ti f f U I
Gibson Reacted Too Hastily
The headline was one which would
naturally jump off the page at most jour
nalists: College Newspaper Editor Loses
Trainer Job For Writing Article. S
The story told of how Andy Behl, editor
of the Mars Hill College newspaper
"Hilltop," was fired from his athletic
trainer job last week after he wrote an
editorial criticizing athletic director and
head football coach Claude Gibson.
Behl, 21, a senior majoring in sports
medicine, said he was prompted to write the
Dec. 4 editorial after Gib6on was quoted in
the Asheville Citizen-Times as saying of his
football players, "I sometimes think that
we would have been better off falling on our
faces."
The young editor said he thought the ar
ticle was unfair and that some of the
players were "not too happy" about it. In
his editorial, he wrote that support of the
team had dwindled since the interview with
Gibson appeared in the Asheville paper, so
he countered with: "What we seem to lack
here at Mars Hill is a head football coach."
Gibson summarily fired Behl last Tues
day. Behl said that means he will not be
allowed to work with any men's athletic
programs. The whole deal reminds us of
when God returned to the garden and found
that Adam and Eve, had tinkered with the
fruit tree. He threw a fit, tore up the lease
and threw them out.
Subsequent information has revealed
that Behl never held the trainer position
from which he was supposedly fired. Col
lege President Dr. Fred Bentley said Mon
day that Behl is under the direction of Dr.
John Wells, sports medicine director, who
runs the student trainer program on a
rotating basis.
Bentley said Behl had since written a
new editorial correcting seven points of
misinformation." Gibson's happy and all's
right in the garden.
Gibson obviously reacted too hastily in
tossing Behl out of his trainer position. He
would have been more in line had he tried to
get Behl removed from the "Hilltop" staff.
He took unfair advantage in putting
pressure on him as trainer.
Few young editors have any sacred
cows ? or sacred footballs or fruit trees for
that matter. We consider that healthy, at
least for journalism.
By the way Andy, don't let journalism
become a sacred cow either.
\ W J
Other Editors Say
Greater Ivy's Honor Provides A Lesson
The prestigious national award earned
by the Greater Ivy community of Madison
County not only deserves high praise from
Western North Carolinians, but it also
reminds us of a large lesson.
Many mountain residents long have
been aware of treated Ivy's leadership and
success in community development. The
community, blessed with incredibly
talented residents, has demonstrated again
and again what a sense of community really
can accomplish. Through the years,
Greater Ivy has become a fine place to live
and rear families, and it has achieved these
things largely because its residents have
wanted to improve their surroundings and
their way of life.
The community has been a regular win
ner in competition of the Western North
Carolina Development Association. It and
other communities across the region have
received praise and appreciation for their
work. But chances are many of us really
have not stopped to realize how much pro
gress these communities are making.
Well, a lot more eyes ar^ going to be
focused on Madison's Greater Ivy now that
the community has won Keep America
Beautiful's second place award. This is tru
ly a magnificent honor for Greater Ivy. It
also reflects well on the entire community
development program in Western North
Carolina, which is so ably led by Morris
"Mac" McGough.
It is tempting to think that the best peo
ple and programs and activities are far
from our own communities. But Greater
Ivy's success offers resounding proof that
quality programs and capable people exist
among us. That is a major lesson in this
happy occasion for Qreater Ivyt And it is a,
lesson that all of us should remember.
There are in these mountains great peo
ple who are working tirelessly to improve
the quality of life. They could do well
elsewhere. But they feel a sense of family.
They cling to the roots of this land. They
want to be prouder each year to call these
mountains home.
Greater Ivy's success is not the rally
evidence that others around the country
know how special the mountains are. Last
weekend in a book published by Rand
McNally, Asheville was rated as the No. 1
small metro area (under 125,000 popula
tion) in the country and 41st among metro
areas of all sizes.
What these things are telling us is that
we have a basis to build and become even
finer in Carolina and in the nation. We do
need to acquire a regional sense of com
munity, the kind of feeling that exists in
such places as Greater Ivy. That should be
one of our goals in 1982 ? to seek to view the
mountains as one large community whose
needs and interests are linked.
Hie Asheville Citixen
The News Record
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i;V
6. NICHOLAS HANCOCK, Ed tor
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JAMES I STORY. Columnist
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Letters
Welcomed
w?
editor. All
tetters to (to
ftrtef, in good
t Heard and Seen*
By POP STORY
light
the early
that several bridges and
dangerous due to freezing rain in the nor
thern mountains of WNC. Thank goodness
there were no icy spots around town.
The main upsetting thing about the rain
was the accumulation of water on Main
Street. Whenever a car or truck would pass
the office here you'd better watch out if you
were walking on the sidewalk opposite the
post office. Gallons of water were splashed
across the sidewalk onto the windows.
People who work on this side of the
street have grown accustomed to looking up
the street for vehicles before Venturing onto
the sidewalk. The unevenness of the street
causes ponds o t water to accumulate and
many motorists don't realize or don't care
how fast they drive. I wish they'd be more
careful.
Mr. and Mrs. John Corbett, Mr. and
Mrs. Wade Huey, Billie Jean Haynie,
Kristen Payne and "Bill" and I attended the
cantata at the Groce United Methodist
Church near Asheville Sunday morning.
Entitled, "Carol of Christmas," the cantata
was one of the most beautiful and inspiring
programs I've ever seen and heard.
The cantata was directed by Charles
Huey, popular minister of music at the
church. It was thrilling to see a local man do
such a magnificent job in directing the can
tata. It was also thrilling to see and hear the
congratulations of the congregation to
Charles following the service.
Mr. and Mrs. Huey, parents of Charles,
ly. Congratulations, Charles, for a splendid
cantata.
Following the cantata, the Madison
County "gang" enjoyed a delicious buffet
luncheon at the Sheraton Motor Inn.
"Bill" and I thai headed for Mars Hill
where we attended open house at the
historic Baird House, which Mr. and Mrs.
Richard Hoffman have remodeled. The
beautiful guest house was teeming with
friends who toured the open house to see
firsthand what a wonderful job Jeanne, as
innkeeper, and Dick have accomplished.
The First Baptist Church in Marshall
also held its cantata, "Christmas Is Love,"
Sunday night with a near-capacity crowd
attending. The cantata was directed by
Harold Ellis, minister of music. The Rev.
Buddy Freeman, pastor, was narrator, and
Casey Dunaway was organist. Members of
the choir did a wonderful job and the
soloists were great.
All in all, last Sunday was an exciting
day, long to be remembered.
Marshall residents were alarmed last
weekend when they turned on their faucets
and discovered the water was too muddy to
use. I later heard that it was one of those
"necessary evils" of turning on some of the
pumps. "It had to be done sometime so it
was last weekend that turned out to be the
"sometime" one official stated. However,
the water soon cleared up, mych to the
delight of everyone.
j
Living and Growing
Go On Offensive For Trouble
By CARL MUMPOWER,
M.S.W.
Center
Have you ever day dreamed
about how nice it would be to
have a trouble free life? Pro
bably so The idea of living
without burden of hassles and
problems is pretty appealing
to most of us
Some take that idea so far as
to try and create a life situa
tion that frees them of trouble.
Unfortunately, since Mr.
trives on . |
Wei dk> you do?
I] and attack Into
tiomliy
tar
AH You ??>.
h< often
i; ?
? ' 1
fellow without a whole lot of
depth. He's not the toughy be
preteadi to be.
'
The principle* art simple
Trouble grows in strength as it
grows in momentum. If you
tnit it off before it gets started
vou in a sense rob trouble of
much of it's power. It's kind of
like preventive medicine with
your car . By changin the oil to
lay, you avoid an engine job
The process of attacking
isn't ven romptteated You
oponent to hit you. Your
chances of catching trouble off
guard are much improved if
he's on the defensive and
you're on the offensive. You
can go ao far as to even take
the attitude that it's your job
to make trouble tar trouble.
You'U notice that the tone of
my article is a bit tounge in
cheek Actually, my point is a
You and I are surrounded is
real and potential
troubles *>maf ota