Opinions
Kay Kyser is hard to forget
Back in the 30's when the big
band was in its heyday, one of the
top band leaders was Kay Kyser,
like Sammy Kaye, he did things
differently.
I remember Kay Kyser, he
played before the North Carolina
General Assembly one evening. 1
was a freshman in the General
Assembly that year which was
1947. He and his group were tops.
His music group was the
"Kollege of Musical Knowledge."
It was good music and in 1940
Kyser was the top money earner
for one of the major recorders.
But he gave up show biz, turned
to religion and returned to North
Carolina shortly after the war. He
was missed in the music field but
fulfilled a greater dream for over
30 years with church work.
Cliff
Blue
People and Issues
His recent death made many
remember he is hard to forget.
AGREEMENT ... Last minute
agreement by Senate and House
conferees to cut the 1985-86 budget
about $55 billion next year and
perhaps $200 plus billion in three
was welcomed by investors and
brokers.
The congressional budget
cutting wasn't enough but the feel
ing in financial centers was that if
some reduction hadn't been agreed
on, confidence in the U.S.
economy and the dollar would
have suffered badly, here and
abroad.
The suspicion among many,
however, is that the slower
economy of recent months is going
to lower estimated revenues. So the
deficit will remain very high.
The president served notice the
week Congress recessed that more
savings would be realized after
members return to Capitol Hill.
FARM PRICES ... Prices
farmers get for raw products drop
ped 0.8 percent in July, the fifth
consecutive decline in the monthly
indicator and 12 percent below a
year ago, the Agriculture Depart
ment said recently.
NOTICE TO ALL
Alert Cable T.V.
Subscribers
We at Alert Cable T.V. would like to
take this time to thank all our sub
scribers for their patience and under
standing. We realize that we have ex
perienced outages due to maintenance
repairs and bad weather and the biggest
factor being electrical storms this year.
In the future we hope to keep custo
mer interruption to a minimal by per
forming preventive maintenance at an
hour to where T.V. viewing would be at
its lowest peak. Also by responding to
service call requests in a faster, timely
manner. Once again I give my apprecia
tion for your understanding during this
trying year. If I can be of any help in
any way please contact me at my office
in Red Springs, N.C.
Sincerely,
Harrison Daniels
System Manager
Stun guns sparking questions
RALEIGH - Late at night, a
young man enters a 24-hour
convenience store. With a quick
move, he knocks the store clerk sil
ly with a 50,000 volt electrical
shock from a stun gun. He empties
the cash register and flees. Three
or four minutes later, the clerk is
able to call police.
In that hypothetical situation.
North Carolina criminal law fails
to answer two important ques
tions. Did the young man commit
first degree armed robbery? Does
he face a mandatory seven-year
prison term if convicted?
The answer to both questions is
probably no, says an Alamance
County legislator who wants the
legislature to study stun guns.
Although a court might interpret
the current armed robbery statute
to include stun guns, state law
doesn't address the new devices.
A stun gun is powered by a nine
volt battery. It has two probes ex
tending from the front. When
pressed to a person's body and
.fired, it will deliver a 50,000-volt
shock that will interupt a person's
neurological impulses. It all means
you fall to the ground, in
capacitated for several minutes,
but generally without long term in
juries.
The General Assembly failed to
address stun guns in any major
way in 1985 because it didn't know
the direction in which to head.
Watching
By Paul T.
O'Connor
Even North Carolina law enforce
ment officials have mixed feelings
about the weapons, says Rep. Tim
McDowell, D-Alamance.
"Some think we ought to ban
them altogether," McDowell said.
"Some want to handle them the
same way as handguns, with a per
mit, and then others want to en
courage their use because they're
safer than a pistol if you're to have
one around the house." With the
exception of an amendment to a
pocket knife bill that added stun
guns to the list of weapons one
cannot carry concealed, no stun
gun legislation passed in 198S.
At McDowell's urging, the
legislature decided, instead, to
study the stun gun question.
Because a bill banning stun guns
on school property passed the
House, any legislation the study
commission might recommend
could, according to legislative
rules, come before the 1986 short
session.
As it tries to develop a stun gun
strategy for North Carolina, the
commission will have the ex
periences of several other states to
consider. That experience shows
the same kind of mixed feelings,
however, that North Carolina law
enforcement express.
Michigan, Hawaii and New
Jersey, according to a study by the
National Conference of State
Legislatures, ban all electronic
weapons. A Michigan State Police
captain, quoted in the NCSL
study, said there are too many
unknowns to allow the stun guns
to get into circulation. They can be
fatal, the captain said, if used
against people with heart condi
tions or other ailments.
As many as a half-dozen states
have banned all private use of stun
guns but make an exception for
law enforcement officials. The
weapons are considered very useful
for police. McDowell first got in
terested in stun guns after the Burl
ington police, which use the
weapon, became concerned about
growing private use.
Georgia, the only North
Carolina neighbor to address the
question, has simply added stun
guns to the legal definition of
firearms. A stun gun is therefore
subject to the same restrictions and
penalities for misuse as a handgun.
Finally, Indiana and South
Dakota allow its citizens to carry
stun guns. Crimes committed with
stun guns carry tougher sentences,
however, than those in which no
weapon was used.
Advice on what to eat plentiful
By W.B. Jenkins
N.C. Farm Bureau Federation
Every day Americans are bom
barded with advice about what to
eat and what not to eat.
Things were simpler and less
confusing when mother was the
ultimate authority on what to eat.
Now, we get most of our nutri
tional information through the
media. Unfortunately, that doesn't
mean we are getting advice any
better than mother's.
According to Lyn Konstant,
University of Missouri foods and
nutrition specialist, anyone can
call himself or herself a nutri
tionist, write a book and call it
nutrition advice. To improve your
chances of getting sound nutri
tional advice, Konstant has a few
suggestions.
_ He suggests that if you're really
concerned about your diet ask
your physician to put you in touch
with a registered dietician. The
registered dietician degree is
granted by the American Dietetic
Association to candidates who
have at least a bachelor's degree in
foods and nutrition from an ac
credited school.
One thing to be cautious about is
the nutritional advice contained in
popular magazines, even those
purported to be health publica
tions. A survey of 30 periodicals
conducted by the American Coun
cil on Science and Health, found
that one-third of the publications'
articles on health were inconsistent
or unreliable.
(Constant reminds all of us that
there are no absolutes in human
nutrition except for this one: We
have a need for many different
nutrients.
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