About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 17, 2023)
4A Weekend Edition-March 17-18, 2023 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com LOCA^STATE Photo courtesy of Sydnee Taylor Flowery Branch High School students participate in an electric car race event organized by the Georgia chapter of the Technology Student Association at Caffeine and Octane’s Lanier Raceway in Braselton on Wednesday, March 15. Editor’s note: This pub lished in a previous E-Paper edition and is being pro vided here for print-only readers. Emma Veiga, a junior at Flowery Branch High School, still feels a pang when she recalls the cata strophic failure at last year’s race event. “The entire back wheel broke off the axle, and we could not fix it,” Veiga said. “That was probably one of the saddest things that’s ever happened to me.” But things were going much more smoothly this year, she said minutes before her final race. “When it comes to driv ing, you do all this work to finally get up on the track and it’s like that final moment, you’re just happy,” she said. “You just forget about all the stress.” Veiga is the driver for her high school’s electric car race team, which com peted Wednesday in an event at the Caffeine and Octane’s Lanier Raceway in Braselton. “I just like to go fast,” she said. More than 30 teams from schools across the state hit the track to see who could complete the most laps on a single battery charge in two hour-long races. Hall County Schools was repre sented by Flowery Branch and Cherokee Bluff high schools. The decade-old race event is organized by the Georgia chapter of the Technology Student Asso ciation, a national nonprofit organization of high school and middle school students with a passion for science, technology, engineering and math. The race is just one of Hall students compete in electric car race event BY BEN ANDERSON banderson@ gainesvilletimes.com many competitions hosted byTSA. “Basically, they have to figure out how to make the vehicles as efficient as pos sible,” said Steven Griffing, an engineering teacher for Barrow County Schools and one of the race organizers. Students are involved in all stages of building the car, from 3D modeling and graphic design to welding the frame and wiring the electronics. Garrett Murphy, the pit chief for the Flowery Branch High team, said his favorite part of the event is applying the lessons he learns in the classroom on the race track. “I love the application of it,” the junior said. “You can come out here and test it and see how you’re doing.” Murphy said their alumi num-chassis car can reach top speeds of 30-32 mph. But it’s not all about speed. “It’s an endurance race,” said Brent Hinkel, presi dent of the Georgia Elec- trathon Association, which hosts electric vehicle races across the country and sets the rules and regulations. “It’s grown a lot” over the last ten years, he said. Micah Townsend, assis tant fabricator and a junior at Flowery Branch High with a particular interest in welding, said their alu minum car made it about three-quarters of the way through the first race. And while he wasn’t sure how they ranked Wednes day afternoon among the competing teams, he said he was just happy to spend a school day out on the track. “I just have a blast,” he said. Harmon Tison, an engi neering teacher at Flowery Branch High who oversees the student race team, said the race results won’t be announced until Saturday. Trophies will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. But with five minutes left in the second and final race, things were looking good. “We’re leading right now,” he said. Ga. House OKs ban on some gender-affirming care for kids BY JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA — Most gen der-affirming surgeries and hormone replacement therapies for transgender people under 18 would be banned in Georgia under a measure that received House approval Thursday. Doctors could still pre scribe medicines to block puberty under the bill that was approved 96-75. It’s part of a nationwide effort by conservatives to restrict transgender athletes, gen der-affirming care and drag shows. The vote on Senate Bill 140 came after raw and emotional appeals from opponents in a debate that began with barely an hour’s warning, reflecting a deci sion by Republican lead ers to push the measure through rapidly. Because a House committee amended the bill on Tuesday to expose physicians who vio late the law to lawsuits or possible criminal charges, it goes back to the Senate for more debate. “To all the children in our state who are going to be negatively impacted, Please don’t lose hope. Please don’t give up. Please don’t kill yourself,” Rep. Karla Drenner, an Avondale Estates Democrat who was the first openly gay state lawmaker in the Deep South when she joined the House in 2001, said through tears, citing fears of a higher sui cide rate among transgen der youth. “This world is worth it. We need you.” Opponents said the mea sure would hurt transgender children by requiring physi cians to violate medical standards of care. They also said it would block parents from doing what they think is best for their children. Republicans denied that they wished anyone harm, saying they had the best interest of children at heart, and wanted people to be able to obtain coun seling. Supporters insisted the Georgia measure would protect children from mak ing irreversible decisions before they have fully matured. “As parents, our role is to help our kids navigate through the confusion of growing up in a society that is often oversexualized and wants to place children in situations to make adult decisions they are not capa ble of making,” said Rep. Josh Bonner, a Fayetteville Republican who presented the bill. Democrats questioned lawmakers’ decision to override physician recommendations. “What patient would pre fer their care be dictated by a politician, rather than a doctor?” said Rep. Michelle Au, a Johns Creek Demo crat and physician. But Republican Rep. Mark Newton, an Augusta physician, said that it is appropriate for the state to rein in “the uncontrolled expansion of early treat ment for gender dysphoria” “Doctors do sometimes require state involvement to do what’s best to protect Georgians,” Newton said. Rep. 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