Newspapers / The Pilot (Southern Pines, … / Jan. 23, 1964, edition 1 / Page 2
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# * Page TWO THE PILOT—Southern Pines, North Carolina THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 1964 ILOT The Alchemist Southern Pines North Carolina m In taking over The Pilot no changes are contemplated. We will try to keep this a good paper. We will try to make a little money for all concerned. Wherever there seems to be an occasion to use our influence for the public good we will try to do it. And we will treat everybody alike.” — James Boyd, May 23, 1941. mm mm School Survey: Open Minds Called For ma It is gratifying that the Southern Pines Board of Education has decided to have a survey made by an impartial, out-of- state group of educators, to help guide their planning for the future. Such a survey was recommended by the Citizens Committee for Long-range School Planning, before Christmas, speci fically to determine whether the best interests of students would be served by the Southern Pines School District’s re maining an independent “city administra tive unit” or by consolidating with the Moore County school system. The Citizens Committee has emphasiz ed the apparent advantages that would be gained by the East Southern Pines High School, were it to join with Aber deen and West End (and possibly Pine- hurst, another independent city unit) in a large consolidated high school—one of the three made possible by county bond issue funds voted last fall. The proposed survey will enable the public to ponder much more intelligently what course the local schools should take. And what an informed public thinks about the matter can then be taken much more seriously by the board of education than, for instance, the results of the sud den, overnight poll of parents’ opinions taken a few weeks ago, against a back ground of inadequate public information or understanding. We trust that the board of education will instruct the survey group to come up, first and foremost, with a direct answer to that primary question: should the Southern Pines School District re main independent or should it join the county system and enable its students to attend a much larger high school? In another recent action, the local board of education refused the county school system’s request to build its pro posed consolidated Aberdeen-West End high school on a site within the Southern Pines district. No reason for this decision was given in the letter informing the coimty board of education of the action taken, nor would the chairman of the local board explain it further when queried by the press, except to say, “With the know ledge that we now have, we felt that we could not grant the request.” This answer seems to imply that furth er knowledge (results of the forthcoming survey?) might alter the decision. How ever, the county board of education obviously can’t continue to put off the pressing matter of acquiring a site for the school for which funds have already been voted. We think the local board of education owes the public an explanation for their refusal to grant the county board’s re quest. The proposed site, as we understand it, would be well toward the western edge of the Southern Pines School District and we can’t see what difference it would make whether the school were located there or a few miles away. It is common sense, too, to realize that, although the local board of education is now opposed to consolidation, there may come a day when this or another board will want to, or even have to, solve the high school’s space and other problems by joining whatever consolidated school project exists in the area. If such a time comes (and many local people believe it is inevitable), Southern Pines would be is a vastly better position with a million- dollar-plus plant already located in its district and with plenty of room for ex pansion of that plant on an out-of-town site. Pending the survey and whatever re sults it may produce, we hope that school patrons and everybody interested in the schools will keep an open mind—and en courage the school board to do likewise. m 65*%'?!! m mm MS. my fCD J3p Safeco 'ZscWiescHe- PROGRESS TOLD, NEEDS OUTLINED Responsibilities In Mental Health They’re Off — And Running Hard! Anybody who doesn’t like politics had better get out of North Carolina between now and May. Not only are the three Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls—Lake, Moore and Preyer, to name them alphabetically but in the reverse order of our preference— churning up the cinders of the political racetrack (administering a few digs with each other’s elbows as they round the turns) but it seems that there’s a new Repuljlican announcing daily for some office or other, to harass Democrats who have their hands full of primary troubles. Dr. Lake has already dipped his brush, as expected, in the Communism and Race tar pots. He made a swipe at Judge Prey er in connection with the Scales case (a very ineffective swipe, as it turned out, leaving a few spots on Lake himself). He then dipped the brush again and, rather ridiculously, went after Governor Sanford for not having been raising the dickens with the Negroes all along, after the Governor warned CORE they’d better not start more trouble In Chapel Hill. Generally speaking. Judge Moore and Dr. Lake have been treating each other somewhat tenderly, not being sure in what direction the consciences of all the alleged Tar Heel conservatives will lead them by primary time—whether a little to the Center, toward Moore, or a little to the Right, toward Lake. As a Moderate. Judge Moore is safe and sound there in the Center at this stage of the game. He wants everybody to come stay with him in his little old thoroughly renovated and modernized cottage. It’s so comfy inside, while Lake and Preyer trade blows out in the street. Anybody who was expecting Preyer to behave like a stand-offish. Ivy League intellectual has been rapidly disillusion ed. He has come down off the dignified Federal bench and is staging by far the brightest campaign of the three candi dates—witness the performance put on by his young supporters, hill-billy band and all, at the recent YDC convention here; and note, too, plans for Saturday’s state-wide Preyer rally in Greensboro, complete with an imported nationally known comedian and nobody knows how much other whoopla being kept under wraps. Young people are going for Prey er. They like the liveliness and they find in what he says more than a politician’s average share of imagination, tolerance and good sense—as do many of their elders, too. Seriously viewed, the Democratic gubernatorial primary campaign will, we believe, produce real issues—issues that will reveal the true characters and abili ties and convictions of the candidates and will give the voters a clear choice be tween them. Last year, Moore County placed itself with a steadily increasing number of areas over the nation in which a new approach to mental health is being undertaken: reaching and treating mental illness, so far as possible, through local clinics, as op posed to large institutions where people are confined. This county’s mental health clinic and the Moore County Mental Health Association which led the drive to estab lish it, also promote public understanding of the nature of mental illness and what everybody, in various ways, can do to help maintain men tal health—his own and that of others. An interesting sum mary of this new approach appears in “Regional Ac tion,” a publication of the Southern Regional Education Board, taken from a state ment of goals and tasks is sued by the Board’s Commis sion on Mental Illness. Fol lowing are highlights from that statement: them. living. Much can already be done to prevent mental disorders. For ex ample, the use of antibiotics and nutritional supplements have vir tually eliminated certain types of mental illness, careful prenatal care guards against the birth of mentally retarded children, cor rection of damaging circum stances such as lack of maternal care in early life guards against later emotional disorder. When disorders do occur, seri ous disability can often be pre vented by early detection and treatment. To stop mental dis orders before they start, we must apply the knowledge we already possess and continue the search for the causes of illness and han dicap. To provide the best care for the mentally ill and retarded that our knowledge equips us to give. Over 2,000 years ago Western civilization came to a crossroads —to go the way of Athens or Sparta. We follow those who chose Athens. Since we described Sen. Barry Gold- water on this page last week as “a shadowy figure . . . out of touch with the modern world,” Bob Zschiesche’s “alchemist” cartoon arrived, aptly illu strating the same point. Then, in Sunday’s New York Herald Tribune, Stuart Chase, noting that Gold- water has said that he woud “campaign on principles, not personalities,” took those principles (so far as they can be pinned down—a difficult task in itself) and showed that not one of them is ap proved by a majority of the American people, according to various public opin ion polls. It was a fasinating study, quoting Goldwater on 11 different subjects—the UN, Test-Ban Treaty, Red China, Race Relations, Labor Unions, Income Tax, Education, the TVA, Medicare and as pects of the “Welfare State”—and then quoting polls on these same subjects to show how widely his ideas diverged from what Americans (often an overwhelming majority of Americans) think about these national and international issues. As we read through Mr. Chase’s con centrated collection of Goldwaterisms, we were appalled that a maan so flagrantly out of tune with the nation’s needs and aspirations and with the American people’s thinking, is seeking to become President. Goldwater vs. The People We have fallen short of the ideals of the Athenian way many times in many ways. But it is in our treatment of the mentally ill and the mentally retarded that we have come closest to shame. The way of Sparta was to destroy the weak, the sick and handicapped. The way of Athens was to heal, to nurture and to restore. The cartoon is not simply a joke. Its sinister undertones are valid. Goldwat- er’s belligerent attitude toward the Soviet Union, his casualness about the testing and even use of nuclear weapons, reveal a chilling gap in perception. No wonder that a Washington observer tells us that even the fact that Goldwater is running, let alone that he be nominated or elected, strikes panic in the hearts of friends of the U.S.A. overseas. We have not destroyed; neither have we healed or restored the mentally disordered. Though we did not destroy, we banished. We met the challenge of the Athenian way with mixed feelings. Yet there are clear signs now that we are committing ourselves more firmly to the Athenian way. In the past decade we have im proved the professional training of our mental health personnel. We have increased research. Im- The spectrum of care must in clude diagnosis, treatment (rem edial training, in the case of the retarded), and rehabilitation, and these three ingredients must be administered in the proper time and place. The proper time is now—as soon as the disorder is discovered—and not six months from now when the patient’s name comes up on a waiting list. The proper place for most pa tients is here—where the patient ives and works. He should not have to lose his jlob or radically disrupt his normal way of life. If he must be in a hospital, it should be a general hospital in the community. Only in special or severe cases should the special ized mental hospital or residen tial school be used. Each of us has inner sources of strength to overcome life’s com plexities as well as the major crises which occur from time to time. Home, school, chvuch, work, community, friends—these are the major influences which shape our ability to function through. good and bad times. No one can describe the best combination of factors needed to build a strong, productive indiv idual, but clinical experience and research point to certain kinds of conditions which are almost al ways damaging. The mental health specialist can identify such damaging conditions with moderate success and recommend ways of correcting a poor envi ronment. This knowledge can and should be conveyed to those who have the most influence in shaping peoples’ lives: parents, teachers, clergymen, employers, and com munity leaders. To help strengthen those forces in the community from which we derive the capacity to live productively and tol erate the stress and strain of Individual Dignity At the heart of the spirit of Athens was a belief in the dignity of individual man. A supreme test of this belief is the measure of dignity, respect and worth ac corded the weak, the sick and the handicapped. The task for each of us is to commit ourselves even more firmly to the Athenian way in our concern for the mentally ill and handicapped. From this commitment will come buildings, laws, services and procedures planned on a human scale. From it will come an atti tude as devoid of pity and do- goodism as it is devoid of aver sion or despair. It will help us to chart the narrow way between pity and callousness that we must follow to build confidence, seK- sufficiency and inner feelings of worth and strength in the mental ly ill and retarded. 'ANOTHER DIFFICULTY' CITED BY FRIDAY ‘Speaker Ban Law’ Can Mislead Public To us, the Goldwater phenomenon is inexplicable. We only know that Republi- provements in mental hospital cans court disaster in giving him support, programs now enable more pa- MODERN ART “If our art seems violent, it is because we have perpetrated more violence than any other generation. If it deals with weird dreams, it is because we have open ed up the caverns of the mind and let such phantoms loose. 'Tf it is filled with broken shapes, it is because we have watched the order of our fathers break and fall to pieces at our feet. “The artist is in part a prophet. We should not complain if the shadows that have lately haunted us have for some time been visible upon his canvas.” —Robert Beverly Hale (Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York) tients to return to their homes in less time than ever before. More people now get help for mental problems in their own communi ties. There is a nation-wide ferment that promises stUl more improve ment. These developments have prompted the appropriation of millions of federal dollars to states to aid them in making far- reaching plans for the care of their mentally ill and the prospect of similar funds for planning for mentally retarded citizens. The 1963 General Assembly’s “Communist Speaker Ban Law”— whose removal from the State’s legislative books is sought by the University of North Carolina’s Board of Trustees—has aroused wide comment. University Presi- d'ent William C. Friday points out, in the following excerpt from a statement he made on the law, “another difficulty, more vague and possibly more damaging” than other more mentioned draw backs of the law: our State the disturbing notion that such an influence actually exists and is dteliberately defend ed .. . “In safeguarding intellectual freedom from destructive in fluences, either from within or from without, the University is naturally vigilant. It spares no means of ordinary prudence or administrative arrangement to in sure that it shall not be under mined. Insult Week after week, on the archi tectural or real estate pages, the papers run pictures of houses now known as “ranch-houses.” It’s a wonder all the real, old ranch-houses haven’t blown up in a stew of indignation at the idea of connecting them with these dull, timid, suburbany homes. Or maybe they have. Maybe, all over the western lands of mountain and prairie, may be found the remains of the honest, hard-working, old cabins, their logs and ample chimneys scatter ed to the open sky, blown up in disgust at such an insult. Around the Fire The talk around the fire ran on national events: Johnson’s good showing, his State of the Union speech, what some of the com mentators had to say. Don Herring spoke up: except for a few outstanding commen tators, he thought he really pre ferred the straight news broad casts. His daughter, Pat Stratton, agreed: “I’m getting tired of so much commentatoring,” she said. “No such word,” rumbled Don. Will Stratton suddenly roused up: “I agree, by Golly. No more common ’taters.” A pause, then: “Just an ordin ary, every-day spud will do.” January Bixthdayers Konrad Adenauer, Albert Schweitzer, Robert E. Lee, Charles L. Dodgson (“Lewis Car- roll”), Franklin D. Roosevelt, as well as a great many other peo ple. Here's A -Really Fun One You know: “jean”? “blue jeans?” Well, that word goes right back to England in 1500. Believe it or not. It was the name they gave to a cotton material that was made in Italy in the town of Genoa: GEENoa, see? The word came across in the Mayflower, or something. It quickly travelled West and only just lately has gone back to Eng land in the form of blue jeans. Fun or Fury? How can you tell a Democratic gathering from a Republican one? One way is: If the gathering is fun, it’ll be the Democrats. The Republicans are all-fired solemn; generally, too, there’ll be only one of the several candidates attending. Because the others “won’t appear on the same plat form.” Wasn’t it Rockefeller who walked out, recently, when Gold- water showed up? (And, between ourselves, do you blame him?) At around the same time, there was Humphrey acting as an up roarious toastmaster at a big whooptedo in honor of Senator Eugene McCarthy, both being heralded as possible rivals in the next vice presidential election. Stout Feller The strength and indefatigabil ity of Senator Howard K. Smith, 80-year-old warrior whose iron hand seems permanently clamped on the bit of the Senate Rules Committee, are known and dread ed. Said a weary colleague of him the other day: “Well, he ought to have plenty of muscle. He’s been swimming against the tide for 30 years.” Mrs. Glasse's Cookbook In 1745, in England, was pub lished the first cookbook for cooks. The other books had all been for the swells: “The Noble Book of Cookery,” “Rules for the House of an Earl,” etc. Mrs. Glasse’s book was, as she says, “for the Lower Sort. . . The Great Cooks have such a high Way of expressing themselves that the Poor Girls are at a Loss.” Mrs. G. complains that many recipes “are such a Jumble of things as would spoil a good Dish; also of things so Extravagant it would be a shame to use them.” This British cook carefully signs herself: “A Lady.” THE PILOT Published Every Thursday by THE PILOT, Incorpor^ded Southern Pines. North Carolina 1941—JAMES BOYD—1944 GOALS FOR PROGRESS To prevent mental disor ders from occurring, and to prevent needless disabling of those who already suffer “Harmful as the law is to our actual functioning as a university, and to our standing among insti tutions of higher learning, there is yet another difficulty more vague and possibly more damag ing in its ultimate effect. The adoption of a law that purports to remedy a supposed Communist in fluence on campuses has implaht- edl in the minds of some ctiizens of “There is not to my knowledge —a knowledge reasonably inform ed according to deliberate, appro priate, responsible process of ad ministration—there is not to my knowledge any member of the Communist Party on the faculty of either campuses of the Uni versity of North Carolina. If there be anyone here or elsewhere pos sessing contrary facts, I invite him to make them known ...” Katharine Boyd Editor C. Benedict Associate Editor Dan S. Ray Gen. Mgr. C. G. Council Advertising Bessie C. Smith Advertising Mary Scott Newton Business Mary Evelyn de Nissoff Society Composing Room Dixie B. Ray, Michael Veilen, Thomas Mattocks, J. E. Pate, Sr., Charles Weatherspoon, Clyde Phipps. Subscription Rales Moore County One Year $4.00 Outside Moore County One Year $5.00 Second-class Postage paid at Southern Pines, N. C. Member National Editorial Assn, and N. C. Press Assn.
The Pilot (Southern Pines, N.C.)
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Jan. 23, 1964, edition 1
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