The novelty may be gone but it still takes a little bit of concentration to
realize that a new school year has arrived and our students are already attending
classes and we're barely into the month of August.
A new school year affects virtually everyone in the county. It goes w ithout
saying that it's true for teachers and everyone else associated with the school
system along with the students and their families- especially their parents.
Also affected, though, are the motorists who must recognize their duty to drive
very carefully when those orange school buses are on the road they're driving
on. Those motorists must also be on the lookout for children waiting for their
bus who may be too close to fhe road or who are walking home along the
road.
The students, for the most part, view the return to school w ith mixed feelings.
Their age and grade in school affect their feelings. For the older students,
returning to school after a summer of fun and possibly, a summertime
job. it's a time when they know they have to buckle down to work in the
classroom. If they are seniors, they may realize its their last opportunity to
work towards making themselves eligible to attend a good two or four year
college when they graduate.
Young students probably view the return in a kind of happy way even though
they will have to give up the freedom to play that they had. Students in between
those two groups are affected pretty much by how they feel about education.
Most parents are probably pleased about school being back in session. That
may be especially true for parents of younger children who may have run out
of ways to keep the youngsters occupied. Now, though, the parents have other
responsibilities. The word 'transportation' comes to mind. It could be transporting
their child to and from school if bus transportation is not an option or
driving them to various activities. Speaking of those activities, it's important
that parents lay out a schedule for proper balance between those activities and
time required for their studies. While there's no doubt that many activities are
important to the development of a child, it should be remembered that the
major reason for being in school is to learn. Thus homework and the like
should account for the lion's share of that schedule to ensure the child's academic
success.
Teachers have really not had as much time off as have students and parents.
When you consider the fact that teachers have work to do after the students'
last day of school and have to report a week before the students return to
school, it's easy to see that their summer is quite a bit shorter. Additionally,
many a dedicated teacher uses at least a part of the summer to devote to attending
meeting of educators or enrolling in summer courses to improve themselves
in such a way to be able to contribute to their students' education in a
meaningful way. If they spend a part of the summer taking a vacation, they
often visit places which they can discuss with their students so that the students
are able to leam about places which they may not get the opportunity to
visit themselves.
Everyone looks forward to the start of a new school year to one degree or
another. Let's hope that everyone contributes to making it a happy and successful
one.
Their smiles
say a lot
about you.
Your gift to Volunteers of
America helps bring smiles
to the faces of individuals and
families in need in our community.
Help us ensure that our elderly
neighbors live their lives happier,
healthier, and as independently
as possible.
Volunteer* of America?
changing live*,
restoring hope.
Please call us at
1.800.890.0089 or
visit www.voa.org.
Along the Robeson Trail
By Dr. Stan Knick, Director-UNCP Native American Resource Center
One of the most fascinating
elements of human culture to me has
always been words ? their
meanings; their spellings; where they
came from and how they are used;
how they change through time.
Perfeptly ordinary English words
which-; we use in everyday
conversation sometimes have
undergone such changes in meaning
through time that when we read the
same words in a text from long ago
we may not know how they were
being used at the time of the original
writing.
Take the word "silly" for example.
"Silly" comes to us from Old English
scelig, which meant happy or blessed.
By the time of Middle English it had
become seli or sili, meaning blessed or
innocent. Webster's New World
Dictionary reports that in modem
usage "silly" originally meant plain,
innocent or helpless. The Oxford
English Dictionary says that the word
was used by Shakespeare and other
writers of bis period to mean
"deserving of compassion or
sympathy." However it happened,
"silly" went from meaning "happy" to
meaning "blissful" to meaning
"unaware of reality" to meaning
"foolish," which is the way we
generally use it today (as in, "Ask a
silly question, you get a silly
answer"). It's the same word, but it
has had many meanings.
One way that words change
meaning or usage through time is by
a process called "folk etymology."
Dtis describes "the change that occurs
, in the form of a word over a period of
prolonged usage so as to give it an
apparent connection with some other
well-known word (Webster's New
World Dictionary)." This is the
process by which "cole slaw" has in
some areas come to be called "cold
slaw." "Cold" made more sense to
someonealong the way, and the change
stuck. Similarly, some people refer to
"Alzheimer's disease" as"01dTimer's
disease." It makes a kind of sense, and
it sounds enough like the original word
to work its way into usage.
One of my favorite examples of
folk etymology is the name of a.
community in southern Indiana. It
was settled by a Frenchman long ago
named Norbonne (pronounced norbun),
and travelers in the area came to
call the settlement by his name. Many
years later, when someone wanted to
write down the word (maybe to put it
on some official map), the local
pronunciation and explanation had
changed so much that it came to be
known as Gnaw Bone. And now, there
it is: Gnaw Bone, Indiana, The locals
knew what it meant to "gnaw a bone,"
so it made more sense to them.
So what does folk etymology have
to do with Native Americans in
Robeson County, North Carolina? It
is one possible explanation for how
the Lumbee River c^me to be recorded
as "Lumber" River in the early 1800s.
Hamilton McMillan and Angus
McLean both wrote in the late 1800s
that the ancient name of the river
was Lumbee. Is it possible that the
earliest white settlers who moved
into the area heard local Native
Americans call it Lumbee, and when it
came time to write the word down on
a map they changed "the form of the
word...to give it an apparent
connection with some other wellknown
word" as in folk etymology?
Some of the founders of Lumberton
were in the lumber business, and
maybe itjust made more sense to them
? through folk etymology ? to call
it "^umber" River. It's an interesting
possibility.
For more information, visit the
Native American Resource Center in
historic Old Main Building, on the
campus of The University of North
Carolina at Pembroke (our Internet
address is www.uncp.edu/
nativemuseum).
r sf! i
MARKETING GROUP
Long Distance Service
5.9 cents per minute state-to-state
6-second billing
24 hours-a-day, 7 days-a-week
Save up to 50% or more on every long
distance call!
All day, Every Day!
Residential or Commercial!
Great in-state rates!
Toll free numbers 5.9 cents!
Special International Rates!
No long term commitment!
No enrollment fee!
No Minimum usage!
World Wide travel card!
Your SR Referrer is:
http://www.ezinIbcenter.com/449668/LD JOHN BRAYBOY
"FLA - Disney Area Mini Vacation Sale"
Get 4 Days & 3 Nights Hotel Accommodations
For Only Call Now
For your Summer & Fall Reservations!
1 800 749-404S ext 520
www.whoiesale-travel.com
The ABCs
of Diabetes
Do you
have
diabetes?
Know
someone
who does?
Come to our FREE Diabetes Education Program and leam how to take charge
of your diabetes. You CAN live a full and healthy life.
Program topics include:
What is diabetes? Medications Exercise Nutrition Blood sugar monitoring
I IfMRH HI M
ElnlvJnllllwlltHqC'MlllUA!
Hl'rif
Each class will include a raffle for free Diabetes Supplies.
FsrstHealth
OF THE C A R O LIN AS
871-106-1
I KIDS HI FREE!
Every Monday at Pembroke
lilLJkJCJli3iS
KID'S NIGHT - 5 P.M. - 10 P.M.
One Kid's Meal FREE with purchase of adult entree.
MONDAY - Egg Breakfast Special - $2.99
TUESDAY - Egg Breakfast Special - $2.99
SUNDAY FEATURE - $5.59
Your choice of one meat, country fried steak, grilled
chicken, or chicken tenders. Plus mashed potatoes
& gravy, vegetable, and Texas Toast.
Add dessert for only $1.29.
OPEN 24 HOURS
725 W. Third St. Pembroke, NC
521-7685