Viewpoints
County needs
airport funds
Hoke County would be making a mistake by
not taking advantage of an offered state grant to
improve the airport.
The state funds, which have been offered in a
matching 575,000 grant, have been earmarked for
the construction of a new terminal at the airport.
Local officials are questioning the need for a
SI 50,000 new terminal building at the facility and
suggesting 'hat part of the matching giant could
be used for more pressing airport needs.
The thinking is sound, and according to a
spokesman for the state Aeronautics Council, a
revision of the use of the money might be accep
table.
Members of the newly appointed airport
authority will be wrestling with the task of deter
mmtng the needs of the local landing strip and
will have to recommend whether to accept or pass
on the grant.
In light of the needs of the airport and the
county's recent push to land new industries here,
we believe failure to use the state money would be
a step backwards.
A well-run upgraded Raeford-Hoke County
Airport would be an attraction to industries, most
of whom rely heavily on use of air travel.
If the state is willing to pay half of the tab to
upgrade the airport, we believe this county should
take advantage of it.
Although Hoke County probably does not
Editorial
need to spend $190,000 on a terminal, a less costly
facility could be constructed and the balance of
the funds could be used for other improvements
like runway lights, taxhrays, apron parking and
runway resurfacing.
Because air traffic in North Carolina con
tributes more tax revenue to state coffers than air
port improvements take out. other grants in the
future will probably be available to Hoke County
for additional work.
With the state's help, this county could con
struct an excellent small airport facility, which
would attract pilots and industrial users from the
surrounding area.
However, if the county passes on using the cur
rent grant, we may have to fight harder for funds
in the future.
Both Raeford and Hoke County have adequate
matching funds for the airport in the budgets
recommended for the upcoming fiscal year.
Those funds should be approved by the city
council and county commission as a budget for
the airport authority.
Once the money is approved, it will be up to the
appointed authority to determine the needs of the
airport and to determine bow the money should
be spent.
The airport authority is not a study group. Its
members are a commission impaneled to do a job
and have the right to operate with a budget.
We believe that elected officials should allow
their appointed representatives to start improving
the airport, and we encourage the authority
members to use the funds provided by the state.
fWilyn
Ule-I come
to beautiful
d ou) n t o \jj n "Raef o r d
w
Atlanta following pattern
By Cliff Blue
SOUTH AND SCHOOL IN
TEGRATION ... The public
schools in the South have in
tegrated faster than public schools
in the non-south, especially in
metropolitan areas -- where many
schools continue in 1984 to be
almost totally black or Hispanic.
That's the view of the U.S. Educa
tion Department.
Bui this faster integration and
busing has produced a reaction.
Private schools have sprung up in
all parts of the South (because of
the percentages involved in in
tegration, which sometimes made
the transition inevitably -if tem
porarily burdensome).
A national news magazine
reported in May that, for the first
time since the 1954 Supreme Court
decision desegregation in the South
is either at a standstill or moving in
reverse, though the South as a
region still remains ahead of most
of the rest of the nation.
Atlanta is an example of the new
trend in some areas of the South.
A third of the city's public school
students were white in 1970. Today
Atlanta's schools are 91^# black ?
similar to those in the national
People & Issues
capital. A civil rights group
spokesman acknowledges that the
"white community" has just mov
ed over to the private sector.
HEALTH COSTS... Patients are
spending about the same amount
of time in community hospitals to
day as they did 20 years ago, but
the average costs have increased
more than eight times, says the
Health Insurance Association of
America.
The average cost to the hospital
was $38.91 per day in 1963, the
Association says. By 1982, it had
risen to S327.40 per patient per
day, a 741 percent increase.
During that same period, the na
tion's cost of living as measured by
the Consumer Price Index rose by
215 percent, the Association notes.
Almost half of the hospital ex
penses involved are for salaries and
professional fees.
A survey by the Association of
average daily semi-private room
charges reveals that the District of
Columbia leads the nation, with a
rate of S285.
This rate is more than twice the
average rate charged in Mississip
pi, S108, the lowest in the nation.
The southern states generally
have the lowest charges, while the
highest rates are found in the
northeastern and western states,
the Association says.
WASHINGTON... A Census
Bureau study reports that the
percentage of American women
who are pregnant when they marry
or who have a child before mar
riage has doubled since World War
II.
HEALTH FORECAST... Plan
ning a trip abroad and wondering
how safe or healthy you will be?
Worldwide Health Forecast in
Washington, D.C. may be able to
answer your questions, says the
Health Association of America.
SMOKING... When it comes to
smoking, doctors are practicing
what they preach, says the Health
Insurance Association of America.
A recent medical school study
found that fewer than I in 3 of the
general population smokes.
STATE PARKS. ..North
Carolina state parks and recreation
areas swimming facilities and
refreshment stands opened for the
summer season on Friday, June 1.
Letters To The Editor
Society help
appreciated
To the Editor:
The Hoke/Raeford Humane
Society would like to thank
everyone who helped to make our
recent Bake and Raffle sale a suc
cess. Thanks also to Food Lion for
allowing us to hold the sale in front
of their store.
We still have many more raffle
tickets to sell. But hurry, the draw
ing is June IS. There are 10 prizes
to be given away and they're all
nice ones.
Our members have been doing a
great job this past year and we
have accomplished a great deal.
But as long as the pet population
continues to boom we shall be
needed to carry on our work.
If you would . like to be a
member of the Hoke/Raeford
Humane Society please contact me
at any time during the day at the
phone number listed below. We
need many new members and you
won't be asked to do anything that
you don't want to do.
Membership is only S10 a year
per family, which works out to
about 20C a week! We've added
amm om. meefceis WBrty
our goal is a minimum of SOOT
Remember, you won't be asked to
do anything other than pay your
yearly dues if that is what you
want.
All remaining unsold raffle
tickets and raffle stubs and money
should be turned in to Frances
Gatlin. The deadline is Thursday,
June 14.
Again, we want to thank
everyone who came out and show
ed their support for us, and thanks
especially to everyone who baked
something for us.
There certainly are a lot of good
cooks in Hoke County.
Sincerely,
Sheryl McGinnis
Community spirit
'alive and giving'
To the Editor:
Re: Mr. Jack Letzgus' letter to
the Editor in the June 7 issue of
The News-Journal.
Mr. Letzgus asks the question
"Where is the community support
in Raeford?"
My thinking is that it's right
where it's always been, and is very
much alive. I have never known
the people of our community to
fail when a need arises among us.
It really bothers me that anyone
would dare portray us as other
than a warm and loving people.
We all have our priorities, and if
we've been putting the emphasis
on relieving human misery first - 1
can't seem to feel apologetic about
that.
We have no pets at our bouse
now except for the grandchildren.
We're neither lonely nor unhappy
about that, nor do we expect it to
shorten our lives.
1 hasten to add that we have had
a wide variety of pets. We cried
when someone killed our cocker
spaniel. We had a royal funeral
when our hamster died. When our
gentle big German shepherd died
of old age we decided that was
enough.
If we do not feel inclined to con
tribute to the Humane Society, ex
cept through our taxes, that should
be recognized as our right, and not
a reason to labd us as heartless.
Yes, Burlington Industries is a
big and successful business. I, for
one, am very grateful to them for
all the support they've given to
Hoke County over the years. I'm
sorry Mr. Letzgus feels as he does
about those who do not contribute
to his cause.
The News-Journal has given
very adequate coverage to the
Mnmaw Society's cane, and I'm
Frankly, though, many of us are
beginning to resent those who
would attempt to make us feel guil
ty every week when we read our
News-Journal.
Would Mr. Letzgus have any
idea how many worthy causes
we're asked to contribute to during
the year? If so, then he must know
we have to choose to support
some, not all of them.
Could we please now hear about
someone else's favorite charity?
Sincerely,
Mrs. Brown Hendrix, Sr.
Volunteers helped
literacy fish fry
To the Editor:
Hoke Reading/Literacy Council
wishes to express thanks to all who
helped to make our annual Fish
Fry a success.
More than 60 volunteers sold
tickets, cooked, served or helped in
some way.
Hoke County is indeed for
tunate that so many of its citizens
are willing to do for others.
While the count) may not yet
have felt the impact of our ex
istence, we are seeing positive
results in many of the individuals
we have served.
For instance, they are joining
the ranks of volunteers. Many of
our students and former students
helped to make the event suc
cessful.
As a tutorial program we are ex
pected to teach adults to read and
we do. But. it's only because of the
out-pouring of support for literacy
and the willingness of our
volunteer to invite the students to
participate in our shared society
that we can truly help the illiterate
build for himself a better life.
Sincerely.
Barbara J. Buie
for Hoke Reading/
Literacy Council
Olympic problems
smack of politics
Dear editor:
A lot of thinkers are trying to
guess - or maybe a lot of guessers
are trying to think - why the Rus
sians have pulled out of the Olym
pics.
One theory is they're trying to
get even with the United States for
pulling out of the Olympics in
Moscow four years ago, causing
Afghanistan to vote Republican.
Another theory is that it's sheer
politics; they have something up
their sleeves involving interna -
ttoiMl relations or arms control or
nuclear freeze or a poor potato
crop.
It's that last theory that has
some big-time columnists beating
on their typewriters.
Politics, they say, should be kept
out of the Olympics, makes no dif
ferent how many more missiles or
fewer potatoes Russia has.
You try to get politics out of the
Olympics or any other human
organization, up or down, and
most likely you'll be accused of
playing politics.
The News-Journal
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Farming test not a fair
test of experience
By Warren Johnston
It was a hot Sunday afternoon. I was having a hard time figuring
out what I wanted to do. I didn't want to go outside. It was too hot.
The sun was heating up the asphalt on the roads for a four
o'clock community egg fry, and the only thing moving through the
humid air was a flock of mosquitos who had gotten lost on their
way to summer camp in Maine.
I was sitting around under the fan and in my wife's way as she
tried to clean the house.
"Why don't you take the farming test that was in the Sunday
newspaper?" she suggested.
I had teen the test earlier. It was designed for city slickers. I knew
it would be a cinch for me, so I ignored it.
Oh m i was raised in the city, but I knew my way around a
bamyai .
After all, didn't I help my grandfather raise more than a thou
Nud chickcna in our backyard?
I awn raised four ducks, a goose and a rabbit without help. Of
oourw, the nrighorhflotl canine bully. Spot, ate them all, but that
didn't Impugn my reputation as an expert husbandman.
| should I have to take the test? I asked myself.
Hey, I was the guy who used to watch my grandfather leave his
The Puppy Papers
muddy boots by the basement door just before he would sit down at
the breakfast table to dine on the spring onions and radishes he had
pulled from the garden that morning.
That tort of early day fare takes a real devotion to the soil, and
just to watch someone eating onions and radishes for breakfast re
quires an agrarian stomach.
I wasn't like these modern city kids. 1 knew steaks came from
steers, and I knew chickens didn't walk around the hen house wrap
ped in cellophane.
There had been some fond memories, like the time our pet steer
sneaked behind me, put his wet nose between my legs and boosted
me over the pasture fence, but my brothers and I had shed few tears
the night our mother served "ole Blackie" for supper.
Who can forget the chicken killings?
Every time the word was out that my grandfather had a few
chickens to go on the chopping stomp, three or four of the fellows
from the neighborhood would drop in.
We would stand around and marvel at how long they would run
after their heads had been dispatched. Some of them would 90 for
two or three minutes.
"You know, I didn't just pop out of the band box or fall off the
coal truck, either. 1 know a lot about farming," 1 told my wife.
After a little harassment, and biting phrases from my wife like:
"prove it" or "put up or shut up," 1 consented to take the test.
I whizzed along, easily knocking off answers like the size of the
average farm is 127 acres and each American farmer supplies food
for 76 people.
1 even got the father of soil conservation, Hugh Hammond Ben
nett.. I knew North Carolina was first in turkey production.
"Who wouldn't know that?" my wife kibitzed rhetorically over
the vacuum cleaner.
I started to falter when 1 got to the one about the average capital
investment per farm in the United States. The cost of farming had
gone up since I paid $4.95 for the duck, goose and rabbit.
I continued to slide through the rest of the test.
"How was I supposed to know we were number seven in hogs?" 1
retorted after my wife chastised me for scoring only a "fair."
"Anybody who rides down a highway in this state could tell by
using his note that we are ranked high in hogs," she said.
Since then I have spent a good deal of time reading farm news,
and 1 have been putting in an extra hour in my garden each day.
I'D be ready for the next test.