Georgia Magazine - March 2010 - (Page 5)

GEMC ® M A G A Z I N E www.georgiamagazine.org (800) 544-4362, in Georgia; (770) 270-6950 GEORGIA Magazine, the largest-circulation monthly magazine in the state, is published by Georgia Electric Membership Corp. (GEMC), the trade association for Georgia’s 42 consumer-owned electric utilities. On average, more than 500,000 members welcome the magazine into their homes each month. Georgia’s not-for-profit electric cooperatives provide reliable, safe and affordable electric service to more than 73 percent of the state’s land area serving 4.5 million residents. For more information, visit www.georgiaemc.com. EDITOR Ann Orowski, CCC MANAGING EDITOR Jennifer Hewett, CCC ASSOCIATE EDITOR Victoria Scharf DeCastro ASSISTANT EDITOR Clay Narron PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Steve Jacobs STAFF ASSISTANT Sonya Devereaux EDITORIAL INTERN Emily Allen CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Stand up and be counted BY PAUL WOOD President/CEO, Georgia Electric Membership Corporation Lynn Coulter, Dennis Creech, Stephanie Green, Lori Johnston, Michael W. Kahn, Jackie Kennedy, Martha R. Phillips, Robert Reed, Bill Verner CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Steve Cash, Richard Dowdy, Lou Freeman, Sheri George, Hope Hatcher, Ellen Honeycutt, Heather Maynard, Dave Padyjasek, Martha R. Phillips, Ed Thompson Laurel George, Laine Kirby Wood, ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE (404) 541-0628 ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE (770) 289-5700 DESIGNERS Trudie Thibodeaux, Kerstin Weis Mary Wellman, (770) 270-6981 SUBSCRIPTIONS 2010 ADVISORY BOARD Christy Chewning, Jeffrey Ferguson, Stacey Fields, Tony Griffin, Johnnie B. Hall, Pamela Keene, Doyle Medders, Jeff Pierce, Donnie Prince, Steve Rawl, Brandon Reece, Romeo Reyes, Tony Sinclair, Jere Thorne GEORGIA EMC OFFICERS CHAIRMAN Neal Talton, Flint Energies VICE CHAIRMAN Alice Mallory, Coweta-Fayette EMC SEC.-TREASURER Randy Crenshaw, Irwin EMC PRESIDENT/CEO, GEMC A. Paul Wood georgia Magazine (USPS-473120, ISSN 10615822) is published monthly by Georgia Electric Membership Corp., P.O. Box 1707, 2100 East Exchange Place, Tucker, GA 30085. Periodicals postage paid at Thomaston, GA, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to GEORGIA Magazine, P.O. Box 1707, Tucker, GA 30085. Printed in Georgia by Quad/Graphics. Acceptance of advertising by GEORGIA Magazine does not imply endorsement by the publisher or Georgia’s electric membership corporations of the product or services advertised. GEORGIA Magazine’s LIABILITY FOR ERRORS IN, OR OMISSIONS OF, ADVERTISEMENTS, WHETHER IN CONTRACT OR IN TORT, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO DAMAGES TO THE ADVERTISER’S BUSINESS, SHALL IN NO EVENT EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF CHARGES FOR THE ADVERTISEMENT THAT WAS OMITTED OR IN WHICH THE ERROR OCCURRED. merica has tallied up the number of its citizens at the beginning of each decade since 1790. It is required by the U.S. Constitution. States depend on the results to determine how many representatives they will have in Washington. That is critically important because it is through your representative that your voice is heard in the halls of Congress. There is one additional reason for being counted: your community—and your state—stand to lose millions of federal dollars in funding for needed local projects if you are not counted. We pay our taxes, some of us begrudgingly, but we pay them every year, and isn’t it about time we made sure we got back our fair share of the tax dollars we send to Washington? When the 2010 census is complete, Washington will send back $400 billion per year for the building of hospitals, schools, job training centers, bridges, tunnels, senior centers and emergency services, to name a few. That will be a return of $4 trillion in taxes over the next 10 years. For many years, people looked forward to the decennial census. If you have done research on your ancestry, you know that census reports are a treasure trove of information for completing a family tree. That’s because, from our founding, Americans enthusiastically answered the door and freely gave the census taker all requested information. Indeed, participating in the census was seen as a patriotic duty. Why then, is it hard to get people to participate today? www.georgiamagazine.org Some people are reluctant participants in the census because they are concerned about how the data will be used. Their fears are frequently grounded in anti-government sentiment, privacy suspicions or identity theft concerns. All you need to know is any personal data you provide is protected under federal law. That’s a fact. Information collected is used for statistical purposes only. Unlawful disclosure of your personal information is treated as a serious crime. Counting the poor, the elderly and certain ethnic groups always has been hard because many of them move frequently or have no fixed address. That’s why it is sometimes necessary for a census taker to collect data by going door to door. If they come to your door, I hope you will help them because, ultimately, you will be helping yourself. For everyone who supports the U.S. Constitution—and don’t we all?—we should gladly embrace its simple requirement for a regular count of all the people. A census form will come to most residences in the mail during March. It is just like the one we received in 2000 and contains only 10 questions. It will take less than five minutes to complete and won’t cost a thing to mail back in the postagepaid envelope. If you know someone who may be reluctant to participate, please ask them one question: “You pay your taxes; why not stand up and be counted as the patriot you are, and let’s get some of those tax dollars back for our community?” March 2010 http://www.georgiamagazine.org http://www.georgiaemc.com http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - March 2010

Georgia Magazine - March 2010
Contents
Viewpoint
Mailbox
Picture This?
Georgia News
Calendar
Currents
Special Energy Report
Rising Stars
Surviving Well
Around Georgia
Georgia@Home
My Georgia
Georgia Gardens
Georgia Cooks
Light Weight Cooks
Cookbook of the Month
Snapshot

Georgia Magazine - March 2010