About The Advance. (Vidalia, Ga.) 2003-current | View Entire Issue (July 28, 2021)
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 MILLION PINES COMMUNITY BANK Local Roots. Local Branches. Local Bankers. Full Service Banking for Personal and Business Use 121 CHURCH STREET, VIDALIA 912-403-3019 tii FDIC THE REWARD OF BEING A TEACHER JUST GOT BETTER We believe the qualities that make you a successful educator also make you an A+ customer. That's why Farmers offers special preferred rates for teachers. Now that is smart! Contact a local Farmers agent to start saving today. 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