Newspaper Page Text
The ADVANCE, July 28, 2021 /Page 2A
Stye Ahumtce
Dick Yarbrough Book on 25th Anniversary of Delta
Olympics in Atlanta Being Re-Released
continued from page 1A
To commemorate the
25th anniversary of the
1996 Summer Olympics in
Atlanta, Lemur Press has an
nounced
a re-
released
Dick Yar-
Dick Yarbrough
brough’s
book
And
They Call
Them
Games.
His book is available for
purchase on Amazon.
This book features an
insider’s perspective of the
Centennial bombing, and
is the only book written
about the Atlanta Games.
Based on Yarbrough’s role
as managing director of
communications and gov
ernment relations for the
Atlanta Committee for the
Olympic Games, the book
focuses on the host of is
sues that ACOG faced in
planning and overseeing the
Centennial
Olympics.
F o 1 -
lowing his
Olympic
experience,
Dick Yar
brough em
barked on a
even born in
1996.”
AND THEY CALL
THEM GAMES
h e
dis
cusses the
Centennial
Park bomb
ing,
the
gay
new career
as the most
widely- syn-
d i c a t e d
newspaper
columnist in
Georgia. His column ap
pears regularly in Vidalia’s
newspaper, The Advance.
“It is hard to believe
it has been 25 years since
the Centennial Olympic
Games were staged in Geor
gia,” Yarbrough said. “A lot
of Georgians were a part
of that big event, whether
as volunteers or spectators.
Ironically, there is a whole
generation today who were
either too young to remem
ber that time or were not
rights battles
in Cobb
County, the
uproar over
the state flag
and the com
peting needs
of local, state, federal and in
ternational relations.
“This book recounts
my first-hand experiences in
helping stage what was billed
as ‘the largest peacetime
event in history,” Yarbrough
said. “It is the only book
written on those Games and
covers the good and the bad
of that unique experience.
It was a privilege to be a
part of a group of dedicated
and selfless individuals who
made it happen.”
*
ask
Ms. Magnolia^
Letters have been edited for length and clarity.
Dear Ms. Magnolia,
What does “deadname’
mean'
My
great-nephew came down from Atlanta
to visit his sister and said that he didn't
want to be “deadnamed” and wants to be
called by his chosen name. I admit that I
am from an older generation, and I just
don’t quite get all this changing of names
and pronouns.
K
Dear K,
“Deadname” means “the name
that a transgender person was given at
birth and no longer uses upon transi
tioning,” also called “birth name.” Ac
cording to some psychologists, “using
the individual’s chosen name and hav
ing their chosen pronouns respected by
all of the people around them affirms
what they are doing” so that they can
“feel seen, accepted and respected.”
Article after article mentions sui
cide in relation to transgenders. Re
search has found that “transgender
youths report having suicidal thoughts
and attempting suicide at nearly twice
the rate of their non-trans peers.”
When transgenders are permitted to
use their chosen names at work, school
and home, “their risk of depression
and suicide is lessened.” Transgender
youth who are able to “change their
name and/or gender marker on legal
documents, such as driver’s licenses
and birth certificates, reported lower
rates of attempting suicide.”
If transgenders are unhappy
enough with themselves to want to
change their total identities, and then
want to commit suicide when they do,
perhaps our culture should be looking
deeper for the cause of their unhappi
ness. Gender at birth doesn’t seem to
be the real cause. Perhaps soul-search
ing development of a belief system,
faith, creed, dogma, or doctrine would
help. We are not helping our children
by keeping them from a faith-based
philosophy.
If you have a question for Ms. Magnolia, please mail it to P.O. Box 669, Vidalia, GA
30475, or e-mail to msmagnoliaadvance@yahoo.com.
Roper
continued from page 1A
specifies that it must in
clude a member appointed
to represent each of the fol
lowing: a degree-granting
institution, a nondegree
granting institution, and
an exempt institution. The
Commission is required to
meet at least quarterly. The
day-to-day activities of the
Commission are handled
by a 12-person staff headed
by an Executive Director
appointed by the Gover
nor.
Also named to the
Commission were Pranay
Udutha, Deputy Chief
of Staff and Director of
Strategy, Operations, and
Corporate Development
at ARPA-E.; Drew Van
Horn, president of Young
Harris College; and P.K.
Martin, former state sena
tor from Georgia’s 9th Dis
trict.
In addition to his du
ties as Mayor, Roper is the
Branch Manager at Vidalia
Federal Savings Bank. An
active member of his com
munity, Roper has served
on the Toombs-Mont-
gomery Chamber of Com
merce Board of Directors,
is on the fundraising com
mittees for the Mercy Med-
gomery counties],” Con
ner says. “As we are treat
ing patients who recently
tested positive for COVID,
we see that the virus seems
to be behaving differently
and those differences are
consistent with what we
know about the delta vari
ant.”
According to Con
ner, COVID has affected
a younger
demo
graphic
in this lat
est surge,
which is
consis
tent with
the delta
Dr, Conner
variant. Another possible
delta variant indicator is
that the more prevalent
symptoms have shifted
from loss of smell, short
ness of breath, fever and
persistent cough to more
cold-like symptoms such
as headache, runny nose
and sore throat.
“Unvaccinated pa
tients may still get very
sick if they contract the
delta variant,” he says. “For
some, it may be deadly or
cause long-term complica
tions. And another con
cern is that the delta vari
ant is less responsive to
the monoclonal antibody
treatment credited with
saving thousands of COV
ID patients in the last year.”
He points out that
one hundred percent of
COVID patients in the
local hospital right now
are unvaccinated. Though
vaccinated people can still
contract COVID’s delta
variant, it is somewhat rare.
Conner is not aware of any
breakthrough cases in his
patients that had the Mod-
erna vaccine.
“But vaccinated people
shouldn’t let their guard
down,” he says. “The vac
cination may protect you,
but it doesn’t protect those
around you who have not
been vaccinated, includ
ing young children who
are unable to get a vaccine.
If we don’t work together
and stop the spread, we will
continue to deal with large
outbreaks of COVID well
into the future; variants
will continue to develop;
and we may need booster
shots down the road to
protect us against one of
those variants.”
Like other medical
providers, Conner voices
frustration in that he has
been pushed into a de
fensive posture, battling a
barrage of misinformation
campaigns pertaining to
the virus and the vaccines,
all while treating patients
who are suffering from the
virus.
“People are afraid,
and so much of the mis
information out there is
designed to tap into their
fears,” he says. “But we’ve
all seen it — a patient re
fuses the vaccine, and then
he or she gets COVID and
regrets the decision.”
Dr. Conner asks that
the unvaccinated recon
sider their choice.
“The vaccine is safe,
effective, and available,” he
says. “We have adminis
tered well over 2,000 doses
of the Moderna vaccine to
patients at my practice, and
there have been no unex
pected side effects. Again,
among my patients, I am
not aware of anyone who
got our vaccine and later
got COVID. The risk of an
unvaccinated individual
getting COVID and getting
seriously ill is very much
greater than the risk of get
ting the vaccine and having
a problem.”
Understandably, peo
ple are fatigued and have
become more complacent
with social distancing and
masking measures. Conner
encourages everyone to
move forward with caution
and compassion.
“If you can’t get the
vaccine, take precautionary
measures to protect your
self and those around you,”
he says. “Wear a mask; put
a little distance between
yourself and other people;
and wash your hands. And
public gatherings are still of
concern. The odds of get
ting COVID increase with
the number of people you
are in close contact with.”
Delta is not the first
COVID variant the world
has seen, and it won’t be
the last.
“I can’t emphasize this
enough — the vaccine
works,” he says. “The vac
cine is saving lives every
day, and it isn’t too late to
get one. More vaccines in
arms means less numbers
of COVID infections, and
that is the best defense we
have against today’s virus
and any future variants.”
Need a vaccine?
Dr. Conner’s clinic at
1608 Meadows Lane in
Vidalia offers the Moder
na vaccine 7 days a week.
Walk ins are welcome.
Call 912-537-9488.
Overcoming Vaccine Hesitancy
Key to Getting Past COVID-19
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
smart. They’re dangerous,”
she said. “There’s a point at
which variants will overtake
ical Clinic and Meadows
Regional Medical Cancer
Center, and is a mentor
with Toombs County Fam
ily Connection.
He served for nine
years as a member of the
Vidalia City Schools Board
of Education and serves on
the Board of Directors of
the Georgia School Boards
Association. Currently, he
serves on the local Board
of Directors for the Fellow
ship of Christian Athletes.
Roper holds a bachelor’s
degree in speech and com
munications from Clem-
son University. He and his
wife, Marly, have two sons.
ATLANTA - Georgia
and other states with low
COVID-19 vaccination
rates are in a race against
time with fast-replicating
variants of the virus, a fac
ulty member at the More
house School of Medicine
said Thursday.
us.
The various coronavi-
rus vaccines now available
are effective against the Del
ta variant, now responsible
for the most new infections.
But other variants could
spring up soon unless more
residents of low-vaccination
states get vaccinated, Dr.
Michelle Nichols, associate
dean of family medicine at
Morehouse, warned during
a panel discussion spon
sored by the school and the
Peach State Health Plan.
“These variants are
Faculty members from
Morehouse, state agency
heads, representatives of
Peach State Health Plan and
educational, religious and
nonprofit leaders spent an
hour talking about what can
be done to overcome vac
cine hesitancy in Georgia.
As of Thursday, CO
VID-19 had hospitalized
914,984 Georgians, while
the virus had resulted in
21,593 confirmed or prob
able deaths. The state’s vac
cination rate of 38% trails
the national average.
Nichols said a key fac
tor in why so many Geor
gians are reluctant to get
vaccinated is the amount
of misinformation being
spread about the shots. She
said COVID-19 vaccina
tions will not affect a wom
an’s fertility, will not alter a
person’s DNA and will not
cause a person to contract
the virus.
Dr. Kathleen Toomey,
commissioner of the Geor
gia Department of Public
Health, said another argu
ment against getting the
shot is that it won’t protect
the recipient from contract-
Please see COVID page 4A
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