie: creative black tie or black tie optional.

Creative black tie means the guys can wear a black dress shirt, or a colored or patterned tie, and cummerbund or vest. (No ruffles, please.) Black tie optional means a dark suit is also acceptable, as opposed to a tuxedo. The ladies still pretty much follow

has been bastardized into anything anyone wants to dictate you wear to their event, and can even be adapted for theme parties.

In a traditional sense, for the men, a sport coat and slacks with an open collar shirt is appropriate; a tie is optional. This category is where I see “Sunday best” coming back into play, but only for those of you who wear suits and dress clothes to church.

Dressy casual is very similar to festive

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attire. Although, with festive attire, you may be asked to dress by theme (green and red at Christmas, pink and lavender at Easter, et al).

I once had a professor suggest “high casual” as the dress code for an awards dinner. I love this term, particularly because it speaks to my love of all things British (can’t you hear the Queen saying “high casual”?). I now realize that he intrinsically meant festive attire or dressy casual. In any case, I wore a skirt.

Moving down the list, at least in terms of formality, we get into the more corporate terms, like business formal and business casual. Truthfully, these categories could warrant an entire column on their own. But just remember this: Your safest bet in any business situation, when you aren’t sure what to do, is to wear a suit, matching coat and slacks. For both genders, women and men, this is always a safe option. If you’re concerned about what your job requires of you with regard to dress, check with your employer’s human resources department.

Now for casual dress: In terms of social outfitting, this category can easily be the most dangerous. Pretty much anything goes here—except jeans with holes and too-short shorts. Have you ever attended a summer

Join Us for the 4th Annual

party where the dress code was listed as ‘casual’—which you thought meant shorts and a golf shirt—but what the host actually meant was something closer to festive attire?

When in doubt, always, always, always opt to be overdressed. Officially, casual dress includes the following: nice shorts, t-shirts without slogans, button-down shirts, skirts and tops, and sundresses. Fun variations on this category include resort casual and smart casual.

If you’re hosting a party with a more casual feel and you want your guests to be comfortable, be a bit more frilly with your dress-code description, so everyone knows what they should wear. It’s also a great idea to make sure your invitation matches the party look/feel for which you’re aiming.

Let’s say, for instance, that you want to have a pool party, but no one will actually

Have you ever attended a summer party where the dress code was listed as 'casual'―which you thought meant shorts and a golf shirt― but what the host actually meant was something closer to festive attire? When in doubt, always, always, always opt to be overdressed.

May 10-11, 2013 Ridge Ferry Park, Rome, GA Rome-Floyd Parks & Recreation Authority

2012 2013

Scott Thompson l Wing tasting Kid’s Q Contest l FREE Kids Zone

GA Blues Brothers

l

BBQ Tasting l Arts & Crafts

Car Show l Country & Blues Music

Get Details at rfpra.com/romanroast Event proceeds benefit Rome-Floyd recreational programming.

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be swimming. Make sure to indicate that the party will be held ‘poolside,’ then denote the dress code as ‘summer casual’ or ‘beach chic.’ This signals sundresses for the ladies, nice shorts and a dress shirt for the guys. If it’s an evening party, dress it up to ‘country club casual’ or ‘beach elegant.’

The differences implied are rather subtle, such as sandals with a heel for the evening versus flip-flops for a daytime event.

Here are a few quick definitions of some fellow casual terms we’ve seen pop up in my industry as of late: Urban casual (a.k.a. urban chic)—the most expensive, darkest jeans you own; black top; very cool and uncomfortable shoes. (Wear an air of disinterest, as well, and you’ll really complete the look.)

Resort casual (a.k.a. country club casual, summer elegant, beach chic, preppy)—nice

shorts are fine for both men and women; sundresses for the ladies; button-down shirts or golf shirts for the men. Resort casual is what you’d wear to Kingston Downs for Atlanta Steeplechase, or to a summer cocktail party. Watch the footwear, though, as you can easily slip down the slope of too casual if you wear a too-casual shoe. And while flip-flops have come a long way in recent years, make sure yours didn’t come from a cardboard display next to the discount DVDs at Kroger. Always a good rule of thumb to stick to: If you bought the shoe at a grocery store, it’s probably not right to wear to a party.

Smart casual—for the fellas, pants instead of shorts, probably not jeans; for the ladies, a nice sundress or skirt-and-blouse combo is spot on.

Barnyard chic (a.k.a. farm chic, rustic elegant)—clean jeans, boots, and a dust-free sport coat are the way to go for those spring weddings on a farm or in a barn. And oh, ladies, make sure to wear shoes that are up for any terrain. Spiked heels are a definite no-no. And don’t forget the bug spray. VVV

Holly Lynch is owner of/head events planner for The Season Special Events Planning at 250 Broad Street in Rome.

Hospice Services: • • • • • • • •

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(706) 236-4704 - Serving Floyd, Polk, Chattooga, and Haralson Counties (706) 602-9546 - Serving Gordon, Bartow, Catoosa, Walker, Whitfield, Dade, and Murray Counties Services provided regardless of patient’s ability to pay. Lic# 057-0268-H, 064-073-H

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text by

vincent mendes

photos by derek bell & tara james

ain't no

mountain

g hi h enough

As illustrated by the story of William James and summit quest (a.k.a. easily one of the most resilient groups of incidental “victims” in town) one strategy for surviving in the shadow of a loved one’s cancer diagnosis is to claw ’til you reach higher ground 38

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I

n 2005, William James received news that would change his life: His father had been diagnosed with squamous cell lung cancer.

“My dad was my absolute hero and my best friend growing up,” says James. “He was the guy who could fix anything.”

Over the next two years, as William comforted his father through chemotherapy and radiation treatments, he got a firsthand look at how devastating a cancer diagnosis

“I felt that by putting my dad on the top of a mountain, I was able to give him strength―

something he needed so much during his cancer treatments and that I was unable to give him in life.” can be to the families of those battling the disease. After his father’s passing, William and his wife, Tara, traveled to Alaska to fulfill his father’s last wish: to have his ashes scattered from the peak of Flat Top Mountain near Anchorage. It was there, at the summit, that he had an epiphany. James explains, “I felt by putting my dad on the top of a mountain, I was able to give him strength—something he needed so much during his cancer treatments, and that I was unable to give him in life.”

On the flight home, William and his wife shared with one another a strong mutual feeling taking shape. Each felt called to do

something truly impactful to help support the families of cancer victims, especially the children who are forced to deal with the tragic prospect of losing a parent.

“When someone gets a cancer diagnosis, everything is focused on the patient—and it needs to be. But to be on the perimeter, to see someone you love go through that, you also need support—especially as a child.”

And so, an idea was born.

In the early going, Summit Quest focused its primary efforts on uplifting the children of cancer in Northwest Georgia

via endorphin-releasing outdoor activities like rock climbing, whitewater rafting, rappelling and, once every summer, an extended-stay camping trip to the Great Smokey Mountains. Recently, however, James and his growing nonprofit success story have expanded their services to include many additional lines of outreach.

They hold regular support groups for kids, hand out gift bags at area hospitals, loan tablet computers to chemo patients so that their minds might stay focused on more positive things, and even manage a youth cycling program in conjunction with Rome bike retailer, Cycle Therapy.

Granted, getting an organization of this kind up and running was a lot of work, but as soon as James returned home from his life-changing summit quest in Alaska, he began marshaling support from friends and associates. What he found was a city filled with people more than eager to lend a humanitarian hand. “Rome has really just opened its arms and made this their program,” James says. “Every time people hear about what we do, they want to help.”

It didn’t hurt that James had plenty of associates to call on. After all, he was the director of the Boys & Girls Club at the time.

And though cutting through the red tape of

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“Rome has really just opened its arms and made this their program.

Every time people hear about what we do, they want to help.”

Summit Quest’s establishment took a bit longer than anticipated, eventually, with help from friends like Rome Mayor Evie McNiece and philanthropist extraordinaire Diane Harbin trudging over mountain upon mountain of bureaucracy, the necessary paperwork was finally pushed through and the organization was designated a nonprofit entity. “We got our 501c3 status in 2010, but we have, essentially, been leading outdoor adventures from the moment we got back [from Alaska],” James says.

As illustrated by the story of James’ mountaintop epiphany, the giving of strength is a centrifugal idea at Summit Quest. Emotional support for the children affected by cancer being a top focus, the word “strength” has become one of the SQ mission statement’s three pillars. Strength to face the challenge at hand. Hope for the future. Service through what we do.

In a relatively brief time, Summit Quest

has gone from being James’ personal passion to a near full-time job, “I’m the only staff,” he says with a self-effacing grin.

But he is inspired by the commitment and passion of the volunteers, who come from every spectrum of the NWGA community.

James is quick to brag on them, from the fundraising efforts of Harbin Clinic and Redmond Hospital to the Partridge Restaurant for catering SQ support groups.

He also credits Cancer Navigators, another Rome-based nonprofit, for giving his group the space they would need to headquarter their initial meetings, as well as Southeastern Mills for giving them the office space they now occupy. James wasn’t kidding. The list of local individuals and organizations who have helped make Summit Quest a reality is inspiring in and of itself.

“I get assurance that what we do is meaningful every time we have a support group,” says James, adding that whereas

SQ support groups were originally designed as a medium to give children a voice and discuss their fears during the course of a loved one’s cancer treatment, they have since become so much more than that. So life-altering are they, in fact, that many of those once “serviced” by Summit Quest and their three pillars have gone on to counsel newer group members, irrespective of their family member’s ultimate fate in combating his/her form of the disease.

As to the organization’s future goals, James does not hold back on enthusiasm.

“We currently serve Floyd, Polk and Chattooga Counties. I want to see us expanding out to help families in the Atlanta area and beyond.” That may seem like an ambitious bar to set—if you’ve never met William James. But as he has shown through his work with Summit Quest, if there’s a mountain to climb, he’s just the kind of guy you want to help you scale it. VVV

If you, or someone you know, is interested in joining Summit Quest as a group member or volunteer, please visit summitquestadventures.com

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�

Robb Report2.0

with RobbRaymondIII Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” rang loudly in my head. A troupe of orange apron-wearing groupies filled my wake as I strutted in super slow-mo, pointing and winking to the foxy young ladies perusing the discount light-bulb section. Just as my conquistador’s march to the door aisle reached perfect crescendo, however, I bumped into the metaphorical record player, the needle screeching across the vinyl. There I stood, awkwardly, slack jawed, utterly stupid, gazing into an abyss of selection that I had failed to prophesy.

h

If you ever find yourself on the verge of tears at Home Depot, fellas, just admit that the jig is up on this one―you have absolutely no clue what you're doing.

Then ask for some veteran advice.

ave you ever tried to hang a door? If you answered no, then you are as learned on the subject as I was the morning I tried it for the first time, my mind clouded by great, yet unrealistic expectations. With inflated bravado, I began by yanking the tired, old door in question off my house, and planned to spend the morning replacing it with a shiny new one.

“How hard could it be, right?” I stroked my manhood. “Any guy with half a brain knows that installation is simply the inverse of removal.”

Surely enough, the removal was a piece of cake. I felt like a sexy Bob Vila cranking that screwdriver, too, freeing the hinges from the doorjamb. A little elbow grease, a timely grunt or two so the wife hears the muscle I’m laying into this bad boy, and

Turns out real men do cry (for help)

The Doors of Misperception voilà—a gaping hole in my house.

“Man, why on earth didn’t I do this sooner?” I wondered aloud, patting myself on the back. By the time I had pulled into the Home Depot parking lot, I had broken a sweat giving myself so many high-fives.

As I triumphantly parted those automatic sliding doors, the opening power chords of

“But… But… All I need is a plain old door,” I whimpered.

If by plain we mean simple, the selection before me was anything but. Surrounding me was an endless sea of door variations, enough to make my head spin. Suddenly I was in a scene from Monsters, Inc., or maybe some tripped out Dr. Seuss book

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that’d been shelved before publication.

So many doors!

Some tall, some skinny, some short, some fat One built for lefties, even one for your cat!

Some made of metal, some made of fine wood So many doors, I’d buy them all if I could!

I wandered beyond white doors “preprimered” to help save on time; some that were interior and some that were exterior.

Peephole doors, prehung doors, Dutch doors, windowed doors, slidingglass doors, screen doors, and even swinging doors that seemed to be from the set of Tombstone. In less than an hour, I had gone from a sexy Bob Vila to a man not sexy enough for his shirt. I was at a complete loss.

Coming to tough realizations at the expense of one’s pride is like stepping on a Lego block with your bare foot en route to the bathroom at 3 a.m. It sucks, it hurts,

and you desperately want to blame anyone but yourself. But I was in too deep to turn back now, so I swallowed hard and forged ahead.

Looking back on this predicament today—a situation life clearly hadn’t yet prepared me for—I’m reminded of the fact that men, in particular, are driven to surmount physical and operational challenges. What I hadn’t yet learned at the time of this door debacle, however, was that even more satisfying to men than solving our own problems is trying to solve the ones belonging to others. But in order for outside advice to be productive, you

outings, it was that under no circumstance whatsoever was a man to reply, “Why, yes. Yes I do need help” to any hardware associate who might inquire. And although I to had become pretty good at pretending to know it all, I knew that now, with the door situation, I did need help. Pride wasn’t going to fill the hole in my house.

So, I pulled out my phone and dialed local renaissance man Mike McGee. I have known Mike for years and figured that he could probably help me. What I didn’t anticipate was the enthusiasm he had for resolving my issue. I ran into several problems throughout the job—I have learned this to be the norm while working on 80-year-old homes—but every time I called, he was more than happy to help by sharing his own experiences in similar situations.

Admitting to myself that I needed help, that I didn’t have all of the answers, was difficult at first. But once I discovered that reaching out to those in the know wasn’t an indicator

Coming to tough realizations at the expense of one's pride is like stepping on a Lego block with your bare foot en route to the bathroom at 3 a.m. It sucks, it hurts, and you desperately want to blame anyone but yourself. have to have ask for it. Otherwise, it goes in one ear and out the other.

Tagging along with my pops to the old Rome Seed & Feed was always fun as a kid. And if I learned anything from those

continued on pg. 54 >>>>

Home Accessories, Gifts & Interior Design

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Together withbut people change not just forunderstand you, also and improve health, and likeyour you,community. wetheir nurture the potential for provide to give back of kids,opportunities help people understand andsupport improveneighbors. their health, and Soand join provide to give back our cause.opportunities And create meaningful and support neighbors.

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Take on Health Refractive Surgery

OUR PHYSICIANS ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS

Dr. Paul Harton received his Doctorate in Pharmacy and Medical Doctor degree from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. He subsequently completed his internship and residency at The Ohio State University Department of Ophthalmology. Harton joined the Harbin Clinic in 1999, and has been performing refractive surgery (PRK) since it was FDA approved in the U.S. in 1996. He has been performing LASIK surgery since it was approved in 1999. Harton was also the first surgeon in Georgia to perform an ICL (implantable contact lens) surgery following FDA approval, and is often invited to speak on a variety of refractive surgery topics both in the U.S. and internationally. He has been involved in the training of hundreds of surgeons on ICL implantation techniques.

Q&A with Dr. Harton • What is refractive surgery? Refractive surgery is a general term for any eye surgery that reduces a patient’s need for glasses and contact lenses.

• Are there different types of refractive surgery? Please explain them and how they work.

There are two basic categories of refractive surgery: Excimer Laser procedures and lens implant procedures. Excimer Laser procedures include LASIK and PRK. Both of these procedures work by reshaping the cornea (the front surface of the eye) with a laser that precisely and gently evaporates tissue, which results in the reshaping of the cornea. LASIK is a two-step procedure. First, a different cool energy laser, known as a femtosecond laser, creates a hinged flap in the cornea. This flap is then lifted, and the Excimer laser treatment is applied to the inner layers of the cornea to reshape it. The flap is then put back into place. PRK also uses Excimer laser energy to reshape the cornea, but there is no flap created first. This surgery also works very well, but because there is no flap, PRK patients take longer to achieve better vision. LASIK patients generally appreciate good vision within a few hours, while PRK patients take longer— often a week or two—to realize good results. The second of our two basic categories, lens implant procedures, include refractive lens exchange surgery (RLE) and the ICL surgery mentioned in my bio. All humans are born with a lens inside the eye that helps focus vision. RLE surgery involves removing this lens when it is not properly focusing images, and replacing it with a new intraocular lens, or IOL. IOLs come in different powers, and it’s possible to correct vision with this lens exchange. ICL surgery also involves implanting a new lens inside the eye to correct vision. However, the natural lens is not removed during this procedure, so the patient has two lenses after surgery. One is the natural lens they were born with, the other is the new ICL. Lens implant surgeries are generally done one eye at a time, about a week apart, but patients notice significant improvement within a day of surgery.

• Can refractive surgery help with nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism?

Refractive procedures can correct nearsightedness (a.k.a. myopia), farsightedness (hyperopia) and astigmatism. There is no correction for presbyopia, which diminishes the eye’s ability to focus on near objects over the age of 40. Both laser and lens implant surgeries are effective in treating nearsightedness. Truly farsighted individuals can benefit from laser or lens implant surgery, depending on the circumstances. Presbyopic patients really are not great surgery candidates in most instances. Astigmatism is when the eye has two different focal points, resulting in blurry vision. It can occur alone, or in combination with nearsightedness or farsightedness, and is also correctable with either laser or lens implant surgery. Most individuals are candidates for refractive surgery. If the only requirement for glasses is to read small print when over the age of 40, then the patient is presbyopic and not a candidate for surgery. Any patient who does not see well in the distance without correction, however, is a potential candidate.

• Do you offer free consultations to determine if I am a candidate?

At the Harbin Clinic Eye Center, yes, we do. Many factors determine if a given patient is a candidate and what the best procedure is for that patient. Age, corneal curvature and thickness, as well as space within the eye, are all factors that determine candidacy. These are easily measured—and in a non-invasive manner—here at our office.

• Can refractive surgery be used to help cataract patients?

Refractive surgery is now being offered to our cataract surgery patients. Historically, patients would have a cataract removed and an intraocular lens (IOL) inserted to restore clearer vision. However, most patients will still need glasses after cataract surgery. Increasingly, there are options available to patients interested in being less dependent on their glasses after cataract surgery. Advanced lens implants, astigmatism correction, laser cataract surgery and other items can make cataract surgery more precise. VVV

For more information, call Harbin Clinic Eye Center refractive coordinator, Paige Bennett, at 706.233.8556.

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>>> from 20, “Read Between...” your cell. But for Leslie and Eric, it is a means to bypassing the traditional video phone function and signing directly to one another. Jackson explains to her son who the stranger on the screen is. Eric and I wave to one another.

The principal has a hearing husband and four hearing children who also sign, but a few years back the family adopted Eric, whom she met while he was a student at GSD. “We had this instant connection with each other,” she smiles. Eric was recently accepted into Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., and hopes to one day become a social worker. Founded in 1864, Gallaudet is the only deaf liberal arts college in the world.

80 percent sounds good in any language Ultimately, says Saunders, a common goal for all Georgia School for the Deaf students prevails. “We trust them to be no different than hearing students in public schools, and we want them to be at the same pace.

We want these kids to have options in life.

We want them to be fully participating members of society.”

One of the words that kept making its way into my chat with the principal had been “resilience.” Jackson described with great personal pride the fierce work ethic of her students, and how, against all odds, they were determined to be a productive, functioning piece of the world surrounding them.

Through the use of compassionate and experienced educators, as well as the employment of advanced technologies, the school is meeting these learners where they are. Approximately 80 percent of GSD graduates leave the school and immediately enter the workforce, a vocational rehab program, or college. Approximately 60 percent of GSD graduates pursue some form of higher education. “We are giving them the tools and sending them out,” says Jackson.

As I left the sprawling campus of the Georgia School for the Deaf, I gave thanks not because I could hear the song on the radio in my car, or the creatures outside on the beautiful winter day. I gave thanks because, upon leaving, I had a new set of eyes. VVV

Coosa Valley Home Health Care, an Amedisys company, is in the business of helping our patients maintain and improve their quality of life-at home. Home is the place where family, friends and familiar surroundings make patients feel most comfortable - and recover faster.

With more than two decades of experience in the health care industry, we understand the importance of delivering high-quality services to patients in their homes. Choose Coosa Valley for all your home care needs.

For more on the Georgia School for the Deaf, call 706.777.2200 or for video phone call 866.761.5762. Visit the school online at GSDweb.org vini vidi vici / v3 magazine

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>>>> from 46, “The Doors...” of weakness or ineptness, as I had previously feared, I was able to appreciate a muchneeded injection of humility.

Asking for help with the door situation actually provided a fantastic opportunity: to ditch my ridiculous, I-can-do-anything-on-myown fallacy and, once again, become a student of life. Although emasculating in the moment, I now look back on this experience with a great sense of pride. And every day I come and go, lock and unlock, open and close my very own manifestation of this important epiphany.

According to “The IKEA Effect: When Labor Leads to Love,” a study conducted

by Daniel Mochon of Tulane University, Michael Norton of the Harvard Business School, and Dan Ariely of Duke University, the feelings I have concerning my front door are very common for people. “Participants saw their amateurish creations—of both utilitarian (practical) and hedonic (pleasure) products—as similar in value to the creation of experts, and expected others to share their opinions,” is one of the claims it puts forth. The study also contends that many consumers are willing to pay more

American Dream.”

I’m not saying that I want to dial back the proverbial DeLorean to loincloths and square wheels. Believe me, I rather enjoy indoor plumbing, electricity, loud guitars, modern medicine, et al. What I am saying is that man has an intrinsic need to conquer adversity. For us to deny this impulse is to deny being human.

I had to exchange two different doors for a third before I finally brought home the right one, and ended up having to reframe the doorjamb, as well as replacing all of the trim. A two-hour job turned into a twoday job, but three doors, a bucket of sweat, and a mile-long string of vulgarities later, I was finished doing what I had set out to do.

Better still, I was pleased with my work.

Buy a book; teach yourself how to make birdhouses, even if you’ve never driven a nail in your life. Watch a YouTube video on how to properly change your own oil in your own driveway, and get some grime under your fingernails. Ask questions, make mistakes, and most importantly, learn from it all while acquiring precision.

VVV

I'm not saying that I want to dial back the proverbial DeLorean to loincloths and square wheels . . . What I am saying is that man has an intrinsic need to conquer adversity.

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for an item that requires assembly than for the exact same item pre-assembled.

Paying extra money for something that costs less to produce seems absurd, but perhaps it is the byproduct of some kind of subconscious, desperate, primal upwelling in many of us to do something—hell, anything—with our own two hands for a change. Now that you’ve seen it in ink, is it really so absurd to think that we, as a modern society, are so starved for a do-ityourself endorphin rush that we wouldn’t shell out a few extra bucks for the privilege?

To be honest with you all, I don’t find it that surprising. Lying in stark contrast to how humans lived for thousands of years before Kim Kardashian opened a Twitter account, our Facebook-saturated lives drone on so self-ineffectually that we typically opt to watch others live it onscreen. Hank Williams, Jr. hit the nail on the head: “We’re go’n crazy, dream’n the

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