I was surprised last night to be honored by the Gwinnett County Republican Party with its Reagan Roundtable Award.  Chairman Greg Howard presented me with a plaque at the party’s annual Holiday dinner.  He said that I had been chosen by County Executive Committee because my legislative service reflected the “spirt of Ronald Reagan.”

I am grateful for the recognition. 

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I spent yesterday morning visiting with Dr. Matthew Schure, President of the Philadephia College of Osteopathic Medicine, at the school’s 2 year old campus in Gwinnett County.  Although new to Georgia, the 108 year old medical school is older than Emory, Mercer or Morehouse.

Georgia ranks 40th in the number of doctors per capita, and particularly in rural areas, is confronted with serious doctor shortages.  PMOC is playing an important role in facing this challenge.  Its new campus in Suwanee, by design, draws over half of its students from Georgia and almost 90% from the southeast.  It will graduate its first class in 2009.

However, most doctors settle not where they graduate medical school but where they complete their post-graduate residency programs.  That means that we must expand residency training opportunities in Georgia.

One of the major challenges is that federal regulations discourage the expansion of existing residency programs.  Therefore, hospitals which wish to begin residency programs must start with a as large of a program as they can envision (the so-called “big bang”).  They must be willing to accept two or three years of large, unreimbursed expenses before the federal funds that pay for most residency programs begin to flow.

I have developed some ideas of my own on how to deal with this problem.  You will hear more from me as I work through the details. 

After the meeting, I joined President Schure and his top administrative staff in serving a Holiday dinner to the faculty and students of the College.

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When I was my daughter’s age, there were just five TV channels and no such thing as PCs, Tivo, DVD or even VCR.  Many of my favorite programs were black-and-white and cartoons were shown only on Saturday morning.  

Today, from the youngest of ages, we stimulate our children with a seemingly endless stream of multimedia presentations.  As a result, they get smarter faster.  They also get bored more easily, and that makes the job of the classroom teacher even tougher.

This afternoon I was privileged to attend a training program for Gwinnett County administrators and teachers conducted by Creating Pride.  The program is called ArtsNOW but is not so much about teaching art as it is using art to teach other subjects. 

I observed two of the four workshops.  One, led by an instructor from the Savannah College of Art and Design, dealt with the use self-portrait to teach, among other things, mathematical proportions.  The other, taught by a theater professor from Emory University, sought a classroom application for the ancients art of story telling and play acting. 

I spoke briefly at the opening session.  I talked about how art had been used by the very first humans not just for pleasure but to record knowledge, chronicle triumphs and calamaities and express hopes and dreams.  Cultures have disappeared and languages have been forgotten, but we can look at prehistoric cave etchings and ancient monuments and know what our ancestors were trying to say.

Bolstered by my experience today, I am convinced that art has a practical application in helping our teachers teach and children learn.

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I have never actually called him “Shack.”  But I was nonetheless privileged to participate in a luncheon yesterday honoring Wayne Shackelford, Georgia’s former Commissioner of Transportation and Gwinnett County’s former County Administrator.

The interchange of I-85 and SR 316, in the heart of Gwinnett County and scheduled for completion early next year, will be named in his honor.

The idea originated with Emory Morsberger, who organized the luncheon and penned this tribute to Mr. Shackelford.

Several of Mr. Shackelford’s longtime friends spoke, and I read a resolution honoring his many accomplishments.  Every member of the State Board of Transportation attended, some looking a little weary after the grueling selection of a new DOT Commissioner.

Camie Young from the Gwinnett Daily Post wrote this article covering the luncheon. 

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It was my privilege to participate in the Duluth Fall Festival Parade and Opening Ceremony on Saturday.  Monica Pearson of WSB-TV was our Honorary Grand Marshal, and  the Duluth Fall Festival Committee did an outstanding job as always in making the arrangements.  Without question, my hometown hosts the best fall festival in Georgia.

I spent Sunday afternoon with my family, missing the second day of the Duluth Fall Festival and the Gwinnett County Republican Party’s grass roots barbecue.  My daughter, who turned six this week, celebrated her birthday with friends and kindergarten classmates.

I am told by Gene Callaway that Ron Paul won the Gwinnett County Straw Poll, with Rudy Guiliani and Fred Thompson in a dead heat for second place.  Gene has been named chairman of the Thompson campaign for Gwinnett County.  I am a Thompson supporter and regret not being at the barbecue to show my support for his candidacy.  For more information about his campaign, visit his new website at Fred08 Dot Com.

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It was my privilege to speak last night to the Gwinnett Young Republicans.  For those of you who heard me speak earlier this month at the Gwinnett County Republican Breakfast Forum, I covered much of the same ground — my work earlier this year to pass the Saving the Cure Act and my efforts now to reform Grady Hospital.  I got several questions about the Speaker’s proposed GREAT Plan, illegal immigration and traffic congestion.

There were several new faces at the meeting.  Chuck Efrstation, a third year law student and former Senate aide, has done an outstanding job spearheading the reorganization of the group.  The Gwinnett Young Republicans meet at the Loafing Leprechaun in Duluth, and if you are under forty, I encourage you to get involved.  A new website is being prepared but you can visit this placeholder site for basic information.

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There will be a meet-and-greet for Fred Thompson tomorrow, Tuesday evening, at 6:00 p.m. at the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce building in Duluth.  It is sponsored by the Government Affairs Committee of the Chamber.  The event is open to the public (and the media).  The Chamber building is located across the parking lot from the Arena, and the reception will be held on the first floor, in the John D. Stephens room.

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I learned from the Fred Thompson campaign this morning that the next President will be in Gwinnett County this Tuesday for Sean Hanity’s Freedom Concert.  This is his second visit to our state in less than a week.

The concert is being held in Duluth at the Gwinnett Arena, the best concert facility in the state.  Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the Freedom Alliance’s scholarship program for the children of Americans who have given their lives or limbs in service to our country.  The AJC’s Ben Smith has additional details.

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I sponsored or cosponsored over 50 bills during this Legislative Session, a number of which passed and have been signed by the Governor.  On sixteen of those bills, I was the principal or “number one” sponsor.  Senate Bill 148, the Saving the Cure Act, was signed yesterday.  So were three of my other bills, Senate Bill 84, which protects members of the military from unscrupulous insurance sales practices, Senate Bill 114, which updated the the Georgia Real Estate License Law, and Senate Bill 147, which created the Gwinnett Stormwater Authority.

Seante Bill 84 was requested by the Georgia Insurance Department and implements a federal law signed by President Bush last fall.  Senate Bill 114 was requested by the Georgia Real Estate Commission and went through several revisions before it was finally approved on the last day of the session.  Senate Bill 147 was a local bill requested by the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners.  I changed the draft submitted by the County Attorney to clarify that the Authority could not increase the stormwater fee.  The House made an additional change, mandating instead of authorizing an annual audit.

Another of my bills, Senate Bill 115, passed both the Senate and House but awaits action by the Governor.  This bill was requested by the State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors and updates the new licensing law. 

Seven of my other bills passed the Senate but not the House.   Those bills all remain alive and can be taken up by the House during the next session in 2008.

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