Some 4on’t deserve Christrmis
Christmas is here again. Time for coimtless Sianta
Qauses to stand on countless comers lackadaisically
swinging their arms next to a Salvation Army kettle. Time
for Qiristmas trees, turkey and dressing and decking the
halls with boughs of holly. Time for imwrapping presents,
meeting relative strangers, or are they strange relatives?
But while some of us may spend the next few evenings
roasting chestnuts over an open fire, certain men on
Capitol Hill probably won’t be jovidly spreading good
tidings down Pennsylvania Avenue.
Aid well they shouldn’t.
One Col. Oliver North ought to hang his head in shame
if, and we repeat if, he participated in any illegal
shenanigans. Evidently, old Machiavelli’s students still
have some clout today—even in the good old U.S.A.
Some top-level government officiSs have indicated that
if North & Associates had a hand in doublecrossing the
Ayatollah Khomeini in order to assist the Nicaraguan
contras, then we ought to salute them, kiss them on
either cheek and stage a ticker tape parade.
In our opinion, any public officiS who feels that way is
full of beans. Congress passed a law specifically
prohibiting the American government from directly and
indirectly offering aid in any form to the Nicaraguan
contras. And until Congress decided to reopen the spigot,
directing a $100 million flow into the contras’ empty
buckets, no American government official should have
attempted to remedy the temporary drought.
What kind of men are running our government? What
does it say about the integrity of the powers that be
when a majority of our 535 duly-elected legislators finally
agree to slam the door on a certain act, and then various
members of the executive branch simply choose to slip
under it, around it and over it like some sort of slimy
fimgus taking over Capitol Hill’s bathroom walls?
It’s a sordid affair to come to light at any time of
year, and some might accuse us of hanging around ol’
Scrooge too long, but Christmas dinner in the houses of
all who participated in Iranscam" should be deservedly
unhappy.
And just wait, some of them may find themselves
Shakir hands with Santa Claus through parallel steel bars
next Christmas.
BItie Banner
Editor David Proffitt
Business Manager Tony McKinney
News Editor Scott Luckadoo
Assistant News Editor Margaret Powell
Sports Editor Chris Allison
Assistant Sports Editor Geoff Cabe
Entertainment Editor Michele Samuel
Assistant Entertainment Editor Julie Ball
Photography Editor. Casey Baiuss
Advertising Manager Chuck Spanbauer
Circulation Manager Michele Samuel
Advisor Greg Lisby
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Floyd, Jonna McGrath.
AD REPRESENTATIVES: Tim Truitt, Denise Patton, Jackie Young.
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Budget cuts hurt local meal program
By Pamela Ray
Guest Columnist
We hear so much today about the problem of
world hunger. What are the causes? How can we
alleviate it? Why is it that in a country of such
rapidly increasing prosperity the problem only
worsens?
Some of us are alarmed at the unheeded rise
in the poverty level, and as we sit at the
dinner table and discuss this heinous breech of
justice in a land where so few have so much,
we are amazed at the lack of concern.
Granted, all philanthropic works originate
through extensive discussion. However, getting
these good intentions from the dinner table to
the deserving entails steps which the majority
of us do not see as our duty to take. Should
we choose to get involved there is always the
great danger that we will get too close, that
the heartache derived from seeing suffering
made personal would be more than we could
stand.
Ann Flynn, executive director of Asheville’s
"Meals On Wheels" program, shares that great
fear, but she decided the satisfaction gained
from taking action far outweighs the frustration
of knowing the misery of the poor.
Since 1971, "Meals On Wheels" has been
delivering lunches to over two hundred needy
Ashevillians each day. To qualify one n^d only
be homebound, unable to prepare meals and
living alone.
Many presume this service is offered only to
the elderly but this is a misconception. I
recently accompanied her on her luncheon
rounds, and she noted that they serve several
young adults with cerebral palsy and a middle
aged woman with a degenerative brain disease.
As we pulled into the gravel driveway of our
first stop, I could see the devastating effects of
a life fraught with illness. The house was
neglected—its occupant too ill to see it
adequately maintained. We carried that day’s
lunch to the door: turkey with gravy, green
beans, candied yams, a whole wheat roll, orange
juice, milk and an unusual treat, an oatmeal •
cookie.
Mrs. W. (her name is, as are all the MOW’s
recipients, confidential) greeted us with a smile
and invited us in. She told us a charming story
about her husband’s marriage proposal tnade to
her years ago, saying that although they had
decided to get married at the ripe old age of
fifteen, Mr. W. didn’t ask for her hand till the
following year. Her daddy was a preacher and
opposed to having his daughter out of the
house at such a young age.
As we left, Flynn said that this was indeed
the most difficult part of her job. Tou do
become involved in their lives, and it is
difficult to remain detached enough to be
effective."
Flynn said that if MOW had the funds, a
waiting list of more than 45 people could
immediately benefit from the service, and that
number grows daily.
The Asheville organization is funded by both
federal money and private donations, and Flynn
is concerned about federal budget cuts which
(because of the Gramm-Rudman Act) resulted in
a $40,000 reduction in available funds. She
ei^lained that although MOW receives
aid from Land of the Sky Regional Council,
local churches and service clubs such as
Kiwanis and Rhododendron, the amount is
neither constant or^guaranteed.
Therefore, much of the energy which could be
channeled into increasing the program’s
effectiveness must now be diverted into
assuring its very existence. And I believe its
contini^ed existence must somehow be assured,
for the help MOW provides is astounding.
Programs such as this demand that w;e
abandon dinner table talk, for what’s most
needed is action. The 190 volunteers now
delivering lunches take between one and two
hours a week to run their routes.
Pamela Ray is a senior literature major who
recently accompanied the "Meals on Wheels”
director on her daUy rounds.